A collection of stories about collections and collectors, real and imaginary, tangible and metaphorical.

Quotes

I loved rules and systems - as long as I was in control of them. My imagination was the place where I had the most power. Hour after hour, I was asked to conform to the world, and as a result I searched out all the small ways I could make the world conform to me. ("Take It From Me," David Levithan, 60)

Knowing the things you shouldn't do, and then not doing them: That's what love requires, doesn't it? Even as a junior in high school, I sensed this was true. Love was both closeness and an agreement to never take advantage of that closeness. (75)

She hated the way she never acted on or said the things that came to her mind. The way she always pushed them down, ate her words and policed her own actions. ("Ring of Fire," Jenny Torres Sanchez, 89)

I don't want to kill; I just want to get out safe. ("La Concha," e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, 165)

"Can't you see how beautiful it is to be honest?" ("We Are Looking for Home," A.S. Kng, 213)

We pledge allegiance to the flag of whatever gets us out of this. (223) ( )

The Collectors is an anthology of stories by well known young adult authors about characters and their strange collections.

I haven’t really reviewed an anthology of stories from different authors before, so here’s my doing my best.

Play House: Took me a minute to get into it, but then enjoyed it.

The White Savior Does Not Save the Day: This was okay for me - it delivered a well written story, but I don’t know how I feel about it still, even two days after reading it.

Take It From Me: I can still actively “see” scenes from this story even now. The banana stickers on the wall, the locked box of doubts - it was a vivid story.

Ring of Fire: Metaphor about grief, but was kind of left confused a little at the end.

Museum of Misery: Impactful. A big punch with little words but pictures said everything.

La Concha: I couldn’t always follow this one. I felt like there were some big pieces missing from it.

Pool Bandits: One of my favorites just because of the length these boys went to to skate. My partner is a skater and I understand that culture a lot.

We Are Looking For Home: Another story I didn’t quite understand and even in the end, I don’t know what it was about??

A Recording for Carole Before It All Goes: This was beautiful and heartwarming. I feel like everyone nowadays possibly knows someone who has Dementia or Alzheimer's. My grandmother had dementia and just passed away at the beginning of this month and these stories will always make me think of her.

Sweet Everlasting: A crazy and kind of scary concept of being stuck in the “moment they wish could last forever”

The ones I loved: Take It from Me / David Levithan, Pool Bandits / G. Neri, A Recording for Carole Before It All Goes / Jason Reynolds, and Sweet Everlasting / M.T. Anderson

Overall, there were some wonderful and great stories, and others that I just couldn’t get into - doesn’t mean they weren’t good and others wouldn’t enjoy them though!

*Thank you Dutton Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for a digital advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ( )