Reviews

Hope Nation: YA Authors Share Personal Moments of Inspiration by Angie Thomas, Jason Reynolds

chyreads's review

It's taken me way too long to read this and I've gotten close to the end, but gave up on it. I think it doesn't work for me because lately, I'm not really in the space to feel receptive to what it is trying to convey. There were some stories/essays I enjoyed, but for the most part, I dragged myself through. I might revisit it in the near future.

lilisaurus's review against another edition

4.0

This was a great inspirational book! I really loved it! I knew a lot of the authors and I was cool to read their essays.

andeez's review against another edition

5.0

I needed this book and I can't wait to get it into our school library.

I'm a huge advocate of story compilations. I appreciate reading short works by authors I already know and I've become new fans of authors I hadn't previously read. This was no different. While each reader will find a different snippet to relate, I fell into the category of "losing all hope on November 8, 2016." I appreciated words of others to briefly pull me out of the "how did this happen" mode I've been in for 2 1/2 years.

But students will find their own stories to find comfort and Hope Nation offers a wide variety.

siyak_'s review

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.0

kenzrandall's review against another edition

4.0

This was such a great collection of short stories written by YA authors. They’re all about finding hope. I plan to use many excerpts from this book as mentor texts for my students to help inspire their writing. Although I didn’t connect with every essay, I loved most of them!!

skrajewski's review against another edition

5.0

This collection of gorgeous essays gave me so much hope, but in so many different ways. I truly believe that this collection has something for everyone. It’s a collection that needs to be shared, and I plan to do just that. I already mailed one copy to another teacher, and my students will read some pieces too. Why not gift it to a new administrator, a husband in need of a next read, or a friend who just needs a pick-me-up? Everyone needs hope. ❤️

ashleyreadstoomuch's review against another edition

4.0

I don’t have a lot of specific thoughts about this one, but I remember really enjoying it because it was really interesting to hear about things that had happened to some of my favourite authors. I liked learning more about them and things they learned and things that brought them hope.

destiel74's review

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

It was a sweet book. My favorites were Born in Argentina, No one remember those who build walls and Don't listen to.

engpunk77's review against another edition

4.0

These essays as a whole are excellent and inspiring to 40-something me. I appreciated that I knew most of the authors, including several Battle of the Books ones, which means that I can probably entice my club members to give this a try. I wonder if they will have the same reaction, as most of these authors are of my generation. My favorites were "Before and After" by Libba Bray (who describes dealing with an accident that disfigured her between graduating HS and going off to college) and Zentner's "Nobody remembers the names of people who build walls" with its glorification of "book people". Actually, all of these stories moved me except for the first one (in which Levithan fictionalizes his experience instead of writing a personal narrative like everyone else did). I highly recommend this if the intended audience, which I'm pretty sure is teens, is similarly inspired. I just don't know yet.
HS Civics, ELA, and Reading/Writing teachers, consider this essay collection for sources of essays to read/discuss in class!

shannak's review against another edition

5.0

So much wonderfulness about this book! It gives me hope that our authors who write about what is going on to the YA community see hope in this young generation. This gives me hope that America, despite her history, her flaws, and her established prejudices will rise up and finally, truly, become the land of equal opportunity for all, accepting of all, and safe for all.