Books for Parents

Butch: It’s What’s for Dinner

“There’s no definition for the type of cooking that butches do,” asserts Nel Ward. There are, however, butches who cook, and Ward, her partner Sue Hardesty, and their friend, novelist Lee Lynch, have gathered a truckful of recipes from them into The Butch Cook Book. Alongside the recipes, however, are literary quotes, insights, and historical anecdotes on what it means to be butch, making this not just a cookbook but also a celebration of lesbian culture past and present.

When Heather Grows Up

(Originally published in Bay Windows, June 26, 2008, with minor variation.) Two new works and one re-release share the real and fictionalized stories of teens with LGBT parents, shining a light on this often-overlooked part of our community. Tru Loved, now making the rounds at LGBT film festivals, features an all-star cast including Jasmine Guy,

Book Giveaway: Love Tips and Trips

It’s all to easy, it seems to me, for us parents to become focused on our kids to the detriment of our own relationships. Today’s giveaway just may help remedy that. Michele O’Mara (who blogs at Bilerico) is an award-winning therapist, educator, and author based in Indianapolis who specializes in “the social support and personal

Teaching All Teens About LGBT Issues

I wrote this a few months ago (with slight modification) for Vanessa Van Petten’s Teens Today blog. She had asked me to share some resources for her audience of mostly straight parents who want to talk with their teenagers, LGBT and not, about LGBT issues. I realize most of my readers at Mombian are more

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 35

Helen and I highlight a new guide for parents of transgender kids and, on the other side, one for kids of transgender parents. (Regular readers may have seen my written piece on these books earlier in the week. It’s only the first couple of minutes of the vlog, though, so you won’t get bored if

Trans Parents, Trans Kids: Two New Guides

(Originally published in Bay Windows, July 10, 2008.) Two new works offer much-needed guidance for families with transgender members, but each approaches the subject from a different perspective. One addresses parents of transgender children, while the other targets children of transgender parents. The Transgender Child, by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper (Cleis, 2008), is subtitled,

Goodnight Bush

Few among us, I’d wager, haven’t read Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd’s classic bedtime story Goodnight Moon. It was our son’s constant goodnight story for the first year or so of his life, and is now burned into my brain along with the Thomas the Tank Engine theme song, the movie Cars, and large

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 34

Helen and I talk about Family Outing, the funny, raunchy new memoir by a man whose mother was outed to him by her ex-girlfriend when he was 10 years old. (Not the recommended way of doing things, might I add.) We also share more highlights of our recent vacation to California, including San Francisco Pride’s

Book Review: The Maternal Is Political

The Maternal Is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood and Social Change, a collection of 43 essays edited by Shari MacDonald Strong, is both a celebration and a manifesto for mothers with hopes of making the world a better place for their children. Its authors include news headliners like Nancy Pelosi, Benazir Bhutto,

Vermont Author Writes Teen Novel of First Love

(Originally published in Bay Windows, May 15, 2008.) “It’s the book I wish I’d read when I was 13,” says Vermont writer Jennifer McMahon about her new young adult book, My Tiki Girl (Dutton/Penguin: May 2008). “I wish I had a time machine to send it back to my 13-year-old self. When I fell in

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