A collection of quick stories and poems that explores college life, love, and identity!
Welcome to UMB, where...
-Aarti attends orientation armed with a detailed four-year plan...that might not go as expected
-Fray is looking for a Jewish community on campus that they can actually feel comfortable in
-Salomé struggles with anxiety while trying to make new friends
-Rani doesn't know how to break the news at her family's New Year's party that she's considering a career change
-Trina suddenly loses her friend group and has to find a new one
-Emma and Valerie realize they might actually have feelings for each other...but they're about to graduate
Told over the course of one academic year, this collection of stories and poems features students from different cultures, genders, and interests learning more about who they are and who they want to be. From new careers to community to (almost) missed connections -- and more -- these interconnected tales explore the ways university life can be stressful and confusing and exciting and fulfilling!
Contributors include Jake Maia Arlow, Arushi Avachat, Boon Carmen, Ananya Devarajan, Camryn Garrett, Christina Li, Racquel Marie, Oyin, Laila Sabreen, Michael Waters, and Joelle Wellington.
Arlow, Jake Maia: -
Jake Maia Arlow is a podcast producer, writer, and bagel connoisseur. They are the author of Almost Flying, which won the Stonewall
Honor, How to Excavate a Heart, and, most recently, The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet. They studied evolutionary biology and creative
writing (not as different as you might think) at Barnard College, and now live with their girlfriend and loud cat in the Pacific Northwest.
Avachat, Aashna: - Aashna Avachat is a YA author and editorial assistant with a love for hope-filled stories. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in spring 2020 with a BA in English and is currently a 1L at Harvard Law School. She is passionate about amplifying marginalized voices in publishing and increasing space for readers to see themselves in book pages. Study Break is her first book. When she's not writing, she's probably reading on a sunny patch of grass, going on long walks to grocery stores, or being cozy with one of her many foster kittens. You can find her on Twitter: @AashnaAvachat.
Avachat, Arushi: - ARUSHI AVACHAT is a writer from the Bay Area, California. She currently studies English and Political Science at UCLA, where she can be found sipping caramel lattes and pretending to be productive at Kerckhoff Coffee House. She is a contributor to the Young Adult anthology Study Break. Arushi loves dark chocolate, Bollywood dramas, and Jane Austen novels.
Carmen, Boon: - Boon Carmen is a YA author who was born and raised in Malaysia, where she cultivated a healthy appetite for YA novels and all kinds of cuisines. She has a BSc in Psychology from the University of Nottingham Malaysia, where she is currently pursuing a PhD in psychology. When she's not writing about chaotic girls and fantastical worlds, she can be found (or not--you need to look really hard) with her nose in a fantasy book or lurking on Instagram at @boon_carmen and on Twitter at @BoonCarmen01.
Devarajan, Ananya: -
Ananya Devarajan is the author of Kismat Connection, which was released by Inkyard Press and HarperCollins Publishers. She is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine,
where she majored in neurobiology and behavior and minored in English, and resides as a first-year medical student at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown, New York. Like many of her characters, Ananya is a second-generation Indian American young adult. You can reach her on Twitter and Instagram at @ananyad12, and on TikTok at @ananyadevarajan.
Li, Christina: -
Christina Li graduated from Stanford with degrees in economics and public policy. In her spare time, she is dreaming up characters and
stories for children and young adults. She is also the author of Clues to the Universe and Ruby Lost and Found, out from HarperCollins
Marie, Racquel: - Racquel Marie grew up in Southern California, where her passion for storytelling of all kinds was encouraged by her friends and big family. She received a BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in gender and sexuality studies from the University of California, Irvine. There is, unexpectedly, a C in her first name. She is the author of Ophelia After All, You Don't Have a Shot, and This Is Me Trying.
Oyin: -
Oyin's love of storytelling led to pursuing bachelor's and master's degrees in creative writing and literature. When not working as an
editor or thinking about her very large TBR pile, she can be found watching Black sitcoms from
the '90s/early 2000s or fictional crime shows.
Sabreen, Laila: - Laila Sabreen is a young adult contemporary writer who was raised in the Washington, DC area. She is a graduate of Emory University and is pursuing her PhD in English literature. Her love of writing began as a love of reading, which started when she used to take weekly trips to her local library. There she fell in love with the Angelina Ballerina series, so much so that she started to write Angelina Ballerina fanfiction at the age of five (though she did not know it was fanfiction at the time). Her debut YA contemporary novel is You Truly Assumed. When she isn't writing, she can be found reading, creating playlists that are way too long, and watching reality TV.
Waters, Michael: - Michael Waters has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, WIRED, Slate, Vox, and elsewhere. He was the 2021-22 New York Public Library Martin Duberman Visiting Scholar in LGBTQ studies and lives in Brooklyn.
Wellington, Joelle: -
Joelle Wellington is the author of Their Vicious Games. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where her childhood was spent wandering
the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. When she isn't writing, she's reading and when she's not doing that, she's attempting to bake bread with varying degrees of success or strengthening her encyclopedia-like pop culture knowledge. You can find her on Twitter at @joelle_welling.
