Tag: anthology

This book features a host of fantastic stories with the pull of one universal theme. Can you tell us a little more about it?

When We Become Ours is a young-adult fiction anthology by and for adoptees. In many ways, this is the book we wish we’d had when we were growing up. While adoption isn’t the central focus of every plot, every story is written by an adoptee author of colour and features a young adoptee as a protagonist. We don’t know of another book like it for teens, and hope it will be the first of many.

We don’t know of another book like it for teens, and hope it will be the first of many.

When We Become Ours covers a broad range of settings and genres, from school halls and newly forged friendships to feelings of loss set on entirely different planets. Was there a method in making sure each story had its own original narrative, or did they all come together easily?

That the collection is so strong and wide-ranging is really a testament to our contributors’ talent and creativity. From the beginning, we knew we wanted to put together an anthology that represented as many different adoptee perspectives and experiences as possible. In the end, it wasn’t terribly difficult to ensure the breadth and diversity of narratives, because (as expected) we received so many wonderful original stories for consideration, and no two were alike! The hardest part of the process was probably narrowing down our selections, since we only had room for a small number of stories.

What was it like to work on this book as a collaborative process?

After the book was sold and announced, we put out a call for stories and read every submission as it came in. As mentioned, it wasn’t easy to make our selections from such a large number, but luckily we were aligned on the stories that most excited us. Next we did a round of developmental (or big picture) edits on each story, followed by a round or two of more detailed line edits, with our fantastic Harper Teen editor, Megan Ilnitzki, weighing in at each stage. The entire process was really a labour of love—all of us involved felt very strongly about the importance of this project. Our authors were truly a pleasure to work with, which made it a fun and collaborative experience from start to finish.

How important is it for you to share these stories from an #ownvoices perspective, and what do you hope readers might get out of this anthology?

Despite the great and increasing diversity of YA literature by authors from marginalized backgrounds, adoptee-authored, adoptee-centered representation in literature for young people is still lacking. But, as we write in our Editors’ Note at the start of the book, we have always been here, and we know our imaginations and our stories are powerful. Our hope is that many readers will be able to see themselves, their feelings, their families, and their experiences reflected in these stories—an experience that is far too rare for young adoptees. At the same time, we think this is a book for everyone. We know that stories can entertain, teach, transform, and challenge us all, and we believe this anthology is one that anyone of any age can pick up and love.

Nicole Chung

Nicole Chung is the bestselling author of All You Can Ever Know (2018) and A Living Remedy (2023) and the co-editor of several anthologies, including When We Become Ours. Born and adopted in Seattle, raised in Oregon, she now lives in the Washington, DC area. @nicolesjchung on Instagram + Twitter | nicolechung.net