Rainy Day Healing

When teenagers write, unfettered, without restrictions, what do they write about? According to Soumia Shah’s new 2025 book Teen Rising, teens reveal their inner thoughts, concerns, and self-doubts.

Teen Rising: An Anthology of Stories Written by Teens all around the World (2025) is a collection of 20 short stories and poems. The author Soumia Shah, a teen herself, aims to encourage young writers to develop their skills and share their craft.

The teenagers contributing to this anthology are 12-17 years old, with a few who haven’t stated their age. With free rein to write as they wish, they cover a diverse range of genres which include fiction, fantasy, an academic article, and poetry, varying in length between 1-12 pages each, averaging 5 pages,  and with one story at 35 pages. The stories are not related or connected, and can be read out of sequence, dipping in and out of this book.

Many stories are written introspectively in the first-person (“I”) to share their deepest thoughts and emotions. Stories written from the third-person perspective (“he” / “she” etc.) are more distant from the action and provide more narrative histories.

Their themes explore self-identity and self-discovery, such as personal growth, family obligations, and their sense of belonging or being an outsider. Some are more intense as they write about loneliness and feeling depressed. Of course, love and romance are prominent themes – sometimes loving and sometimes with heartbreak.

Some take a serious look at the world, rather than themselves, such as commenting on media, conflict, and social injustices. Others introduce a magical or fantasy approach which enables them to be more experimental and creative. The poems and prose-poetry in this anthology highlight the vivid imagery of the world around them.

A few trends emerge. The stories focus on the pressure to succeed – whether through academic stress, perfectionism, or societal expectations. Many focus on mental health through feelings of anxiety, self-doubt, and the emotional difficulties of being a teenager. The search for belonging is an evident trend as the teens explore friendship groups, family dynamics, and cultural identity. They have a clear desire to be understood and to be accepted. Another theme is escapism, which occurs by writing fantasy and horror as metaphors for the “unreal,” “unfair” or “scary” side of the real world. Some show their fears while others enjoy the thrill of being scared. The last, minor trend in the anthology is their exploration of their social conscience and global awareness.

The disadvantage to readers is that we know little about each of the teen writers because there is no bio, only their name. The author tells us they are from all over the world, but their countries are not provided. Some can be inferred from their writings. Also, the contents page doesn’t have links for readers to jump straight to a specific story. Apart from these small distractions, I liked the concept of the anthology and thoroughly enjoyed reading from this diverse collection.

Overall, the anthology is a powerful exposé of youth voices, presented through interesting and engaging stories – real and imagined. It is a showcase of their emerging talents as writers and a testament to their creativity.

Making my peace with what teenagers write about, I learned:

• To encourage teens to write freely
• To encourage young writers to journal – the more people write, the more their writing processes improve
• The more people write, the more they release emotions and gain clarity about their feelings
• To understand and accept the views and the writings of young authors
• To read more young writers’ literature
• To encourage the publication of young writers’ works
• To encourage more teens to rise