Every Body Shines: Sixteen Stories About Living Fabulously Fat

Gr 8 Up–Newbould’s anthology is a feminist take on intersectional body diversity and fat acceptance. The collection includes a foreword by Aubrey Gordon, creator of the Your Fat Friend site and podcast, and stories by authors including Nafiza Azad, Alex Gino, Francina Simone, and Renée Watson. This inclusive compilation features short stories about fat girls, boys, and nonbinary teens with various sexualities and backgrounds: characters are Black, Indian, Muslim, Chinese, and more. The stories highlight a number of genres and settings—from the hockey arena to outer space and prom shopping to the softball field. Empowering and reflective, these stories tackle finding your voice, even if “well-meaning” family members may not know how to show love the way it is needed. The common thread throughout these selections is that fat characters are centered, not sidelined; they are bold and bright, demanding to be seen. In Gordon’s moving foreword, she concludes, “Telling stories like the ones in this collection—and stories like yours—is part of how we change the world around us.”