Firsts and Lasts: 16 Stories from Our World...and Beyond!

This short story collection encompasses a wide array of genres and styles, although each does address some sort of first or last. This can be as unusual speculative fiction such as Julian Winter's The First Time I Dated a Vampire, which approaches this in an oddly realistic way, or Silverman's own The Last Dinosaur, which melds grief with the unlikely existence of prehistoric creatures. The realistic entries also were very distinctive. I think my favorite was Monica Gomez-Hira's The First Day of College, since leaving home is such a pivotal experience, and this story underscored the unique challenges of being a first generation student settling in to the college environment while trying to uphold family traditions. While alarming in its detail and accuracy, I also enjoyed Tess Sharpe's The First Time We Buried a Body, a story which true crime fans will love, and which makes me want to investigate this author's other work.

A lot of the stories deal with romantic relationships, like Nina Moreno's The First Kiss, Keah Brown's The First Crush, and Anna Meriano's The First Breakup, and a large number of the stories highlight characters who represented many facets of the LGBTQIA+ community. The authors represent diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds as well.

What worked: First off, I'm a huge fan of short story anthologies. They're perfect for those who are on the go and don't have time and/or want to read long novels. FIRSTS AND LASTS is an engaging collection of fiction shorts that go over new experiences and final moments experienced by teens before they go on their journeys toward becoming adults. So many great authors in this collection as well!

Some of my favorites:

Firsts:

THE FIRST DAY OF COLLEGE by Monica Gomez-Hira shares the time a teen gets ready to start college and her experience meeting her roommate. I totally related to this story, remembering my own experience of going away to a university and knowing no one there.

THE FIRST TIME WE BURIED A BODY by Tess Sharpe shows the aftermath of a girl helping another one out in a horrific event.

THE FIRST BREAKUP by Anna Meriano is one of having the courage to realize it's okay not to settle.

LASTS:

THE LAST PURITY BALL by Joy McCullough shows a girl who puts everything into being someone and then finds out the truth later on.

THE LAST TIME I SAW HER ALIVE by Diana Urban has a twist on how far someone goes to get what they want.

Other stories in this book include paranormal hints and ones that are sure to resonate with readers.

Entertaining collection of short stories with something for everyone.