• Firsts & Lasts, edited by Laura Silverman (Penguin Workshop, 2023)

Review by Warner Holme: Laura Silverman’s Firsts & Lasts is a themed anthology with a rather wide scope. While at first glance the concept is of covering important final and starting actions in life, the titles themselves often make it quite clear that this book goes beyond the normal by a good range.

“The First Time I Dated a Vampire” by Julian Winters deals with both death and romance in different measures. This is hardly a surprise given that title. A young queer POC named Tyrell is planning to watch a movie, something with a loose connection to a departed father. A cute young man working there, Sean Kam, is odd. Irritable pale, passionate, and cold skinned the twist with him is obvious even without the title. Coming to terms with change, and loss, and how the two are deeply interconnected is a surprisingly strong theme of the ensuing date.

The fact the author is familiar with Atlanta seems obvious, yet the story’s setting of Santa Monica feels quite well drawn. Further the pop culture references include more than a little bit of geek culture both celebrated and derided (Twilight being the big example of the latter.) While the racial and LGBTQ+ associations of wanting to be in groups because it is safer comes up in the story, one has a little trouble not thinking about how for many associated with geek culture at one time or another there was much similar policy in individual circles.

Kika Hatzopoulou’s “The (Hopefully) Last Demon Summoning” is another tale featuring classic supernatural creatures. Nina is the lead, and goes to school with a fair number of openly supernatural entities like half vampires and were-creatures. She also has feelings for a friend named Gino, and the pair are moving into very different directions after school. In her desperation she made contact with the titular entity, and now it is coming back to haunt her.

Change and fear are the main themes of this story, along with a certain degree of loss. They are dressed up in a very genre plot however that doesn’t even begin to disguise them, instead merely to give a face to self-sabotage. The idea that letting go may or may not be necessary, but one cannot simply hope that stagnancy is a good thing, is well expressed.

As with many anthologies there is a very nice “About the Authors” section which gives a respectable paragraph on each individual who provided a story. The acknowledgments are well written, not overly brief taking up about a full page of their own.

This is a solid anthology, one likely to introduce many readers to new authors. While this pair of stories is only a small sampling, it does illustrate the deftness with which the short pieces handle their themes and characters. Even without the ages of the characters the fact that this is targeted towards a YA audience is clear, however a wide variety of readers are likely to enjoy it. Recommended to curious parties, or those looking for an anthology along these themes.