Genre: Non-fiction/Anthology
Pages: 256
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: August 2020
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Breaking the stigma around the “but you don’t look sick” mentality starts and ends with you. So even though I “don’t look sick,” I am, because it’s so much more than looks. Disabilities and chronic illnesses are not, nor have they ever been, a one-size-fits-all style.
You may have already been a fan of Kelly Jensen after the release of her last two acclaimed YA anthologies, HERE WE ARE: Feminism for the Real World and (DON’T) Call Me Crazy.
Kelly is back with a new collection of edited essays, this time about bodies. BODY TALK: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy, is a collection of essays, lists, comics, and illustrations from thirty-seven writers, models, actors, musicians, and artists about how their particular, unique bodies have helped to inform who they are.
The collection is the first of its kind to delve so deeply into the world of bodies, covering topics like body and fat positivity, physical disabilities, eating disorders, sexuality and gender identity, and much more. Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Aly Raisman’s essay is about an opportunity to pose nude that helped her to start loving her body; electronic musician and drummer Madame Gandhi’s story is about running the London Marathon with her period; and bestselling YA author Rachael Lippincott’s essay is about the scoliosis and spine surgeries that plagued her throughout her teen years. LGBTQ activist Gavin Grimm contributes a piece about how readers can help the trans people in their lives both socially and emotionally; model Tyra Banks offers helpful tips to improve body image; and NBC reporter Benjamin Pu writes about finding humor in his testicular cancer diagnosis.
The comprehensive, compulsively readable guide to growing into our bodies is out on August 18th, 2020.
Synopsis:
It’s time to bare it all about bodies!
We all experience the world in a body, but we don’t usually take the time to explore what it really means to have and live within one. Just as every person has a unique personality, every person has a unique body, and every body tells its own story.
In Body Talk, thirty-seven writers, models, actors, musicians, and artists share essays, lists, comics, and illustrations—about everything from size and shape to scoliosis, from eating disorders to cancer, from sexuality and gender identity to the use of makeup as armor. Together, they contribute a broad variety of perspectives on what it’s like to live in their particular bodies—and how their bodies have helped to inform who they are and how they move through the world.
Come on in, turn the pages, and join the celebration of our diverse, miraculous, beautiful bodies!
Praise:
“Jensen expertly organizes these stories into chapters on a common theme. The experiences are relayed with equal parts honesty and knowledge. A must-have anthology collection on an evergreen topic.”
— SLJ, starred review
“Together, [the] contributions not only emphasize acceptance and self-love but reclaim identities like ‘fat’ and ‘disabled’ and span across gender, gender identity, race, and other intersections. Readers will find many commonalities among all these differences and may begin to embrace those differences in others and, most importantly, in themselves.”
— Booklist
“Together, [the] contributions not only emphasize acceptance and self-love but reclaim identities like ‘fat’ and ‘disabled’ and span across gender, gender identity, race, and other intersections. Readers will find many commonalities among all these differences and may begin to embrace those differences in others and, most importantly, in themselves.”
— Kirkus Reviews
About Kelly Jensen:
Kelly Jensen is a former librarian and current editor at Book Riot and her own popular book blog, Stacked. She’s the editor of two highly-acclaimed YA anthologies, Here We Are: Feminism For The Real World and (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start The Conversation About Mental Health. Her writing has been featured in Bust Magazine, Fortune, Bustle, and more. When not working with words, she teaches yoga, hangs out with a motley crew of pets, and enjoys all of the black licorice no one else wants. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen and her website kellybjensen.com.
I would like to thank Algonquin Books for providing a digital copy of the book for the blog tour. All opinions are my own.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a very small percentage of the sale at no cost to you.
Image by Anne-marie Ridderhof from Pixabay
August 16, 2020 @ 11:29 am
This sounds interesting.
August 16, 2020 @ 5:08 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Sonia. I have only read a few essays until now and they are really good. I will be back with a complete review. This book needs to be out there.