First-Year Orientation ed. by Lauren Gibaldi (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: First-Year Orientation ed. by Lauren Gibaldi Sarah Sahn Gibaldi, Lauren, ed. First-Year Orientation; ed. by Lauren Gibaldi and Eric Smith. Candlewick, 2023 [336p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781536224498 $19.99 Paper ed. ISBN 9781536232431 $9.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 9-12 College is chance at reinvention for incoming students, and the protagonists in this charming short story collection are all ready to jump in feet-first on orientation day at Rolland College in New Jersey. Their paths to new identities aren't without obstacles, though: Jilly wants distance from her overprotective Chinese immigrant parents and nerdy high school persona in Gloria Chao's poignant story "Oyster," but her parents keep showing up at every orientation event. Meanwhile, in Olivia A. Cole's "Holding Hibiscus," Mella is hoping to get over her best friend Kendall's prom night rejection, but everywhere she looks, she finds Kendall's favorite things. Hira, the ghost hunter protagonist of Farah Naz Rishi's "Ghost Hunting for the Intrepid First Year," wants to retire and be a normal college kid, but there's the matter of the ghost that haunts the romance section in the library. The stories explore the push and pull of moving into a new, more independent life stage with humor and compassion, and they portray a wide range of experiences and identities, from band nerds to varsity athletes, international students to locals, and students from across the spectrum of race, class, socioeconomic backgrounds, and sexual and gender identities. There's an effortlessness to the representation, with fully fleshed-out characters grappling with their sense of self that isn't defined by identity politics. As in Clayton's short story collections Blackout (BCCB 6/21) and Whiteout (BCCB 12/22), the setting here creates a sense of cohesion in the collection that makes this volume feel more like an experimental novel, telling the same day from different points of view, as characters attend the same events, make cameos in each other's stories, and navigate a campus that's grown familiar by the last story. By turns realist and surrealist, funny and tender, these stories have something for any teen starting to think about college and will leave them with the reassurance that there's plenty of magic ahead. [End Page 258] Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois