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.
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?
Let’s talk pronouns! A new graphic book offers teens and adults a lighthearted yet informative primer on gender neutral pronouns, while another for young children celebrates the many types of people who may use different pronouns.
As delicate damsels in ruffled dresses, princesses can be an unrealistic and harmful stereotype, particularly for little girls. Yet for every Cinderella, there is also a Xena. A new picture book asks, “What Does a Princess Really Look Like?” as it tells the tale of a girl creating her own definition of princess—with a little help from her two dads.
Today, Maiden Voyage sets sail—a swashbuckling tale of adventure and romance featuring a fisherman’s daughter and a courageous female sea captain.
Three new children’s books, published in the past few months, take a celebratory and varied look at how people may express gender and question its usual boundaries.
