Put together by the editors of the art journal Calyx, this is an anthology of 57 original creative works (11 prose pieces, 22 poems, 20 black-and-white art pieces, and four book reviews) by young women ranging from age 14 to 33 who are making their way in the world of literature and art. Their work is powerful and sometimes disturbing. For example, Cathy Malia Lowenberg's creative prose rendering in "Excisions of the Flesh" explores biases from birth related to Asian characteristics, and M.M. Bilas's "The Floating Sari" describes a daughter's fear of losing her relationship with her Hindu mother if she tells of her living arrangement with and pregnancy by an African American man. One of the most creative prose pieces is Kristin King's "The Wings," in which a wife overcomes her sexual desire for a female angel. Along with Barbara Findlen's Listen Up: Voices from the Next Feminist Generation (LJ 4/15/95), this anthology ably represents the thinking, honesty, and talent of "Generation X" women. For women's studies and literature collections.‘Jeris Cassel, Rutgers Univ. Libs., New Brunswick, N.J. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The young women's editorial collective at Calyx offers this collection of poetry, fiction, and art by women in their early thirties and younger to demonstrate that they "pay their dues just as all women who came before them. . . . They are all on the front lines of life, fighting to maintain their place at the table." Well, the writings do present a gamut of wisdom and insight about quite a range of experience: verbal, emotional, and physical batterings at the hands of drunken boyfriends; the cultural pressure in "Amerika," where "everyone must know how to speak English, even the dogs"; long, hard days of school and work at McSomething's burger pits that are capped by police harassment; farm life in the late twentieth century, recollected by a farm daughter; and being a proper Mormon wife while lusting for a womanly angel who haunts her at night. (Reviewed January 1 & 15, 1997)0934971544Whitney Scott

This intriguing anthology showcases the original art and unpublished literature of women linked by their youth. According to the nine editors, its authors are "the prophets of the new millennium." Including prose, poetry, art and book reviews, the wide range of genres here is matched by the diversity of these prophets, whom Mira Chieko Shimabukuro, one of the editors, calls these "Generations X-ers, apathetic slackers, baggy/tight jeans, clunky heels, pierced navels, eyebrows, tongue and cheek. Daughters of the women's civil rights and liberation movements, all out there trying to make sense of what's come before us, what we'll bring, what will follow.'' All of which makes for a wide-ranging representation of ethnic identity, economic background, educational experience and sexual orientation. Nonie Proffit's poem about fighting fires in the wilderness is followed by Ann E. Green's story of her family farm; and the two are sandwiched between Deborah L. Blicher's story about the bombing of an abortion clinic and a piece about a journey in the family car written by Emily Regan Wills, an eighth grader. While each selection has its own voice, some more distinct than others, the black-and-white artwork often gets lost in the chorus. Radiating the enthusiasm and conviction of its authors and editors, this rich sampling of talent is an unabashed celebration of subjectivity. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved