Color Outside the Lines Lib/E: Stories about Love

This modern, groundbreaking YA anthology explores the complexity and beauty of interracial and LGBTQ+ relationships where differences are front and center. When people ask me what this anthology is about, I'm often tempted to give them the complicated answer: it's about race, and about how being different from the person you love can matter but how it can also not matter, and it's about Chinese pirate ghosts, black girl vigilantes, colonial India, a flower festival, a garden of poisons, and so, so much else. Honestly, though? I think the answer's much simpler than that. Color outside the Lines is a collection of stories about young, fierce, brilliantly hopeful people in love.-Sangu Mandanna, editor of Color outside the Lines

About the Author :
... Adam Silvera was born and raised in the Bronx. He was a bookseller before shifting to children's publishing and has worked at a literary development company and a creative writing website for teens and as a book reviewer of children's and young adult novels. He is tall for no reason and lives in New York City. Elsie Chapman grew up in Prince George, British Columbia, before graduating from the University of British Columbia with a BA in English Literature. She lives in Vancouver with her husband and two children, where she writes to either movies on a loop or music turned up way too loud (and sometimes both at the same time). Danielle Paige is the New York Times bestselling author of the Dorothy Must Die series, Stealing Snow, and the upcoming Mera book with DC Entertainment. In addition to writing young adult books, she works in the television industry, where she's received a Writers Guild of America Award and was nominated for several Daytime Emmys. She is a graduate of Columbia University and currently lives in New York City. You can find her on daniellepaigebooks.com Sneha Mathan is a voice actor and audiobook narrator. Her audiobook work has received several Earphones awards, and she is a three-time Audie Award finalist. She lives in Seattle. Neil Shah is an Audie-nominated and multi AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator who has recorded over 250 audiobooks spanning across almost every genre, as well as numerous long-form journalism articles. AudioFile magazine has commended him for "an absolutely mesmerizing listening experience" and as "an outstanding narrator who adds a healthy dose of personality to each of the characters." As a classically trained actor, he has appeared off Broadway and on regional stages, as well as in film and television. He records from his home studio in Oregon's beautiful Wine Country. Soneela Nankani is an award-winning narrator with over three hundred titles in many different genres including Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi, and Nonfiction. She has garnered sixteen Earphones Awards, nominations for Audie and SOVAS awards, and was recently awarded AudioFile magazine's Golden Voice Lifetime Achievement Honor. Her audiobooks have been featured in Best Audiobooks lists by AudioFile magazine and the Washington Post, among others. In her spare time, she loves to read (yes, really), learn languages, try new recipes, and travel. She lives in the DC area with her husband and two mischievous daughters. Channie Waites is an actress and narrator. Her reading of Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon's book Zora and Me earned her a 2010 Best Voice Award in children and family listening from AudioFile magazine. She has received a total of four AudioFile Earphones Awards. Laura Knight Keating, an Audie Award-winning narrator, is an actress who has appeared on stage, in films, and on television shows, including Boardwalk Empire, Hope and Faith, and Lipstick Jungle. Leila Buck is a voice talent and audiobook narrator. Maria Liatis is a voice talent and audiobook narrator. Catherine Ho is a Midwesterner living in NYC. She's an AudioFile Best of 2021, Earphones Award winner, and AA2022-nominated voice actor. She's voiced hundreds of characters for the Big 5 publishers, Nickelodeon, Havas, TedLive, Macy's, IBM, and more. Raised in Ohio by English language learners, she has an ear and agility for accents. She is a relentless and eclectic consumer of media in all forms, reader for a literary magazine, coached and passable at kickboxing and boxing, music literate, a trained singer, and truly mediocre at the ukulele. Sangu Mandanna was four years old when an elephant chased her down a forest road and she decided to write her first story about it. Seventeen years and many, many manuscripts later, she signed her first book deal. She is the author of YA novels The Lost Girl, A Spark of White Fire and its sequels, and has contributed to several anthologies. She lives in Norwich, in the east of England, with her husband and kids. Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom is her first middle-grade novel. Sangu Mandanna was four years old when an elephant chased her down a forest road and she decided to write her first story about it. Seventeen years and many, many manuscripts later, she signed her first book deal. She is the author of YA novels The Lost Girl, A Spark of White Fire and its sequels, and has contributed to several anthologies. She lives in Norwich, in the east of England, with her husband and kids. Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom is her first middle-grade novel.

Review :

"A brilliantly compiled YA anthology...These gloriously steadfast teens refuse to be voiceless, and their astounding ambition commands us to listen."

"A stunning collection of refreshing stories about love and identity among diverse young people."

"Filled to the brim with romantic, transcendent short fiction."

"Listeners will find themselves drawn into the hope and possibility of young love with this powerful and inclusive anthology. The stories feature individuals within the queer community who are representative of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. The ensemble of narrators adds to the varied stories and infuses the selections with empathy and compassion. The narrators are well matched to stories that address multiple issues...There are several standouts including 'Turn the Sky to Petals' and 'Gilman Street, ' narrated by Maria Liatis, 'Your Life Matters' narrated by Channie Waites, and 'The Boy Is' narrated by Catherine Ho."

A missing piece in the puzzle of YA lit."