Proud is a collection of YA short stories and poems by various writers all on the theme of Pride and the LGBTQ+ community. The book has a foreword by Juno Dawson (This Book is Gay and The Gender Games) and each of the collection’s submission is accompanied by a piece of art by various artists and illustrators, reflecting their take on the story.

Written by a range of authors, from LGBTQ+ icons you may already know such as David Levithan and Tanya Byrne to a selected group of début writers, the book is full of different experiences and interpretations of being proud. What they all have in common though is an inspirational, understanding and supportive message which reminds readers they can be proud in whoever they are.

From the Ireland equal marriage referendum and transgender football players to coming out stories and a re-telling of Pride and Prejudice, this book covers a great range of different ideas and themes. While the various authors also create diversity in the genres featured, from romance and coming-of-age to poetry and fantasy writing. Whether you are coming out to friends and family, exploring your first love, are uncertain about your feelings or are even just an ally for the LGBTQ+ community, there’s a story in here for you.

Some of my personal favourites included; Penguins by Simon James Green, On the Run by Kay Staples, Almost Certain by Tanya Byrne, The Other Team by Michael Lee Richardson, and Love Poems to the City by Moïra Fowley-Doyle.

A brilliant collection of short stories which tackle the struggles of identity alongside heart-warming tales of friendship, love and becoming who you’re meant to be. Every writer and every reader of this book has something to feel proud about.

I really enjoyed the last Stripes anthology A Change is Gonna Come so was really excited to get an advanced copy of Proud.

This collection of LGBTQ+ YA writing is based on the theme of pride. The stories are witty, sensitive, heartwarming and often laugh out loud funny. An interesting range of writers and artists, and these stories will make you want to seek out more of their work.

This is great collection that continues the Stripes quest for encouraging diversity in YA Lit - I'll definitely be recommending this to people and buying a copy for my classroom library. Loved it!

Thanks Stripes and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for a review.

This book was an anthology containing 12 stories. All twelve stories were written by a different author and had art joined to it by an artist. That's 24 people, all LGBT+. Also, it was compiled by Juno Dawson, also LGBT+, and she wrote the foreword.
All the stories are about Pride, being proud of who we are, in one way or another.

The book grabbed me when I read the first sentence of Juno Dawson's foreword. After that, I was a goner. The stories aren't all the same, I liked some more than others but there are so many different writing styles, topics and characters, everyone will found their own favorites. This entire book is a jewel and I cannot wait to put my hands on a physical copy.

Proud is an upcoming anthology of stories and poetry by LGBTQ+ YA authors, each piece reflecting the theme of Pride. Proud is such a fun anthology. It was a pure joy to read some of these pieces.

Some stories are utterly hilarious with Green’s Penguins were his own coming out to his parents is interrupted by penguins. Somewhere deeply saddening which follow the narrator as they navigate grief. All the chosen pieces are equally powerful and personal.

Each piece could easily be expanded by their authors if they wanted to. However, my fantasy-biased self obviously loved Cynthia So’s The Phoenix’s Fault the most. The short F/F story where a Chinese lantern maker has to choose between what her heart desires and what is expected of her. It reminded me a lot of Girls of Paper and Fire. Almost Certain comes close which follows a music loving teen who struggles to come out to her family while navigating her impending adulthood. I like reading books set in Brighton, where I’m from.

A broad and heart-warming collection of stories poems about identity and pride. Each piece was refreshing and different. I really love how each writer had interpreted the theme in their own unique way, and the range that is in this book is rather brilliant and fun to read. The accompanying art does not go unnoticed, and they work so well with their matching piece.

I was so excited to read this book (just look at that cover!) and I’m happy to report that Proud more than lived up to expectations. It is an inspiring and hugely enjoyable collection of short stories, poetry and artwork which I believe will mean a great deal to many young (and not so young) people.

Editor Juno Dawson’s pulls-no-punches introduction recalls the dark days of Section 28, which today’s young people will thankfully know, if at all, only as a historical disgrace. We’ve come a long way since then, which is not to say we don’t still have a long way to go.

From a lottery-winning teenage couple hiding out in a Travelodge (On the Run) to a queer football team (The Other Team) to a modern high school version of Pride and Prejudice (I Hate Darcy Pemberley), there’s a huge amount packed into this book. Relationships blossom and comings-out are accomplished, sometimes with a little help from penguins or phoenixes. (Phoenices?) There’s humour, sadness, gallons of compassion and creativity. I would hesitate to pick favourites, but I did find Tanya Byrne and Moira Fowley-Doyle’s stories to be very moving; I also loved Cynthia So’s delightful The Phoenix’s Fault which has the feel of a folk tale. The artwork which accompanies every piece also adds a fabulous extra dimension (I loved those by Frank Duffy, Kate Alizadeh and Leo Greenfield especially.)

There are lots of authors here I haven’t heard of - some are appearing in print for the very first time - but the standard is uniformly high. Brief information is provided at the end on all the authors and illustrators (from which I learned that Karen Lawler has a dog named Buffy).

Although I’m not in the YA age range (not by a long chalk), I found this book to be an absolute joy to read and I’m sure I will be returning to read it again.... now, how about a follow up including some more of the brilliant writers Juno mentions in her introduction??

