All the Love Under the Vast Sky

Gr 8 Up–From a modern-day U.S. high school to Germany in 1899, from 15th-century Mesoamerica to 12th-century India and back to the present day again, this sweeping collection of short stories in verse is wonderfully varied and unique. Palpable anger and heartbreak in Melanie Crowder’s brash and bridge-burning “Not So Sweet (an Anti-Cupid Story)” are balanced by a found circus family’s uplifting community love for a kind, driven, bearded girl in “All for Annie” by Robin Gow. In “Love-Bomb,” Mariama J. Lockington explores what it costs Jadine to have a mother who can’t “reckon with her own wounds” while in Charles Waters’s “Rock Steady,” Grandma Aggie’s steadfast support gives Alonzo the strength to be true to his feelings. A surprisingly cohesive collection despite the wide-ranging individuality of each piece, Wilson’s anthology explores 12 specific manifestations of love in the lives of young people. It shows up platonically between friends, in the form of communication struggles and successes with parents, love for animals, romantic connections, and, importantly, love for oneself. Each author’s interpretation of the concept of love is creative and well-crafted. An all-star list of poets including David Bowles, Margarita Engle, and Padma Venkatraman tackle the subject in forms that are flowing and expansive, short and staccato, and everything in between.