Boyfriends with Girlfriends--"I need time to explore first if that’s really who I am." Guest Post!

Title: Boyfriends with Girlfriends

Author: Alex Sanchez  

**This GUEST POST was written by Alix Adrian**

About Alix, in their own words: As a busy, aging, dyslexic reader, I enjoy YA fiction because I can make solid progress through a book even on early-to-bed evenings. I grew up in New Jersey and have spent the past 30 years in North Carolina. This helps to draw attention to the significant cultural differences found in especially in queer fiction across both time and locations. I have two young adult children, who, sadly, are not voracious readers. I also have three cats who like nothing better than to snuggle with me and a book.


LGBTQ+ Representation: One gay teen, one butch lesbian teen, one questioning female teen, two questioning male teens


Content Warning: Two male characters have mutual hand sex. One main character has had much more sexual experience and this is a concern for the less experienced partner.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Four high school students in neigboring schools explore love, sexuality, and friendships, with a lens to their families’ cultural and social views.

 
What I think (in 250 words or fewer):  This book may be showing its age a wee bit.

Like a Love Story--"Life was once sepia toned, one color, bland. Now it is a rainbow world of excitement and anticipation."

Title: Like a Love Story

Author: Abdi Nazemian


LGBTQ+ Representation: Several characters are gay.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): In 1989 New York City, Art is young, out, and proud, and protests with ACT UP to get the government to takes the AIDS crisis seriously. Reza just moved to New York, and he is shy and terrified of being outed. Judy, whose Uncle Stephen is dying of AIDS, dreams of being a fashion designer. Judy begins dating Reza, and her and Art's friendship suffers when Reza and Art fall for each other.


What I think: When I read The Porcupine of Truth, it opened up my eyes about how clueless of a child I was during the late 80s/early 90s AIDS crisis (obviously, the crisis wasn't limited to those years, but those were the years I learned about AIDS). Like a Love Story is now tied with Porcupine for my favorite AIDS-related YA book, and it also takes place during those childhood years of mine.

Ship It--"Maybe I'm not straight or bi or anything. Maybe I'm just me."

Title: Ship It

Author: Britta Lundin


LGBTQ+ Representation: Main character is queer. A supporting character is queer and a homoromantic pansexual.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Claire is a sixteen-year-old obsessed with Demon Heart. Her fanfiction shipping the show's two male leads is super popular online. But when Claire questions  lead actor, Forest, about his character being gay, he laughs her off, revealing his homophobia. When the Q&A goes viral, Claire is invited to tour with the show cast to Comic-Cons to help repair the show's now homophobic image. She then meets another fangirl, Tess, and Claire questions her own sexuality.


What I think: First of all, Claire is me in high school. Honestly, Claire is me now--I get obsessed with books, movies, and TV shows. I love cosplay and conventions, and if the Internet had been around when I was a middle-schooler, I would have written countless fanfics, and to quote myself from an earlier review:

I am a geek. Full stop. I can quote from a bunch of fandoms and also have a mind full of useless trivia, about such topics as Sweet Valley High, The Baby-sitters Club, Star Wars original trilogy, The Twilight Zone, Outlander, Muppets, and about a billion middle grades and YA novels and plays.

What was Stonewall? and The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets."On that hot summer night, to the cops' surprise, the people at Stonewall fought back."And they fought back hard."

Titles: What was Stonewall? and The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets

Authors: Nico Medina and Gayle E. Pitman


LGBTQ+ Representation: Both books describe the Stonewall riots and the Pride movement, so all the letters are represented.


What they're about (in 75 words or fewer): What was Stonewall? begins with a glossary of LGBTQ+ terms, gives a brief history of the gay rights movement prior to the Stonewall riots, describes the uprising at Stonewall, and explains major obstacles and successes of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. The Stonewall Riots provides a more detailed version of the events, told through 50 primary documents, photographs, artifacts, and eyewitness testimonies. Gay rights activists are introduced in both books.


What I think: I wanted to read these books because I wanted to see how the riots were explained to children (ages 6-14, approximately) but also because I knew only a few facts about the Stonewall riots, namely:

• They occurred in June of 1969
• Marsha P. Johnson "threw the first brick" 
• No one died (!)
• Drag queens protested the cops in the form of a Radio City Rockettes-style kick line
• The protests lead to the first Pride March in NYC

Dear Rachel Maddow--"Liberty and justice for all. Well. Shmiberty and Shmustice anyway"

Title: Dear Rachel Maddow

Author: Adrienne Kisner


LGBTQ+ Representation: Main character and two supporting characters identify as lesbians. F/F relationship


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Brynn's life is not going the greatest lately. Her older brother died of a drug overdose, mom and stepfather are abusive, girlfriend broke up with her, and grades are so bad, she is not eligible to write for the newspaper (the only part about high school that she enjoys). As a class assignment, she begins to keep a journal in which she asks for advice via emails to her idol: Rachel Maddow.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): I love Rachel Maddow so this title caught my eye. I thought the story was going to be light-hearted, but instead it was delightfully, timely, and frustratingly political--and I enjoyed it immensely.

