For the Rest of Us
13 Festive Holiday Stories to Celebrate All Seasons
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
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
What happens when the holidays we don’t always see on-screen get their own heartfelt stories?
LGBTQ+ Romance: From a heartfelt Nowruz coming out story to a magical Winter Solstice and a rivals-to-lovers Chrismukkah kiss, these stories celebrate queer love in all seasons.Diverse Holiday Traditions: Experience the joy of Holi, the reflection of Día de los Muertos, the renewal of Juneteenth, and the magic of Diwali through the eyes of characters celebrating their own way.Family Secrets and Found Family: Whether it’s uncovering truths about mental health on Día de los Muertos or finding your people during a solstice snowstorm, family is what you make it.Rivals to Lovers: A snarky competition over whether Christmas or Hanukkah has the better holiday aesthetic leads to an unexpected connection and a mistletoe moment.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fifteen contributors—including Natasha Díaz, Kosoko Jackson, and Karuna Riazi—showcase myriad cultural holidays, festivals, and celebrations in this joyful anthology edited by Adler (Come As You Are). Arranged in calendrical order, the stories focus on intersectionally diverse teens navigating evergreen adolescent trials and tribulations against festive backdrops. In Kelly Loy Gilbert's tense Lunar New Year–set selection "This Is How It's Always Been" and Laura Pohl's zealous ode to Valentine's Day "P.S. I (Don't) Love You," queer high schoolers contend with romantic challenges. A teenager's Persian Nowruz celebration coincides with the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown in Abdi Nazemian's optimistic tale "A New Day." And a college student visiting family in Texas for Juneteenth takes a stand against systemic racism in "Hill Country Heartbeat" by Candace Buford. "There's nothing quite like being welcomed into someone else's festivities... and feeling infused with the spirit of their joy," Adler states in an introduction that deftly positions these festive tellings, which acknowledge northern-winter celebrations—including the Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa—alongside Holi, Eid, Diwali, and more, making for an expansive and jubilant assemblage. Ages 12–up.
