by Lara Neel, Trade Marketing Manager
June is celebrated as Pride Month by the LGBT community, and many Pride events occur on the last Sunday in June to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion in New York City on June 28, 1969.
To help you get ready for it, we’ve put together a list of books that include characters and nonfiction accounts of people along the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
The Gay Rights Movement
Interest Level: Grade 3 – Grade 6
A lot has changed throughout the history of the gay rights movement. In 1969, the Stonewall Riots brought light to a movement that would later establish gay pride parades and persist in the fight for same-sex marriage. But allies and LGBTQ+ community members are still fighting for progress today. What are the gay rights movement’s main concerns today? And what challenges has the movement faced? Learn about the key people and events that have paved the way for the modern gay rights movement and how members from the LGBTQ+ community have joined the cause to advocate for equal rights.
Sincerely, Harriet
Interest Level: Grade 4 – Grade 8
Harriet Flores struggles with boredom and an unrequited crush while learning to manage her chronic illness through a long, hot, 1990s summer in Chicago. She uses her imagination to cope, which sometimes gets her into trouble, as she makes up fantastical fibs and wonders if there are ghosts upstairs. One neighbor, Pearl, encourages Harriet to read and write, leading Harriet to have a breakthrough and discover the power of storytelling.
Transgender Lives: Complex Stories, Complex Voices
Interest Level: Grade 6 – Grade 12
“I didn’t hear the word transgender until I was eighteen, when a person I was dating came out as trans. My boyfriend came out as my girlfriend, and I thought, ‘What . . . is that?’ She said, ‘I just don’t think I’m a man.’ And I said, ‘Guess what? Neither do I.’ And then the skies parted, and I understood who I was.”—Katie Burgess, nonprofit director and community activist/organizer
Meet Katie, Hayden, Dean, Brooke, David, Julia, and Natasha. Each is transgender, and in this book, they share their personal stories. Through their narratives, you’ll get to know and love each person for their humor, intelligence, perseverance, and passion. You’ll learn how they each came to better understand, accept, and express their gender identities, and you’ll follow them through the sorrows and successes of their personal journeys.
Transgender Lives helps you understand what it means to be transgender in America while learning more about transgender history, the broad spectrum of transgender identities, and the transition process. You’ll explore the challenges transgender Americans face, including discrimination, prejudice, bullying and violence, unequal access to medical care, and limited legal protections. For transgender readers, these stories offer support and encouragement. Transgender Lives is a space for trans* voices to be heard and to express the complexities of gender while focusing on what it means to be human.
LGBTQ+ Athletes Claim the Field: Striving for Equality
Interest Level: Grade 7 – Grade 12
In 2015, the world watched as soccer star Abby Wambach kissed her wife after the US women’s World Cup victory. Milwaukee Brewers’ minor league first baseman David Denson came out as gay. And Caitlyn (born Bruce) Jenner, an Olympic decathlete, came out as transgender.
It hasn’t always been this way. Many great athletes have stayed in the closet their whole lives, or at least until retirement. Social attitudes, institutional policies, and laws are slow to change, but they are catching up. Together, athletes, families, educators, allies, and fans are pushing for competitive equity so that every athlete, regardless of identity, can have the opportunity to play at their very best.
Castle of Lies
Interest Level: Grade 7 – Grade 12
Thelia isn’t in line to inherit the crown, but she’s been raised to take power however she can. She’s been friends with Princess Corene her whole life, and she’s scheming to marry Bayled, the heir to the throne. But her plans must change when an army of elves invades the kingdom. Thelia, her cousin Parsifal, and Corene become trapped in the castle. An elf warrior, Sapphire, may be Thelia’s only hope of escape, but Sapphire has plans of their own. Meanwhile, an ancient magic is awakening within the castle, with the power to destroy the whole kingdom. Can Thelia find a way to protect her future—and her life?
Tying the Knot: A World History of Marriage
Interest Level: Grade 8 – Grade 12
For thousands of years, marriage was a business transaction between two families. Fathers chose husbands for their daughters to build power, wealth, and social status. Rules about acceptable spouses were strict. Interfaith and interracial marriages were often forbidden.
Over the centuries, laws and traditions governing marriage have changed dramatically. In the United States, interfaith and interracial marriages are common. Same-sex marriages are legal there and in many nations. In some places, however, centuries-old customs are still firmly in place. Modern matrimony has its ugly sides, such as rape, forced marriages, and bitter divorces. Learn about the good and the bad, with people from around the world discussing the complexities and the joys of marriage.
Pointe, Claw
Interest Level: Grade 8 – Grade 12
Jessie Vale dances in an elite ballet program. She has to be perfect to land a spot with the professional company. When Jessie is cast in an animalistic avant-garde production, her careful composure cracks wide open.
Meanwhile, her friend Dawn McCormick’s world is full of holes. She wakes in strange places, bruised, battered, and unable to speak. The doctors are out of ideas.
These childhood friends are both running out of time. At every turn, they crash into the many ways girls are watched, judged, used, and discarded. Should they play it safe or go feral?
The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary
Interest Level: Grade 9 – Grade 12
A 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection
A 2018 New York Public Library Best Book for Teens
Macy’s school officially classifies her as “disturbed,” but Macy isn’t interested in how others define her. She’s got more pressing problems: her mom can’t move off the couch, her dad’s in prison, her brother’s been kidnapped by Child Protective Services, and now her best friend isn’t speaking to her. Writing in a dictionary format, Macy explains the world in her own terms—complete with gritty characters and outrageous endeavors. With an honesty that’s both hilarious and fearsome, slowly Macy reveals why she acts out, why she can’t tell her incarcerated father that her mom’s cheating on him, and why her best friend needs protection . . . the kind of protection that involves Macy’s machete.
Wired Man and Other Freaks of Nature
Interest Level: Grade 9 – Grade 12
Ben Wireman is partially deaf and completely insecure. The only two things that make him feel normal are being a soccer goalie and hanging out with his best friend, Tyler Nuson. Tyler is the golden boy, worshiped by girls and guys alike, and he no longer seems interested in Ben. Without Tyler, Ben isn’t sure who he is anymore, or if Tyler is really as “normal” as Ben thought he was. Maybe hanging out with freaks like Ilona Pierce, who has tattoos, blue hair, and almost no friends, is what he needs.
This captivating novel explores the shifting dynamics of friendships and complex art of growing up.
Life on Earth Series
Interest Level: Grade 9 – Grade 12
A sci-fi-tinged YA graphic novel trilogy from acclaimed cartoonist MariNaomi. A group of teenagers struggles with early romances and fraying friendships against the backdrop of a classmate’s possible alien abduction and mysterious return. The headstrong Emily, the aloof Brett, the insecure Nigel, and the awkward Paula are all learning how to deal with life’s challenges—and an alien presence might be affecting them too. Different chapters focus on different characters, and MariNaomi adopts a distinct visual style with each change in point of view.
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