A new, four-book series with a nonbinary protagonist is available today in its entirety, adding to the small but growing number of LGBTQ-inclusive early chapter books.
The Riley Reynolds series from Stone Arch Books, by Jay Albee (a pen name for Jen Breach and J. Anthony), stars fourth-grader Riley, who loves lots of things: their parents, cousins, friends, all kinds of animals, making cool stuff (as well as messes), and being nonbinary. Each book takes us through a short time in the life of Riley and their friends as they demonstrate their creativity and learn gentle lessons about friendship, helping, and cooperation. Another recurring character is Mx. Aude, the school librarian, who is also nonbinary.
Although these are chapter books, not picture books, comic-style illustrations at the chapter ends reflect the action of the stories. Riley is biracial, with a Mexican mom and a White dad; Cricket reads as White, and Lea as Black.
Every book in the series also starts with two graphic-format pages titled “I’m Riley,” in which Riley introduces themselves, and two pages in which “Mx. Aude Teaches Helpful Terms,” giving definitions related to gender and queer identities. The latter might have worked better as backmatter, rather than slowing down the stories with a pedagogical interruption (especially for those who have read other volumes in the series), but it’s good information to have nonetheless. Other than those pages, however, gender identity is never mentioned, and Riley’s nonbinary identity is completely incidental to the stories, which simply and importantly show a nonbinary child being unconditionally accepted by family and friends.
Actual backmatter includes discussion questions and writing prompts.
For plot summaries and a few additional thoughts on each volume, please see the individual reviews below. You can also check out additional LGBTQ-inclusive early chapter books in my database.
