Talking bodies leads to open discussions about diversity and acceptance

     Kelly Jensen, editor of the popular mental Health, is back with another book that celebrates diversity and creates open dialogue for teen audiences to talk about some difficult topics. In Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy, readers take a deep dive into different people’s experiences growing up with bodies that are outside what is considered the norm.
     We all experience the world in a body, but we don’t usually take the time to explore what it really means to have and live within one. Just as every person has a unique personality, every person has a unique body, and every body tells its own story. In Body Talk, thirty-seven writers, models, actors, musicians, and artists share essays, lists, comics, and illustrations—about everything from size and shape to scoliosis, from eating disorders to cancer, from sexuality and gender identity to the use of makeup as armor. Together, they contribute a broad variety of perspectives on what it’s like to live in their particular bodies—and how their bodies have helped to inform who they are and how they move through the world.
     Filled with essays by activists, writers, celebrities, and more, this book really showcases what it means to love and accept your body. Between back braces, wheelchairs, makeup, deafness, and Crohn’s disease, this book highlights many different lives and does so from a real perspective. The book is broken up into six chapters that categorize the essays dealing with physical ailments, invisible illnesses, sexual topics, and more. It makes an effort to educate as well as relate to those who have either never heard of these illnesses/disabilities or who have experienced them. But most importantly, it celebrates the diversity of everyone’s beautiful bodies and seeks to spread awareness and self-love.
     This is a book that everyone can benefit from reading. Whether it’s to educate yourself, entertain yourself, or step into someone else’s shoes for a few pages, Body Talk is a great read and will leave your feeling empowered and insightful.

*I received an ARC from Algonquin Young Reader in exchange for my honest opinion.

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