Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection

by Linsey Miller, Madeline Dyer (Editor), Rosiee Thor, Moniza Hossain, Akemi Dawn Bowman

Overview

Discover the infinite realms of asexual love across sci-fi, fantasy, and contemporary stories

From a wheelchair user racing to save her kidnapped girlfriend and a little mermaid who loves her sisters more than suitors, to a slayer whose virgin blood keeps attracting monsters, the stories of this anthology are anything but conventional. Whether adventuring through space, outsmarting a vengeful water spirit, or surviving haunted cemeteries, no two aces are the same in these 14 unique works that highlight asexual romance, aromantic love, and identities across the asexual spectrum.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645677840
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	10/10/2023
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	399,911
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

Madeline Dyer is a novelist, poet, and anthologist. She is the editor of the Being Ace anthology and co-editor of the Unbound anthology. She is also the author of the Aces in Love series (written as Elin Annalise). She has a herd of Shetland ponies, loves anything ghostly, and can frequently be found exploring wild places. At least one notebook is known to follow her everywhere she goes.
Akemi Dawn Bowman is a critically-acclaimed author who writes across genres. Her novels have received multiple accolades and award nominations, and her debut novel, Starfish, was a William C. Morris Award Finalist. She has a BA in social sciences from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and currently lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. She overthinks everything, including this bio. Visit Akemi online at her website or on Instagram.

Editorial Reviews

"This compelling collection offers readers so many opportunities to feel seen and connect. A first purchase for all teen collections."
—SLJ, starred review

"Themes of grief, community expectations, resilience, self-esteem, and queer joy are woven throughout this anthology [...] readers hungry for intersectional ace (and frequently also aro) representation will be pleased to see a range of queer identities, racial backgrounds, and disabilities."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Dyer expertly delivers on the collection’s premise of creating a variety of colorful, aspirational places to which queer and aroace readers might flock and find community, belonging, and representation."
—BCCB

“Being Ace is an essential YA anthology. It’s a perfect palette that paints the richness of asexuality, in all its many shades and hues. This is the first anthology I’ve read that really gets what it means to be authentically, honestly ace. Fantastic!”
-Saundra Mitchell, bestselling editor of All Out, Out Now and Out There

From the Publisher

★ 12/08/2023

Gr 9 Up—Protagonists across the asexuality spectrum star in this collection of 14 short stories ranging from fantasy to science fiction to contemporary. An enchanted suit of armor poses as a fake fiancé and is bested by a would-be magistrate. A "magical ace" escorts someone through the woods to chat to their dead—and solve a murder mystery. A sex-repulsed monster hunter pushes back against the pressure to lose their virginity to become "full-fledged." Whatever the story, each individual plot is unique. Mostly unified by coming out experiences, these narratives are ultimately affirming even when situations are difficult. Some stories are more engaging than others, but the breadth of asexual characters explored—by asexual creators, no less—is remarkable. Significantly, one story features a power wheelchair user, providing rare disability representation. VERDICT This compelling collection offers readers so many opportunities to feel seen and connect. A first purchase for all teen collections.—Alec Chunn

School Library Journal

2023-08-11
A multigenre anthology of short stories for teens that centers asexual protagonists.

A teen Slayer who is repulsed by sex is the target of monsters attracted to her virginal blood—until she deconstructs her community’s buy-in of the heterosexist concept of virginity in “Smells Like Teen Virgin” by S.E. Anderson. In S.J. Taylor’s “The Witch of Festa Falls,” a girl living in 18th-century Norway is able to save her community from a fossegrim, a terrifying creature from folklore, because she’s immune to his charms. “The Third Star” by RoAnna Sylver follows an aro-ace, agender, autistic teen who is worried about their queerplatonic relationship when their two partners go through rough patches, all while surviving on an emergency craft in the depths of space. The Little Mermaid is rescued from the clutches of exploitation and finds an unexpectedly platonic alliance with a merman prince in Moniza Hossain’s “The Mermaid’s Sister.” Themes of grief, community expectations, resilience, self-esteem, and queer joy are woven throughout this anthology. The stories range widely in tone and genre, although the majority are speculative. While some are immensely satisfying, others feel noticeably underdeveloped and rushed. But readers hungry for intersectional ace (and frequently also aro) representation will be pleased to see a range of queer identities, racial backgrounds, and disabilities (including a protagonist with hyperacusis and cerebral palsy who uses a power wheelchair).

May not take the whole cake, but asexual readers hungry for representation will find some outstanding pieces to dig into. (content warning) (Anthology. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews