Today brings us a treasure trove of new LGBTQ-inclusive family books for kids and grown-ups, including a picture-book biography of Laverne Cox; a sequel to one of my favorite magical middle-grade series; a graphic novel with an autistic protagonist; an early chapter book sequel; a memoir by a gay foster dad of his own difficult childhood; and a stunning memoir by the mother of a transgender girl.
Click links for full reviews and more!
Picture Book
Laverne Cox, by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, illustrated by Olivia Daisy Coles (Frances Lincoln Ltd.). Part of the bestselling Little People, Big Dreams series, this picture book biography of actor Laverne Cox is a positive look at her life from childhood to today, and (despite a few places where wording could be improved) an affirming story of a transgender leader and icon who has long deserved a biography for this age group.
Early Chapter Book
Jordan and Max, Field Trip! by Suzanne Sutherland, illustrated by Michelle Simpson (Orca). In this early chapter book sequel to Jordan and Max, Showtime, friends Jordan (who is gender creative) and Max are looking forward to their class field trip to a museum in the big city. But when they get separated from the class, Max is excited about the idea of an independent adventure. Jordan is hesitant, but they are soon off on adventures. They even stop in a clothing store, where Jordan tries on a dress that looks like one from a museum exhibit. But will they find their way back to their group?
Middle Grade
Strangeworlds Travel Agency: The Secrets of the Stormforest, by L. D. Lapinski (Aladdin). The third book in the delightful series about the Strangeworlds Travel Agency, whose suitcases transport travelers to other worlds. Twelve-year-old Flick Hudson (who has a crush on another girl) and 18-year-old Jonathan Mercator (who is transgender) here plumb further mysteries about the Strangeworlds Society and about the growing threat to the multiverse. I have loved this whole series and its incidental queer inclusion. This feels like a fitting conclusion, even as I hope Lapinski finds a way to give us more in this world. (It would also make a dandy live-action movie trilogy or streaming series.)
Speak Up! by Rebecca Burgess (Quill Tree). Mia, a 12-year-old autistic girl, expresses herself through singing and songwriting, and her best friend Charlie, who is nonbinary, puts together beats for her. Yet her mom’s well-meaning efforts to help Mia appear more “normal” are aggravating. Other kids in her class bully her, and Mia often feels overwhelmed. After she and Charlie create and upload a song that she sings as as her alter-ego, Elle-Q, however, Elle-Q becomes an Internet sensation. What happens, though, when her classmates—and even Charlie—want to see Elle-Q perform live, something that Mia is deeply uncomfortable with? Author Rebecca Burgess is autistic, and gives us an arc in this engaging graphic novel that shows Mia learning to see her autism as a strength and finding how to speaking her truth.
Grown Up
A Girlhood: Letter to My Transgender Daughter, by Carolyn Hays (Blair). This memoir is not the first by a parent of a transgender child, but it is arguably one of the best. Written as a missive to her daughter, Hays not only tells their family story but also weaves in reflections and information about gender, motherhood, girlhood, privilege, representation, trans history, and social justice. It is both memoir and guidebook, filled with fierce, protecting love. Don’t just take my (cisgender) word for it, though. No less a luminary than Jennifer Finney Boylan, bestselling author, parent, and a trans woman, called it “searing, haunting, and inspiring” in a promotional blurb.
A Place Called Home, by David Ambroz (Legacy Lit). David Ambroz is an award-winning child welfare advocate and gay foster dad, but he grew up homeless, with a mother who lived with mental illness. He was abused by her and by later foster parents. This memoir of his childhood and early adulthood, however, is more than just a story of how one boy found his way out of poverty and abuse, but rather a look at the interlocking systems of social and economic injustices that make success stories like his an exception rather than the rule.
