Every Body Shines: Sixteen Stories About Living Fabulously Fat

by Cassandra Newbould (Editor)

Overview

An intersectional, feminist YA anthology from some of today's most exciting voices across a span of genres, all celebrating body diversity and fat acceptance through short stories.

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Fat girls and boys and nonbinary teens are: friends who lift each other up, heroes who rescue themselves, big bodies in space, intellects taking up space, and bodies looking and feeling beautiful. They express themselves through fashion, sports and other physical pursuits, through food, and music, and art. They are flirting and falling in love. They are loving to themselves and one another. With stories that feature fat main characters starring in a multitude of settings, and written by authors who live these lives too, this is truly a unique collection that shows fat young people the representation they deserve.

With a foreword by Aubrey Gordon, creator of Your Fat Friend, and with stories by:
Nafiza Azad, Chris Baron, Sheena Boekweg, Linda Camacho, Kelly deVos, Alex Gino, Claire Kann, amanda lovelace, Hillary Monahan, Cassandra Newbould, Francina Simone, Rebecca Sky, Monique Gray Smith, Renée Watson, Catherine Adel West, Jennifer Yen

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547606078
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	06/08/2021
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	670,221
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Cassandra Newbould is the creator and host of the Fat Like Me podcast and community. Fat Like Me is a show where Cass chats all things fat with authors, entertainers, and activists about life, the arts, and why we desperately need more body diversity in kidlit today. As a writer of middle grade and young adult fiction, Cassandra creates stories where kids of all sizes can see themselves featured as the main character and not just the funny fat friend.
Twitter - @FatLikeMePod; @CassNwrites
Instagram - @fatlikemepodcast

Editorial Reviews

05/17/2021

Featuring 16 genre-diverse stories by fat-identifying writers, this anthology edited by author and Fat Like Me podcaster Newbould showcases fat characters across a variety of cultures, ethnicities, gender identities, places, and passions. Through a body-affirming lens, the contributors, including Alex Gino, Francina Simone, Rebecca Sky, and Renée Watson, provide a space where, as written in Aubrey Gordon’s (Your Fat Friend) moving introduction, fat-identifying readers will “feel understood, validated, seen, and celebrated.” Similar themes appear throughout, but each entry is distinct: in Nafiza Azad’s “Dupatta Diaries,” desi teen Jamilah confronts her family’s fatphobia with the help of a sentient dupatta that encourages her to embrace her hunger and enjoy food. In Chris Baron’s “Food Is Love,” Jewish aspiring chef Josh navigates his complicated relationship with food, love, and the ways they intersect. Presenting both joys and frustrations, this unapologetically honest collection features characters finding their voices alongside characters who fully embrace their bodies, challenge stereotypes, and refuse to let anything hold them back, effectively dispelling any notion of fatness as a singular perspective. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jordan Hamessley, New Leaf Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

05/01/2021

Gr 8 Up—Newbould's anthology is a feminist take on intersectional body diversity and fat acceptance. The collection includes a foreword by Aubrey Gordon, creator of the Your Fat Friend site and podcast, and stories by authors including Nafiza Azad, Alex Gino, Francina Simone, and Renée Watson. This inclusive compilation features short stories about fat girls, boys, and nonbinary teens with various sexualities and backgrounds: characters are Black, Indian, Muslim, Chinese, and more. The stories highlight a number of genres and settings—from the hockey arena to outer space and prom shopping to the softball field. Empowering and reflective, these stories tackle finding your voice, even if "well-meaning" family members may not know how to show love the way it is needed. The common thread throughout these selections is that fat characters are centered, not sidelined; they are bold and bright, demanding to be seen. In Gordon's moving foreword, she concludes, "Telling stories like the ones in this collection—and stories like yours—is part of how we change the world around us." VERDICT These characters should be seen in all collections. Recommended for both school and public libraries.—Lisa Krok, Morley Lib., Cleveland, OH

School Library Journal

2021-03-25
Authors unite around body-celebrating fiction.

Aubrey Gordon writes movingly about fat friendships and community in the introduction to this 16-story anthology, and readers might describe its stories as an assortment of fat friends holding out hands of welcome. Consisting primarily of contemporary realistic fiction, the volume also includes some speculative fiction entries. It starts out strong, with Claire Kann’s “Guilt Trip” really speaking to the book’s title as it follows a young Black musician who has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stand onstage next to her favorite music group. In “Weightless,” a labyrinthine story with an intriguing premise, Sheena Boekwig presents a White math prodigy sent on a world-saving space mission who has a hard time believing anyone will value her genius when her large body is a costly addition to the ship. Kelly deVos and Monique Gray Smith refreshingly celebrate fat girls doing sports. A number of other stories similarly have fantastic hooks and characters diverse in ethnicity, gender identity, and sexuality, but in too many cases they read like novels rewritten and compressed to fit a page limit. While undeniably earnest and filling an important niche, this collection contains multiple entries that expend too much energy on proving that they adhere to the theme at the expense of other elements.

A valuable and thoughtful prompt inspires sincere but uneven contributions. (author bios) (Anthology. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews

“A deeply validating and joyful collection! Every Body Shines is the kind of book I've been waiting to see on shelves my whole life.”” —Julie Murphy, New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin'

“Readers can expect diverse takes on the experience of living as a fat person in modern times [ . . . ], to find characters of different gender identities, sexual orientations, cultural heritages, and race. No longer relegated to comedic relief or token sidekick, these fat teens, who are given multidimensional personalities, face troubles beyond others' views of their size and are given room to cultivate their own identities. A broad selection of genres makes this appealing to an expansive swath of socially conscious readers.” —Booklist, starred review

“Presenting both joys and frustrations, this unapologetically honest collection features characters finding their voices alongside characters who fully embrace their bodies, challenge stereotypes, and refuse to let anything hold them back, effectively dispelling any notion of fatness as a singular perspective.” —Publishers Weekly

“Authors unite around body-celebrating fiction. Aubrey Gordon writes movingly about fat friendships and community in the introduction to this 16-story anthology, and readers might describe its stories as an assortment of fat friends holding out hands of welcome. Undeniably earnest and filling an important niche.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Here . . . everybody is given the space to glow . . . . A mindful, meaningful compilation of stories featuring characters who prove that being fat is not a deterrent to happiness, nor is it the main event of anyone's life.” —Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher