Category Archives: Anthology or Collection

Review: The Essential Christmas Classics by Charles Dickens, ETA Hoffman, et al

Anthology or Collection, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,
The Essential Christmas Classics Collection by Charles Dickens, et al

The Essential Christmas Classics Boxed Set by
Charles Dickens, E. T. A. Hoffman et al
Publisher
Published October 7, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Essential Christmas Classics Collection (Boxed Set)

Celebrate the holidays with this collection of Christmas classics, including A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker, and a collection of holiday short stories—together in one hardcover boxed set!

Celebrate the season with this collection of popular holiday stories from Christmases past. This set includes E. T. A. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker, the story of a girl’s Christmas gift coming to life and battling the sinister mouse king, which later inspired Tchaikovsky’s popular holiday ballet. Next is A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens’s renowned novella about the miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge being confronted with his greed and learning the meaning of Christmas.

Rounding out the set is TheTwelve Classics of Christmas, a collection of twelve holiday short stories. From favorites like Clement C. Moore’s “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” and O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” to lesser-known tales from beloved authors like Louisa May Alcott, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the Brothers Grimm, this anthology is the perfect way to count down to Christmas.

My Reviews

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

This isn’t the first time I’ve read this classic Christmas tale, but it’s the first time I’ve read it in print in a while. Some of the language in this edition is updated to make it a little more modern, but the story still resonates with its powerful themes about charity, kindness, and caring for others.

One element from the story that I can’t unsee is its antisemitic tropes in the setup of the characters of Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley. Both are miserly men who worked as moneylenders and refused to offer charity to others.

Another icky component is the writing about the famous disabled character. Dickens uses the overly angelic and wise beyond his years Tiny Tim to emphasize the poor and disabled as in need of pity.

I like the message about giving charitably, lifting others up, and offering kindness to those around us as central to the Christmas spirit. It’s strange to think that when I grew up, no one considered this novel as antithetical to the Christian message about Christmas. I’m not sure that is still true.

Certainly anyone believing empathy is a sin would find Scrooge facing eternally punished for refusing to give his wealth to the poor mightily uncomfortable at least. Which is absolutely wild. If you went back in time to my most fervent evangelical days and told me that many of the church leaders I so looked up to would reject empathy and charity as wicked, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Nevertheless, I think that with some additional discussion about the ableism and harmful stereotypes, this book still serves as a reminder of the central values of the Christmas holiday. A lesson far too many of us need to remember.

Content Notes

Recommended for ages 10 up. Ableism surrounding a disabled character. Racist Jewish stereotypes. A total of four ghosts (including his former partner) appear to Scrooge, spiriting him through Christmases of the past, present, and future.

The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffman

This is the original story that inspired the famous ballet by the same title. It’s easy to see how the ballet emerged from the book, but a lot of things happen in these pages that didn’t make it to the stage. Drosselmeier, the clever Godfather who fixes the family’s clocks and makes incredible mechanical toys, appears more morally gray than his ballet counterpart. He makes fun of the main character (named Maria, not Clara) for liking the Nutcracker, whom he intended as a gift for the family, not specifically for her. At one point, he tells a long story to Maria and her brother that spans several chapter and involves a conflict between a king and a mouse queen. This story reveals the identities of the two sides battling in Maria’s playroom.

One thing that I found strange is that Maria is only seven years old when the story takes place. Yet at the end, she gets married to an adult man. It’s also super weird that Maria’s Godfather appears to know the (human) identity of the Nutcracker, but he gave him to Maria’s family as a Christmas gift.

It was interesting to read the original story and see how the ballet was inspired by the elements of the tale. I’m not sure I would have read this book on my own. I think today’s young readers will need some additional context for some moments in the text. Readers curious about the origins of the Nutcracker ballet may find this book appealing.

Content Notes

Recommended for ages 10 up. Situations of peril. A battle between toys and mice leaves toys broken and some mice dead. Descriptions of capturing and killing mice. A mouse torments a girl at night.

Twelve Classics of Christmas by Various Authors

This collection of short Christmas stories features some familiar tales, such as the famous poem about the night before Christmas, the Grimm Brothers’ story of “The Elves and the Shoemaker”, and “The Gift of the Magi” by O’Henry. Other stories might be less familiar than their authors. Short stories by L. Frank Baum, L. M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, and F. Scott Fitzgerald appear in the collection.

The stories by Alcott and Montgomery were my favorites. Both centered on the idea of charity being a central value of the Christmas holiday. They reminded me of the kinds of characters in their novels, so I enjoyed that. Other stories were a little darker, including “A Kidnapped Santa Claus” in which a team of demons who live near Santa’s workshop kidnap the jolly old elf in order to sow chaos among the children on earth. Dickens offers a predictably eerie story about a cruel gravedigger’s encounter with goblins that makes him change his ways.

Content Notes

Recommended for ages 10 up. Some stories contain magical or spiritual creatures such as demons, goblins, etc. The elves appearing in one story at first have no clothes. (There are no illustrations in the collection.) Some stories contain mentions of going to church. Two stories mention the birth of Jesus and contain characters searching for him.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy the three books in this boxed set in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: This is How We Roll edited by Rosiee Thor

Anthology or Collection, Blogger's Favorites, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,

This is How We Roll
edited by Rosiee Thor
PageStreet YA
Published September 16, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About This is How We Roll

The magic of tabletop RPGs lives in the creativity of the players. Given the chance to explore gender, relationships, and queer existence across vast worlds with completely different sets of rules, queer players throughout the years have found acceptance, camaraderie, and joy by rolling the dice and kicking ass. This anthology celebrates that TTRPG rite of passage with a diverse lineup of queer authors who are just as mighty with their pens as with swords? and shields? and spells!

This collection of fourteen stories includes critically acclaimed authors such as New York Times Bestseller Marieke Nijkamp, New York Times Bestseller Andrew Joseph White, Pura Belpré Honor winner Jonny Garza Villa, LAMBDA Literary Award winner Rebecca Podos, LAMBDA Award finalist Linsey Miller, Indie Bestseller Margaret Owen, and Morris Award finalist Akemi Dawn Bowman.

My Review

My last DnD campaign (and my first as DM) fizzled out as the holidays hit and players got busy with other adventures. Reading this book made me remember all the reasons I love playing Tabletop Role Playing Games (TTRPGs) to begin with.

First off, the stories are all super entertaining. Most balance the in-game storytelling and at-the-table experience of the players perfectly. There are a couple that really only show one side of the experience, and those are so creative. They all fit perfectly into the collection.

The stories also encapsulate a wide variety of gaming experiences, from playing with longtime friends to a new group playing for the first time, or a new player joining an established group. Sometimes the story is from the perspective of a new player, and at other times, we follow the experienced player as they navigate feelings about the newbie at their table. Some groups play the game in person, while others play online. Some homebrew the experience, while others meticulously follow the rules of the game.

The players represent an inclusive group, too. In the opening story, the point-of-view character uses a wheelchair (from an injury). Some stories center queer identity and/or neurodivergence and show how creating a game character free to interact with the world sans the expectations of the people who “know” us can help people recognize truths about themselves and others.

I also like that the stories include the interpersonal challenges that can come from playing the game. In one story, a player’s character makes unwelcome romantic advances at another player’s character. It’s handled safely, but shows the discomfort and the anxiety the player feels about how to resolve the situation. In another story, a group welcomes one player’s rival as a new player at the table. One story shows a DM whose behavior threatens to extinguish the campaign, and how the players respond.

The authors also explore the circumstances surrounding the gameplay creatively, too. One of my favorite stories takes place in the far distant future in space, where a group of kids uses a “prespace” artifact (a DnD player handbook) to try out what they rightly assume was a popular game on earth. That was such a fun take.

In one story in which the characters play the game online with separate chat logs from in-game dialogue and secret character identitites, I had a hard time keeping track of who was who at first. I’m still not sure I understand all of the connections between the players. I like that the collection showcased that style of gameplay and the development of relationships between players, though.

All in all, this is a fabulous tribute to TTRPGs and people who love them. I think both people familiar with the games and those with a passing interest will enjoy this collection. It’s so much fun.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Stories include descriptions of characters’ TTRPG sessions fighting mythical creatures, using magic, etc. A couple stories include characters from Christian families with religious objections to DnD in particular, referring to the game as leading players astray from their faith.

Violent Content
Descriptions of situations of peril. One story includes a wild animal accidentally trapped indoors and the attempt to get it outside without putting the characters at risk for disease or harming the animal. References to homophobia, transphobia, and prejudicial comments about ace identity.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: For the Rest of Us edited by Dahlia Adler

Anthology or Collection, Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, , , , , , , ,

For the Rest of Us: 13 Festive Holiday Stories to Celebrate All Seasons
edited by Dahlia Adler
HarperCollins
Published September 2, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About For the Rest of Us: 13 Festive Stories to Celebrate All Seasons

Fourteen acclaimed authors showcase the beautiful and diverse ways holidays are observed in this festive anthology. Keep the celebrations going all year long with this captivating and joyful read!

From Lunar New Year to Solstice, Día de Los Muertos to Juneteenth, and all the incredible days in between, it’s clear that Americans don’t just have one holiday. Edited by the esteemed Dahlia Adler and authored by creators who have lived these festive experiences firsthand, this joyful collection of stories shows that there isn’t one way to experience a holiday.

With stories by:

Dahlia Adler, Sydney Taylor Honor winner of Going Bicoastal.

Candace Buford, author of Good as Gold.

A. R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy, authors of the Once & Future series.

Preeti Chhibber, author of Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot.

Natasha Díaz, award-winning author of Color Me In.

Kelly Loy Gilbert, Stonewall Book Award winning author of Picture Us in the Light.

Kosoko Jackson, USA Today bestselling author of The Forest Demands Its Due.

Aditi Khorana, award-winning author of Mirror in the Sky.

Katherine Locke, award-winning author of This Rebel Heart.

Abdi Nazemian, Stonewall Book Award–winning author of Only This Beautiful Moment.

Laura Pohl, New York Times bestselling author of The Grimrose Girls.

Sonora Reyes, Pura Belpré Honor winner of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School.

Karuna Riazi, contributor to The Grimoire of Grim Fates.

My Review

At this point, I’m pretty conditioned to expect great things when I see an anthology edited by Dahlia Adler, and this one does not disappoint! I opened the book without clocking which authors had stories included, so it was a joyful experience every time I turned the page to start another story and spotted an author I love. A few of the authors included in the collection are new to me, but I’ll be on the lookout for more stories from them, too.

I love that the collection is organized as if we’re moving through the Gregorian calendar. It made me feel as if I read through an entire year upon completing the collection. The stories are well-balanced in terms of welcoming readers into the traditions and practices of each holiday while delivering an engaging story. Sometimes the stories played on the themes of the holiday, while others framed life experiences through the lens of the holiday. Some stories are funy and upbeat while others are contemplative.

One of my favorites is Sonora Reyes’ short story about Día de Los Muertos. They use the story to explore how celebrating this holiday might be challenging for families whose loved ones died in difficult circumstances. Reyes deftly brings focus to how stigmatizing people who died with mental illness can further isolate and shame people. Their story shows the power of finding ways to cherish the good things about a lost loved one, even when it’s painful or complicated.

Readers who are curious about other holiday celebrations or eager to see their own traditions celebrated on the page will enjoy this collection.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. One scene implies a sexual encounter happened in a break between scenes.

Spiritual Content
The collection includes cultural and spiritual celebrations, including Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, Holi, Nowruz, Eid, Passover, Juneteenth, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Diwali, Día de Los Muertos, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

Violent Content
One story contains references to death and suicide. Another includes a survivor of gun violence and a brief reference to what happened.

Drug Content
One story includes teens drinking alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Legendary Frybread Drive-In edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Anthology or Collection, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Magical Realism, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

The Legendary Frybread Drive-In
Edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Heartdrum
Published August 26, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Legendary Frybread Drive-In

Featuring the voices of both new and acclaimed Indigenous writers and edited by bestselling Muscogee author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of interconnected stories serves up laughter, love, Native pride, and the world’s best frybread.

The road to Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In slips through every rez and alongside every urban Native hangout. The menu offers a rotating feast, including traditional eats and tasty snacks. But Sandy June’s serves up more than it hosts live music, movie nights, unexpected family reunions, love long lost, and love found again.

That big green-and-gold neon sign beckons to teens of every tribal Nation, often when they need it most.

Featuring stories and poems Kaua Mahoe Adams, Marcella Bell, Angeline Boulley, K. A. Cobell, A. J. Eversole, Jen Ferguson, Eric Gansworth, Byron Graves, Kate Hart, Christine Hartman Derr, Karina Iceberg, Cheryl Isaacs, Darcie Little Badger, David A. Robertson, Andrea L. Rogers, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Brian Young.

In partnership with We Need Diverse Books.

My Review

This collection was so much fun to read. My favorite was the short story by Jen Ferguson. As soon as I saw that the main character’s name was Berlin, I got so excited. It’s a continuation of the story and characters from Those Pink Mountain Nights, which is my favorite of her books that I’ve read so far. I also loved Angeline Boulley’s short story– if I’d missed her name, I would have spotted her writing immediately.

I’m less familiar with the other authors in the collection, but I enjoyed getting to read their work. A couple of the stories are told in verse, and both were wonderful. I also loved that Darcy Little Badger used direct messages and a tabletop game to tell her story.

Gathering at Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In unites all the stories together. Sometimes characters from one story encounter characters from another story while they’re there. Sometimes they speak with an elder or grandparent who imparts wisdom.

The collection celebrates food, intergenerational relationships, and having a safe space to be oneself. It also highlights the unique experiences of different tribes while honoring the commonalities. This would be a great collection for a classroom or home library. Readers looking to find new Indigenous authors to read will easily find new favorites here, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
References to Creator and Indigenous traditions.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
One character’s brother used drugs (not shown in-scene).

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: On the Block: Stories of Home edited by Ellen Oh

Anthology or Collection, Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,

On the Block: Stories of Home
Edited by Ellen Oh
Crown Books for Young Readers
Published October 22, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About On the Block: Stories of Home

From We Need Diverse Books comes a heart-warming middle-grade anthology that follows the loosely interconnected lives of multigenerational immigrant families inhabiting the Entrada apartment building. Edited by Ellen Oh, a founding member of WNDB.”The beauty of their shared home does not come from any single person, but instead from the sum of their experiences” -Meg Medina, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

12 Families. 12 Cultures. 1 Building.Welcome to the Entrada, home to these everyday Americans, includingthe new kid on the block, who is both homesick and curiousa Popsicle-bridge builder, a ghost hunter, and a lion dancer their families, friends, and neighbors from all around the world!

Published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, this uplifting anthology features award-winning authors Tracey Baptiste, David Bowles, Adrianna Cuevas, Sayantani DasGupta, Debbi Michiko Florence, Adam Gidwitz, Erin Entrada Kelly, Minh Lê, Ellen Oh, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Andrea Wang, and Jasmine Warga.

These inspiring stories celebrate family, friendship, culture, and American immigrant life today.

My Review

I love how cleverly this story collection is put together. Each story is identified by the apartment number where the main character lives (or the story takes place… sometimes it’s a grandparents’ apartment) rather than a traditional title. The stories intersect and reference characters appearing in other stories, but each one could be read independently.

