It’s time for emos to break out their aggressively tight skinny jeans and test their knowledge of true emo culture with a book the likes of which has never been seen before.
Whether you’re a teen new to the emo scene or you consider yourself an “older emo,” you’ll likely enjoy multimedia journalist and podcast host Yasmine Summan’s new release, It Wasn’t A Phase! The Ultimate Emo Activity Book.
Before you think this is just an emo version of an adult coloring book—you know, the one that a lot of people got bored of during the COVID-19 pandemic—we’re here to tell you that It Wasn’t a Phase is so much more than that.
When asked by LoneStarLive.com via email what role emo culture has played in her own life and how it inspired the book, Summan said, “Emo was an integral part of my teenage years. It gave me a home when I felt completely isolated and understood me better than anyone else. I wanted to make sure people of all ages could enjoy this book. I wanted to create something for my younger self and something for me today!”
Emo music is often described as a genre that emerged from hardcore punk music and is characterized by emotional lyrics that tend to bar the soul.
Not only do readers have the chance to learn a thing or two about the history of emo—the era when the book calls the “angry kids took over the world”—but they can also reminisce about the music scene from the mid-’80s to the mid-2000s and experience all the nostalgia that comes with each emo decade.
Emo activity book masters nostalgia and diversity
What would a trip down emo’s memory lane be without mentioning the now-defunct social media platform Myspace (we miss you, Tom), where music fans of all genres obsessively curated their page with the perfect song to match their angst? And of course, Hot Topic – the store where emos (and preps – you know who you are) got their best, second-hand band t-shirts.
Readers will be happy to hear that both are mentioned in the activity book It Wasn’t a Phase, which details the importance of Myspace in the growth of emo culture. For those who weren’t around to experience the finer side of social media in 2003, Myspace not only allowed up-and-coming bands to share their releases with the masses in a pre-YouTube era, but also provided fans with a place to find their musical tribes – even if they were several states away.
If nostalgic emo activities and anger coloring are more your thing, there are plenty of pages waiting to be discovered in It Wasn’t a Phase! The Ultimate Emo Activity Book. Ultimately, Summan hopes that readers will feel a sense of joy above all else as they flip through the pages of It Wasn’t a Phase.
“I hope people can have fun,” Summan told LoneStarLive.com. “I feel like emo as a genre sometimes takes itself too seriously, even though it can also be fun and joyful (yes, joy. Emos can be happy).”
Yasmine Summan, author of It Wasn’t a Phase! The Ultimate Emo Activity Book, is a multimedia journalist and host of the award-winning podcast On Wednesdays We Wear Black.Photo by Ashlea Bea, courtesy of Adams Media | Simon & Schuster
With activities like “2000s Gone Mad Libs,” “Emo Words of Affirmation,” emo trivia for all ages, and “Taste of Ink” coloring pages (hello, My Chemical Romance reference) that let readers “color in the tattoos at the concert,” this book not only offers a few hundred ways to pass the time in the dog days of summer (or, let’s be honest, any other time of year), but also serves as a reminder of the joy that emo culture can bring.
Summan’s favorite part of the activity book is the diversity reflected in its pages: “I worked hard to bring diversity to the forefront as much as possible. It’s so important to see people who look like you in these spaces. Growing up, I felt like emo, especially online, was very whitewashed.”
If you are interested in purchasing It Wasn’t a Phase! The Ultimate Emo Activity Book, you can purchase it directly from the Simon and Schuster publishing company’s website, at stores such as Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million, or from Amazon.
