First Kiss (Then Tell) is an anthology filled with the true first-kiss stories from a number of fantastic YA authors, including Deb Caletti, Justine Larbalestier, David Levithan, Alyson Noel, and Scott Westerfeld. The stories are told in different forms–stories, plays, comics, poems (Scott Westerfeld writes a haiku! I love haiku)–and are very different stories, from the funny to sweet and awkward to disgusting. Overall, this book is a lot of fun!

The story that stood out to me the most was Paul Ruditis’s, Improvisation. It’s a “dramatic reenactment” that made me laugh out loud, it’s just so short and sweet and funny and perfect. I also really enjoyed a couple of the cartoons, which surprised me, because I don’t read graphic novels or anything. Maybe I should; A Brief History of First Kisses written by David Levithan with words by Nick Eliopulos was one of my favorites, as was Amy Kim Ganter’s The Third First Kiss. Another one that I really liked was the story of Shannon and Dean Hale’s first kiss with each other (a story that they both tell differently).

I didn’t love every story in this collection; some were just, “eh,” and some were good but not really my thing (I have a weak stomach, so some of them made me rather nauseous!). It’s a well-executed project, though; great concept, great title, great lineup of authors! And there are quite a few awesome stories here. It’s certainly worth reading!

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