UP ALL NIGHT - Edited by Laura Silverman

4.5 stars

This was a fantastic collection with very few duds for me. All taking place from sunset to sunrise... what a fun concept that left the authors with a LOT of wiggle room. (Also, isn't that deranged smile of mine the look of someone who has been "up all night" reading this?? Because that's what happened. 

For anthologies, I love to do a short breakdown for each story with individual star ratings. They're listed below! My top favorites were the stories by Kayla Whaley, Marieke Nijkamp, Tiffany D. Jackson, Julian Winters, and Kathleen Glasgow.

Also, as a note, I am in love with the diversity in topics, sexuality, gender, race, physical abilities, wealth, and more in this collection. This truly felt like a representation for teens anywhere in the country. (All stories were USA based.)

Never Have I Ever - Karen M McManus (4 stars)
A classic game, an overnight party with band nerds...when one dare ends up with the group discovering their neighbor has been murdered, what's next?

Like Before - Maureen Goo (3.5 stars)
Three high school girls have fallen apart, and one third of their triangle is desperate to bring then back together. If she can just make them relive their memories, then everything will work out, right? RIGHT?

Old Rifts and Snowdrifts - Kayla Whaley (5 stars)
A wheelchair-bound teen and her ex-best friend are caught in his mom's florist shop during a dangerous snowstorm—it's time to unpack what led to their issues, and if there's something they can do about it.

Con Nights, Parallel Hearts - Marieke Nijkamp (5 stars)
The first, but not the last, story that made me tear up. One night, three friends are camping out before a convention. One of them wants to share their childhood trauma... and we see three parallel versions of that situation.

Kiss the Boy - Amanda Joy (2.5 stars)
A personal dud for me, but then I'm not a teen and my days of fretting over kissing boys and high school drama are behind me. A cute story amongst some harder-hitting ones.

Creature Capture - Laura Silverman (3 stars)
An overnight adventure featuring a Pokemon Go lookalike game, one girl who's convinced she's too weird to be a friend, and a very on-the-nose message about realizing that sometimes it's up to you to play the first move.

Shark Bait - Tiffany D. Jackson (5 stars)
Jackson's readers will know this story was always going to be a deep cut—and of course it was. A Black teen escaping reality at Martha's Vineyard with her boyfriend who can pass for white. A late-night accident. What now?

A Place to Start - Nina LaCour (4 stars)
Two new stepsiblings are left alone in their new, combined household while their moms go off to their honeymoon. Will they break down the walls, metaphorically or physically, before the morning?

When You Bring a Dog to Prom - Anna Meriano (4.5 stars)
Very cute post-prom situation that shows the blended and ever-complicated dramas of teens today. With some angst with a happy ending thrown in for some fun. This one made me tear up in a happy way.

Missing - Kathleen Glasgow (4.5 stars)
Even though this collection's concept was about stories taking place at night, for some reason I was surprised to see a horror story in here. I shouldn't have been! This creepy asylum adventure was chilling, seriously sad, and completely absorbing.

What About Your Friends - Brandy Colbert (4 stars)
An all-night dance marathon at a college takes a turn when our main character discovers one of her old best friends—who she ghosted the year before—is on the opposing team. Will emotions dance themselves out too?

Under Our Masks - Julian Winters (5 stars)
A cute and adorable geek story about a teen boy superhero and his crush, who is determined to stake out said superhero one night. Is it time for romance, or the truth about his identity? (Fans of TJ Klune's The Extraordinaries will LOVE this one.)

The Ghost of Goon Creek - Francesca Zappia (3.5 stars)
A loner "ghost hunter" girl ends up taking a group of teens out to a haunted spot one night. She thinks they're humoring her for weird reasons, when really they just want to get to know her. Cute, but a bit of let down after the earlier spooky story if I'm honest.

Thank you to Algonquin for Young Readers for my copy in exchange for an honest review.