I’m a keen advocate of diversity in children’s literature and strongly believe that children and young people should be able to see themselves reflected in the books available to them. In 2017, I read A Change is Gonna Come, an anthology of stories and poems written by BAME authors and poets, and I absolutely loved it. When I heard that Stripes Publishing were to bring out a similar anthology featuring the work of LGBTQ+ authors and illustrators, I was so excited and new that I would need to read this. I had a feeling that, like A Change is Gonna Come, this would be a book that secondary schools just needed to get into their collections….
…and having read it, I was completely right! This book is for all young adults (it’s also suitable for those who are not so young, like myself), whether they are gay, straight, trans, cis, non-binary or questioning their identity. It will allow many young people to see their experiences reflected in writing but also will allow them to gain an understanding of and empathy for those who identify differently to them due to the wonderfully diverse range of perspectives in the poems and short stories featured.
I absolutely enjoyed the range of the poems/stories featured- from the teen rom-com take on Pride and Prejudice ‘I Hate Darcy Pemberley’ by Karen Lawler to the folktale style ‘The Phoenix’s Fault’ by Cynthia So and the wonderful montage of voices featured in ‘As the Philadelphia Queer Youth Choir Sings Katy Perry’s Firework.’ The accompanying artwork for each story/poem are beautifully rendered and absolutely capture the heart of each piece.
I feel incredibly strongly that this is a book which should feature in secondary school collections and community library YA sections around the country.

I've never read anything like this before. A brilliant anthology of LGBTQ+ short stories and poems, there's something for everyone. I really enjoyed this book and some of the stories made me want more, to see what happened next to the characters - I particularly felt this after reading Penguins by Simon James Green, On The Run by Kay Staples and The Phoenix's Fault by Cynthia So. The illustrations are beautiful and the artists were well-matched to each story. As there are a variety of stories, naturally there were a couple that weren't quite my cup of tea, which is why this doesn't quite get 5 stars, but it was a great read overall. I hope to read full-length books by some of these authors in the future!

Proud is an anthology of YA stories and poetry with accompanying art written by LGBTQ authors on the theme of 'pride'. These cover a range of experiences, giving different insights into teenage life including learning to drive, coming out, escaping bad situations, dealing with anxiety, and finding ways to fight. People think about their opinions on marriage, find community in choirs and football teams, and get upstaged by some penguins.

The stories are often moving, funny, and powerful, taking some of the best elements of young adult fiction—the characters, voices, and relatability—and distilling them into short tales. The authors are a mixture of established YA writers and some lesser known ones, and the anthology provides a great way of finding new authors to read. Each story makes a great bitesize, affirming read, but it is difficult not to read it all at once. This is another YA anthology from Stripes Publishing that brings together thought-provoking fiction that shows the diversity of YA writing and will hopefully provide a lot of people with stories that reflect them and the people they know.

This is the sort of book I want to buy hundreds of copies of and gift it to everyone I know. Each story has a distinct voice, but the whole book, curated beautifully by Juno Dawson, is unified. It fills me with joy knowing that there are young people who are going to feel heard, seen and wanted when they read any one of these artfully penned shorts.

This book was delightful. I inhaled it in one sitting on a rainy Friday afternoon and it has filled me with such joy.

The book is made up of a wonderful selection of poetry, short stories and beautiful artwork. The tales range from Pride and Prejudice retellings to Dungeons and Dragons and all with an LGBTQIA+ (Pride) spin - just wonderful.

I cannot wait to read this again when I get my hands on the final print version. Thank you to Netgalley and Stripes Publishing for an early review copy of this book and for granting my (first) wish!

It's possibly my own fault: my expectations were *so* high with this book. And it is really good. Just not as completely fantastically best thing ever as I was expecting. And to be fair, what book could hit that mark?

This is very good, a collection of stories and art celebrating various combinations of gay, bi, trans and probably others I'm forgetting. My favourite story was The Instructor; it had a lovely touch of humour that I really enjoyed. I think this'll sell well, and it definitely deserves to.

Everyone involved in the making of @StripesBooks' Proud should be so, well, proud of their achievement.

It is an extremely important book.

It's a fabulous read, with beautiful art, but, more than that, this is a book that will genuinely change lives. I love it. 🌈

Wow firstly I’d like to say that this anthology is one of the best anthologies I have ever read every story was powerful,emotional and so uplifting.
I loved every single story in this book some more than others of course but mostly every single one was amazing. I really loved this anthology because it had a lot of authors I had never heard of before and now want to look into each persons work because their writing was beautiful written and so many I wanted turned into actuall novel. Yes to more lgbtq+ rep and yes to more and more novels coming out every single year.
Overall I would give ths anthology a 5/5 stars so well deserved and I would recommend this book to anyone to read

Well gosh this book is just perfect. So perfect that, when I tried to tell my friend about it, I just ended up flailing incoherently while shouting "Read it!"7

But that doesn't really cut it as a book review, sadly. So let's see...

Proud is a collection of short stories and poetry by leading YA writers, all of whom identify as LGBTQ+. And each piece of writing is accompanied by a piece of art, by an artist who also identifies as LGBTQ+. And everything - from the writing to the art to the cover - is just wonderful. There's a real variation in theme, genre, setting and tone, but each piece is just a nugget of beauty and hope and loveliness. I can't even, as I usually do with collections, identify highlights, because the standard was so consistently high and each piece offered something new.

If I'd had this book when I was 14 and queer and confused I would have treasured it; hell, I'm 40 and I will treasure it.