The 57 Bus--"I am not a thug, gangster, hoodlum, nor monster." OR "He's a sixteen-year-old kid and sixteen-year-old kids are kind of dumb."

Title: The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime that Changed Their Lives

Author:  Dashka Slater


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Sasha is an agender nonbinary teenager who attends a private school for academically gifted students. Richard attends Oakland High School, is turning his life around, and is determined to graduate. One day they are both on the bus, and Richard is joking around with a lighter and sets Sasha's skirt on fire. Sasha spends months in the hospital, and Richard is arrested, charged as an adult, and could face life in prison if convicted.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): When I was a teenager, I watched the movie Twelve Angry Men, a story of jurors serving on a murder trial. A lot of damning evidence is presented at the trial, and eleven of the jurors want to immediately come to a guilty verdict. But one juror decides that they need to reexamine the evidence, and in the process, they discover enough reasonable doubt that each juror eventually changes his vote to not guilty.

NEW: Trans Student FAQ

I have created a new section under the pages tab above called Supporting Trans FAQ in which I give resources for school and public libraries to support trans and gender nonconforming students.

Click on the tab above or click on these links:

• Supporting Trans FAQ
    
• Q: What does it mean to be transgender, gender nonconforming, and/or gender nonbinary?
    
• Q: Can young people really be transgender? What do science and psychology say?
    
• Q: There aren't many trans people. Why should we have resources for them?
    
• Q: What do I say to students/patrons who are scared of transgender people using the bathrooms?
    
• Q: What are some resources for supporting transgender youth in my library? 

The Porcupine of Truth--Part 2: "I know it's a disease, and I know people used to die of it and that now there's medicine for it"

Title: The Porcupine of Truth

Author: Bill Konigsberg


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Carson is not looking forward to spending the summer with his dying, estranged father in Billings, Montana, who is still angry about the disappearance of his father (Carson's grandfather) over thirty years ago. Carson's summer becomes more interesting when he meets Aisha, a beautiful teenage lesbian who was kicked out of her father's home.  Carson and Aisha vow to find out what happened to Carson's grandfather--why did he leave?  Could he still be alive somewhere?

As I said in Part 1, the last 80 pages of this book affected me so profoundly, I originally planned to write the entire post about them.  Instead, I split the post into 2 parts.

So without further ado, here's part 2!

Don't Let Me Go--"You're not going to straighten things out by running away. Take the phone and talk to your boyfriend!"

Title:  Don't Let Me Go

Author: J.H. Trumble


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Adam is in New York appearing in a play, while Nate is still home for his senior year of high school.  Nate has always depended on Adam for support and desperately misses him. Nate makes a new friend, Danial, but is finding a long-distance relationship very difficult to maintain. Nate starts a blog, which causes some controversy, and begins helping naive, closeted Luke, but if Nate's not careful, he's going to lose Adam for good.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): Do you like teenage romance novels with angst, an extra side of angst, and angst for dessert?  Then you'll really enjoy Don't Let me Go.

Actually, that's a bit misleading.  Angst to me implies fluffy, over-the-top teenage nonsense, and that's not completely true about Adam and Nate.

The Porcupine of Truth--Part 1: "There are so many wise people who have taught us so many wise lessons"

Title: The Porcupine of Truth

Author: Bill Konigsberg


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Carson is not looking forward to spending the summer with his dying, estranged father in Billings, Montana, who is still angry about the disappearance of his father (Carson's grandfather) over thirty years ago. Carson's summer becomes more interesting when he meets Aisha, a beautiful teenage lesbian who was kicked out of her father's home.  Carson and Aisha vow to find out what happened to Carson's grandfather--why did he leave?  Could he still be alive somewhere?

Confession time:  I actually read this book back at the end of July and keep renewing it from the library.  I had this post in draft mode ever since.  It's not that I didn't want to review this book--in fact, Bill Konigsberg's books have inspired me to write a lot; and since this one was my favorite of his books, I wanted this post to be perfect!

LGBTQ Representation: Why it Matters in Libraries

Happy Hurricane day, everyone!  The following infographic was created by Tina M. in my library media class, and I am sharing it on this blog with her permission:

The Beauty that Remains--"No one ever talks about the living who have unfinished business with the dead. How do they ever find peace again?"

Title: The Beauty that Remains

Author: Ashley Woodfolk


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Logan's ex-boyfriend, Bram, died in a mysterious "suicide."  Shay's twin sister, Sasha, died of leukemia. Autumn's best friend, Tavia, died in a car accident on the way to a party that Autumn (and Tavia's brother, Dante) were supposed to attend. Logan obsessively watches Youtube videos of Bram; Shay struggles to keep up Sasha's music blog; Autumn writes messages to Tavia's email account.  All these grieving teenagers have some connection to the defunct band, Unraveling Lovely.


