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

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. Agent: Patricia Nelson, Looking Glass Literary. (Sept.)