When I first read Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women as a child, I identified most with tomboy Jo, as did many a fledgling queer girl, I imagine. Now, a new graphic novel reimagines the four March sisters as a modern, multiracial family—and yes (spoiler alert), Jo is gay.
Erica Perl’s middle-grade novel All Three Stooges has just won the National Jewish Book Award for Children’s Literature—and its star, Noah, happens to have two moms. I reviewed it last April, but I’m reposting the review here in honor of the award.
A sweet picture book about a confident child who refuses to be defined by gender shows that when we encourage play without gender stereotypes, all children benefit.
Looking for LGBTQ-inclusive Christmas books to read with your children? There aren’t many, but they do exist. Check them out (and learn why we still need more)!
Marlon Bundo, “the Bunny of the United States” who made headlines when he starred in a book by Charlotte Pence, daughter of Vice President Mike Pence, and in an alternative story produced by comedian John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight, in which he marries his boyfriend, will be back next year in two more books.
A national organization for English teachers has established a new award for equity and inclusion in young adult literature. It will first be given to gay author Bill Konigsberg and named after him for future recipients.
Flamingo Rampant micropress is getting ready to launch its third season of “feminist, racially diverse, LGBTQ positive children’s books”! I’ve always loved their joyous approach to inclusivity, and their next set of books looks sure to continue that tradition.
It’s time for my annual roundup of some of this year’s best LGBTQ-inclusive children’s and middle-grade books and magazine! It was a banner year for such books in many ways, with a high overall volume and a surge in the often neglected middle-grade range.
Dana Alison Levy is back with her fourth middle-grade book set in the universe of The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher, her 2014 novel about a two-dad family. Her latest book, It Wasn’t Me, centers around one of the Fletchers’ classmates, whose photography project was vandalized with threats and gay slurs, and it asks readers to reflect on the assumptions we make about others.
What happens when a closeted gay teen stumbles across a secret that could alter our perception of one of the greatest figures in American history? That’s the question at the heart of a new young adult novel by a gay dad and award-winning expert on books for LGBTQ youth and their allies.
