BLOG TOUR: Body Talk Review – Edited by Kelly Jensen

Thanks so very much to Algonquin Books for Young Readers for providing me a digital review copy via NetGalley and letting my join in on this blog tour!

SYNOPSIS

It’s time to bare it all about bodies!
 
We all experience the world in a body, but we don’t usually take the time to explore what it really means to have and live within one. Just as every person has a unique personality, every person has a unique body, and every body tells its own story.
 
In Body Talk, thirty-seven writers, models, actors, musicians, and artists share essays, lists, comics, and illustrations—about everything from size and shape to scoliosis, from eating disorders to cancer, from sexuality and gender identity to the use of makeup as armor. Together, they contribute a broad variety of perspectives on what it’s like to live in their particular bodies—and how their bodies have helped to inform who they are and how they move through the world.
 
Come on in, turn the pages, and join the celebration of our diverse, miraculous, beautiful bodies!

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REVIEW

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I haven’t had the opportunity to read non-fiction in a while and I was glad to have the chance to read this one. BODY TALK is all about the ins and outs of our bodies. From the way we look on the outside to the way that our bodies make us feel on the inside.

Complex, diverse, impacting, hopeful, and emotional. These are some of the words I’d use to describe this anthology. This anthology made me feel so many emotions from relating to the pains of being insecure about how I look and feel about my own body to being uplifted by the more humorous tales. From tackling scoliosis, body hair, body dysmorphia, endometriosis, chronic illness, achondroplasia dwarfism, teeth, makeup, being fat, puberty, blindness, the color of ones’ skin, BODY TALK offers multiple accounts of the joy and pains of literally living with ourselves told through multiple mediums, such as essays, comic strips, and illustrations.

I also enjoyed the FAQs about related words and terms that are important when talking about our bodies such as disabled, fat, body positivity, accessibility, etc. Which explains thoroughly about the how, when, and why we use these words when talking about our bodies.

This is an important and unique anthology and I would recommend this to any teen or adult who is confused about how to feel about their own body as this offers a plethora of voices. Even if I can’t personally relate to some of the stories, I feel that its important to hear from people who live beyond your own experiences. There were some stories that I could relate to regardless of my own experiences that I found emotionally impactful. I recommend taking your time with one as there are many stories to take in and each and every one brings its own lasting impression.

My personal favorites were from Rachael Lippincott, Eugene Grant, Tyra Banks & Carolyn London, Sara Saedi, D.M. Moerhle, Julie Murphy, Junauda Petrus-Nasah, Rosahni Chokshi, Jourdain Searles, and Gavin Grimm.

BODY TALK is OUT NOW and I highly recommend you go out and get it from your local bookstore, online, or at your local library!