Kazoo, the award-winning and queer-inclusive magazine for girls (and founded by a lesbian mom), has just dropped its subscription price and come out with its 10th issue, dedicated to action that changes the world!
A new middle grade book gives us a queer romance set in the U.S. South in 1977, long before gay-straight alliance clubs, marriage equality, or any kind of LGBTQ-inclusive books for children and youth. It will likely still resonate with young people today, however (and maybe some of their parents).
I know we’ve made progress towards increasing the number of LGBTQ-inclusive middle grade books when three come out within weeks of each other that are not just new books, but sequels or sophomore efforts. The authors are also all queer themselves!
Today marks the start of Banned Books Week, the annual event from the American Library Association (ALA) celebrating the freedom to read. Half of the books in the ALA’s latest Top Ten Most Challenged Books list contain LGBTQ content—to me, that’s a shopping list.
I’ve been writing about Sesame Street’s need for LGBTQ inclusion for well over a decade, and been a fan since it first aired in 1969, when I was two. I was disappointed, however, by producer Sesame Workshop’s denial this week of a romantic relationship between Bert and Ernie, not only because that would be awesome, but also because they missed an opportunity to highlight the existing (though limited) queer inclusion on the show and to commit to more.
A group of pastors in Maine has failed in its efforts to remove books they feel “promote homosexuality” and are “risque and immodest” from a local library display set up for—wait for it—Banned Books Week, the annual event to draw attention to the harms of censorship and celebrate the freedom to read. And for some of the library’s staff and patrons, the issue was very personal.
I’m still thinking about natural disasters today—and about three queer-inclusive middle grade books just out this year that prominently feature weather disasters—along with young people finding strength as they go through them.
September always makes me think of trees–between fruit harvests and color changing, it’s their time to shine. This year, I’m also thinking of a middle-grade book, narrated by a tree, that’s one of the most charming stories of inclusion and acceptance I’ve read lately.
If you’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone this week, you can thank a gay dad.
When I first received a new book about a girl who likes to pretend she is both a princess and a pirate, I was very excited. A book with a broad view of how girls imagine and play? Might this be a book that would have spoken to me, growing up as a tomboyish girl?
