It’s Banned Book Week once again—the American Library Association’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. I’ll refer you back to the piece I wrote for Banned Books Week last year, “Penguins, Rabbits, and Guinea Pigs: In Celebration of Banned Books,” noting that LGBT-themed books continue to be banned or challenged, as a July case […]
Jonathan Kemmerer-Scovner has a spot-on essay at Critical Masses Media about same-sex parents in children’s books. “Children’s literature,” he observes, “acts as a testing ground for the social mores of a society. You may think we’re all progressing along at a fine rate, but if you really want to see where we’re at, stick it in a children’s book and see what that gets you.”
(Originally published in Bay Windows, July 23, 2010. Regular readers will recognize many of the items in this mid-year roundup from previous reviews I’ve done—but there’s one new item in there, so read on.) It’s been a good year so far for books and media about LGBT parenting—but not so much for items aimed at
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column.) A long-running study of lesbian families created through donor insemination made headlines June 7 when it published new results showing that teens from these families tend to do better than their peers socially and academically. While these findings from the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study are positive, they
I’m vlogging solo this week—Helen is away on business again, but I’ll carry on without her. Because the 5th Annual Blogging for LGBT Families Day is coming up on June 1, and I’m all about getting the word out, I invite viewers to participate. I also share brand new works by authors of some of
It’s the first annual Harvey Milk Day in California, an official state holiday signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Kern High School District Board of Trustees in Bakersfield, California, however, voted to not observe the holiday. Several speakers at a board meeting said they don’t think Milk is a good role model for
Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, authors of the famed LGBT children’s book And Tango Makes Three (and gay dads themselves), were kind enough to answer some questions about their latest book, Christian, the Hugging Lion, about which I posted more yesterday. What attracted you to Christian’s story? Justin: First there was that extremely moving video.
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column. Stay tuned for tomorrow when I’ll share Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s answers to a few questions about their new book. Click image to enlarge.) The authors of two of the most famous LGBT children’s books have two new books out this month. Neither work has an overt
Author Lauren Myracle’s young adult series ttyl has topped the American Library Association’s (ALA) Top Ten list of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009. A “challenge” is a formal, written complaint to a library or school, “requesting that materials be removed or restricted because of content or appropriateness.” Ttyl gives us a look at
I have a special guest this week while Helen is away on a business trip— our six-year-old son. He offers his thoughts on one of his favorite books of the moment, Redwoods, by Jason Chin. It’s not LGBT-related at all, but it’s delightful, and our son likes it, which is reason enough for me to
