Book Review: All the Love Under the Vast Sky edited by Kip Wilson

Publisher’s description

Twelve short stories in verse by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the highs and lows of love – romantic, platonic, familial, and self-love.

Love can be many things – all-consuming, fleeting, vengeful, selfless, toxic, uplifting, and always, a core part of the teen experience that leaves an indelible mark. This enchanting, genre-crossing anthology delivers something for every reader with unique characters, global settings, and a dazzling mixture of myth, historical, speculative, and contemporary fiction.

With the turn of a page, get swept away by unexpected love blooming between two princes from enemy Mesoamerican nations in the 15th century, who’d rather make music rather than war; cheer for a timid bearded lady who was shunned by her family and runs away to find belonging and safety at the circus during the 1800s experience the heartbreak of saying goodbye to a beloved pet; breathlessly watch a myth unfold as a siren bound to the water falls in love with a winged forest spirit, their love seemingly impossible from the start. Root for a girl who emerges from grief and battles with chronic pain to discover how to love herself and life again.

Love is complicated, and this anthology embraces the messiness and the joy of all kinds of love. Contributors include:

• Alexandra Alessandri
• David Bowles
• Melanie Crowder
• Margarita Engle
• Eric Gansworth
• Robin Gow
• Mariama J. Lockington
• Laura Ruby
• Padma Venkatraman
• Jasmine Warga
• Charles Waters
• Kip Wilson

Amanda’s thoughts

An anthology that’s all in verse? Fantastic! Ever since I was a young reader, I’ve loved anthologies because they expose readers to a big swath of authors, some of whom may be new to them. They’re a good selling point for kids who may not be super into reading too–a lot of short stories that they can (generally) read in any order. And while the verse format may intimidate some readers, a little gentle explaining that it’s just like reading any other story, but with a different layout (and mentioning that it’s generally a faster read never hurts) will help them feel like they can handle it. And I know plenty of readers love novels in verse and that plenty of readers don’t need convincing to read anything, period, I am always looking out for the angle of how do we reach the kids who aren’t reading/think they don’t like it/won’t read.

This anthology covers love of many kinds written by authors with a wide variety of identities. We see families, like in a story with a super possessive and withholding mother love bombing her queer daughter who just wants to escape and live her own life. There’s the story of Bird, living with her awful stepmother and stepsisters. We learn about an 8th grader whose best friend is his grandma, who is diagnosed with cancer. We watch a family’s life through the years on a reservation, focusing on a child in the 1970s. In perhaps my favorite story, readers follow a bearded lady in the circus and her found family in the late 1880s. We have a character reeling from a bad breakup with not just her boyfriend but also her entire friend group, so she takes revenge as an anti-Cupid delivering nasty notes. There’s Lotte, in Germany in 1899, who’s pining after a forbidden boy and warned about choosing romance over friendship. A character cursed to be unlucky in love, according to astrology, and thus unmarriageable, grapples with her feelings for a visiting scholar in a story set in 12th century India. And romantic love is showcased in a story about a siren falling for a winged spirit, in a piece set in 15th century Mesoamerica and in a story of a young girl with fibromyalgia, still weighed down by the grief of losing her sister three years ago. Oh, and then final story is about a dog dying, and while it’s by an author I adore, once I realized what was happening, I had to only skim. Dead dogs is my dealbreaker (even if, I’m sure, it’s well-written and a moving tribute to a loyal friend).

It’s the rare anthology where every story feels strong, and this one certainly achieves that. A great read about love of all kinds around the world and throughout time. Definitely check it out!

Review copy courtesy of the publisher

ISBN-13: 9780593625279
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date: 01/14/2025
Age Range: 12 – 17 Years

Filed under: Book Reviews