It was interesting reading the book and thinking about the location of each apartment in the building. I think it would have been really cool to have a table of contents or a kind of map that organized the stories visually, so that readers could note where each one takes place in relation to the others. A map of the overall building and surrounding area would have been fun, too. Maybe someone will make one online (or has already!).

Several of the stories center on immigrant families sharing traditional celebrations, food, and forming connections across cultural lines. The underlying message about community and neighborliness repeats in each story, sometimes subtly and other times more overtly.

As someone who grew up in a suburban neighborhood, I’m always fascinated with stories about apartment life. I imagine the same is true for other kids who grew up in similar ways.

Ellen Oh, CEO of We Need Diverse Books, edited the collection which features some well-known middle grade authors, and many that I’ve been meaning to read. The only author featured in the collection that I had read before is David Bowles. I will definitely read more by several of these authors.

I also own an e-book version of another collection edited by Ellen Oh, Flying Lessons and Other Stories, so I’m excited to read that now as well.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to a middle school student with a crush on someone.

Spiritual Content
One character lights incense and prays to their ancestors.

Violent Content
Reference to a child dying of pneumonia. (Happens off-scene.)

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Athlete is Agender edited by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby

Anthology or Collection, Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Athlete is Agender: True Stories of LGBTQ+ People in Sports
Edited by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby
Little, Brown & Company
Published May 13, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Athlete is Agender: True Stories of LGBTQ+ People in Sports

Athlete is agender. Athlete can mean anyone. “Part memoir, part manifesto” (Booklist) this book revels in the achievements of strong, passionate, and determined LGBTQ+ athletes across every age, level, and field of sports.

Find your strength  Adam Rippon’s unbelievable journey from figure-skating Olympic alternate to the first openly gay Olympic medalist in his sport; CeCé Telfer’s career as a trans track star and her unwavering commitment to run for the future freedom of trans athletes; em dickson’s relationship to eir gender identity and how sailing, a sport that doesn’t categorize athletes by gender, helped em embrace eir power and identity, and many other invaluable true stories. Featuring testimonies by world-class athletes and award-winning children’s book authors, as well as profiles on culture-defining figures like Megan Rapinoe and Billie Jean King, Athlete Is Agender is a lifesaving book not to be missed.

This book is
·         LGBTQIA+ kids, teens, tweens, and adults.
·         Athletes and sports fans.
·         Readers looking to learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community.
·         Parents of gay kids and other LGBTQIA+ youth.
·         Educators looking for advice about the LGBTQIA+ community.

TITLE IX UPDATE

Laws are constantly being debated, repealed, and fought for. On January 9th, 2025, a federal court in Kentucky argued that transgender and nonbinary students should not be covered by Title IX protections, rolling back the 2021 order from then-Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

Right now, schools are currently required to follow the old version of Title IX, which does not include a section on transgender athletes. It’s up to us to keep pushing to get those protections back for transgender students. For transgender athletes reading this, the most powerful thing you can do is to be true to yourself, stay informed, and be sure to vote in every election you are eligible for. 

My Review

In this anthology, athletes share personal stories about the positive impact that sports have had on their lives. The stories are moving and easy to connect with, even for people who aren’t familiar with the athlete’s sport.

I particularly love the range of sports represented in the book. This includes sports like horse riding, archery, hockey, swimming, baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, and more. Sports fans will recognize some of the essay authors.

The whole point of the book is to show that participation in sports can have a life-changing, positive impact. The book reminds us everyone, regardless of identity or orientation deserves access to these activities.

In one essay, the author’s frustration is crystal clear. That tone might challenge some readers, but listening past that discomfort is important. It’s worth remembering that the current exclusions cause harm and affect real people.

If you’re looking to expand your knowledge about sports participation, I recommend this book and Gender Inequality in Sports: From Title IX to World Titles by Kirstin Cronn-Mills.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Reference to two athletes who date and later marry.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to bullying. Reference to someone whose partner outs them without consent.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.