Spotlight: A Golden Light Anthology made its debut a few days ago and I'd like to take this opportunity to feature this YA book and explain why it's so special. In fact, I think it's a 'must read'.
When accepting short story submissions for this YA anthology I had a certain theme in mind. Each of the stories had to feature main characters, or have a story line, that showed the main character dealing with a difficult situation. After all, teens deal with more tough issues than adults can comprehend sometimes. And they usually don't talk about it. Many times young adults suffer through the most difficult situations in silence.
Well, that's what I wanted to 'spotlight' in this anthology. Not only did I want to feature main characters who dealt with obstacles, I wanted each story to offer hope - hope that these situations would pass, or be overcome.
In short - I wanted these stories to offer hope for teens.
I felt that bringing the sad, lonely, and hard times out of the shadows and into the spotlight would ultimately encourage young adults that they, too, could overcome life's tough times. After all, we always read about teens in great situations - those who fall in love, etc.
What about real life issues? What about loss and grief? Or loneliness and betrayal? What about the really hurtful times?
Well, I thought those deserved to be addressed, too.
So instead of telling authors exactly what I was looking for I decided I would just sit and wait for the right stories to come in. After all, I believe stories should be written from the heart - not written for a publisher's guidelines or the market.
Sure enough the stories that came to me were outstanding and featured exactly what I was looking for.
Stories of hope.
Stories that made me laugh and cry. Stories that took me down a dim path and brought me out into the light. Stories that would speak to young adults and let them know they're not alone and that they, too, can make it through.
Some of the stories in this anthology are sweet, some are sad, all are extremely well written, and most of all touching.
I'd like to encourage you to pick up a copy and give it a try. Better yet, if you know of a young adult in your life who could use a bit of hope and encouragement, gifting them a copy might help.
And it may show them that they're not alone.
Book description -
Spotlight: A Golden Light Anthology features young adult stories of hope. Themes of rejection and forgiveness, of loss and triumph, of loneliness and friendships, of struggles and determination, of betrayal and overcoming, lace each story.
Authors Deborah Prum, Sarah Meira Rosenberg, T.K. Richardson, Alexandra Singer, Tucker Cummings, Lynda Lee Schab, Jason Hinz, Carmen Tudor, and Lisa Marie Lopez offer stories grounded in reality or sprinkled with fantasy, but feature main characters that face real issues – issues that are often hidden in the darkness.
Step out of the shadows and into the light with Spotlight: A Golden Light Anthology
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Also, this fan made video really spoke to me as I was writing this post, so I'm including it here. Please note, this song is from the band Skillet. We have no affiliation with Skillet, but this song mirrors some of what I wanted Spotlight to reflect.
I hope it speaks to you, too.
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