Middle Grade LGBTQ Anthology Brings Together Some of the Best of the Genre
A superb new anthology for middle graders, with stories across the LGBTQ spectrum, includes tales by many of the luminaries of queer youth fiction.
middle-grade books
5 New Queer-Inclusive Middle Grade Books (that Even Adults May Love)
There have been so many queer-inclusive picture books out this year that I’ve gotten a little behind on the middle grade ones! Let’s remedy that with a look at five new ones worth a read!
New Edition of Middle-Grade Book on LGBTQ History and Activism Shows Celebration and Struggle
An updated and expanded edition of a Stonewall Honor-winning book for middle-graders on Pride and the LGBTQ-rights movement is just the thing for anyone wanting to bring some queerness into their COVID-19 homeschooling—but it’s also bound to be a much-read volume for years to come.
New Middle-Grade Graphic Novel Has Witches, Ghosts, and Queerness Aplenty
Snap’s town has a witch. “She fed her eye to the devil. She eats roadkill and casts spells with the bones,” or so the rumor goes. But when Snap is forced to seek her help, she discovers there’s more to the witch, Jacks, than first appears, in a new queer-inclusive middle-grade graphic novel from one of the creators of the lauded Lumberjanes comics.
New LGBTQ-Inclusive Middle Grade Books for Spring
OK, it’s not quite spring—but the new crop of LGBTQ-inclusive middle grade books that are coming out in the next few weeks are putting me in a spring-like mood. There’s humor, mystery, poignancy, adventure, romance, and a surfeit of surfing—plus a hint at what could be yet another queer-inclusive animated feature film!
Megan Rapinoe Is Out and Proud in New Middle-Grade Book About U.S. Women’s Soccer Stars
Megan Rapinoe and three of her 2019 U.S. Women’s National Soccer teammates are the subjects of an inspirational new middle-grade book that follows them from their starts in the sport through their rise to global fame—and which also discusses Rapinoe’s coming out and its positive impact on her life.
Transgender Girl and Her Twin Star in Middle-Grade Fantasy Graphic Novel
In a sparkling new middle-grade graphic novel, two twins must hide with a group of magical women after a coup threatens their noble house. For one, dressing as a woman to blend in with the group is a disguise; for the other, it is the first step towards living as her real gender.
National Jewish Book Award Goes to Middle-Grade Book Starring Boy with Two Moms
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.
New Middle-Grade Book Asks Us to Look Beyond the Surface
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.
A Queer, Middle Grade Love Story Set in 1977
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).