What I think: I thought I had read some sad, yet moving, books this year, but this one was . . . WOW.  I originally picked it up because it had a blurb from Angie Thomas, the author of The Hate U Give, on the cover: "Be prepared to be broken, be prepared to feel whole again." Since The Hate U Give is one of the best books I've ever read (and I've read LOTS of books), I picked up The Beauty that Remains. And again, wow.

My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park--"& brothers, JFK, sign language, divas, & extreme fabulousness!"

Title: My Most Excellent Year:  A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park

Author:  Steve Kluger

What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): TC, Augie, and Alè tell stories of their freshman year in high school.  When TC was six, his mother died, and TC and Augie became close friends and "brothers."  Alè is new in school, the daughter of the US ambassador to Mexico, and secretly taking singing and dancing lessons. TC develops an instant crush on her. Meanwhile, Augie comes into his own as a fabulous, singer-dancer-actor, taking the school by storm in Kiss Me Kate.

What I think:  Wow, I am not sure I can adequately describe how much I loved this book.  I think I will just list some of the awesome parts of the book below:

It's Our Prom (So Deal with It)--"Event planning is one gigantic pain in the butt"

Title: It's Our Prom (So Deal with It)

Author: Julie Anne Peters


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Azure is asked to be on the prom committee to help make it an event that will appeal to all students.  Azure invites her best friends, Luke and Ridhaka (whom both Azure and Luke secretly have crushes on), to help plan.  Luke is busy is directing and starring in a musical he wrote, and Ridhaka is feeling pressured by her parents' high expectations.  Azure quickly becomes overwhelmed with the logistics of planning a prom.

What I think (in 250 words or fewer): I enjoyed this book!  I have been really overwhelmed lately with books filled with violence, poverty, racism, and serious bullying.  It's Our Prom had a small, realistic amount of homophobia, but otherwise, nothing too stressful.

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children--"I know this is a radical idea, but people should get to be who they want to be"

Title: Beautiful Music for Ugly Children

Author: Kirstin Cronn-Mills

What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Gabe, a senior in high school, knows he is really a boy even though was born with a girl's body.  When he begins hosting a radio show on the public radio station, he attracts a following, even a couple of girls who are interested in him.  But when some school bullies find out that Gabe is "Liz" in their high school, they threaten and become violent towards Gabe, his friends, and his family.


What I think:  I really liked all of the music references in this story, and disagree with a colleague of mine who claims that Gabe knowing all this music is unrealistic.  When I was in high school, I didn't listen to any music that was made after the 1980s, and I'm sure there are still high school students who like to listen to "vintage" music.  I even collected vinyl albums for a time.

Out of the Pocket--"All of you sports people: KEEP WORKING to eradicate homophobia in sports"

Title: Out of the Pocket

Author: Bill Konigsberg


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer):  Bobby is the star quarterback of his high school, waiting to hear from schools offering scholarships, dreaming of being a pro football player one day.  However, Bobby has a secret:  he's gay, and he's terrified about how his teammates, friends, and family would treat him if they found out.  And then, while Bobby's dealing with his dad's illness and practicing for upcoming football games, a reporter reveals Bobby's secret to the world.


What I think:  Y'all, I discovered something incredibly disturbing while reading this book:

Bill Konigsberg is . . . a SPORTS GUY.

A sports guy!  I can't believe it. Konigsberg looks like a normal person!  How could he have been hiding this secret?  What will people think if they find out I was reading a book written by a SPORTS PERSON?  Will people think I'm into sports, too?  Or what if someone thinks Konigsberg recruited me or tricked me into liking sports when I really don't?  Oh noes, I MUST do all I can to reassure people that I'm not one of those "sports" people!   😨

Okay, I'm done.  😉

Symptoms of Being Human--"I'm only going to talk louder"

Title:  Symptoms of Being Human

Author:  Jeff Garvin

What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Riley is gender-fluid and suffers from severe anxiety.  They decide to start an anonymous blog talking about gender-fluidity and is surprised when the blog gains thousands of followers.  Unfortunately, someone at Riley's school finds out about their blog and threatens to out them, which makes Riley's life complicated because their father is a congressman who is working to pass an important education bill.

What I think (in 250 words or fewer): Symptoms of Being Human is an excellent book. I do not know anyone in real life who is gender-fluid; I know many trans people, but they are all binary.  In fact, the reader never finds out what Riley's biological sex is.

The Difference Between You and Me--"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

Title: The Difference Between You and Me

Author: Madeleine George


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer):  Emily is vice-president of student council, blonde and beautiful, in love with her boyfriend, and working as an intern for NorthStar.  Jesse puts up flyers to "liberate all weirdos," cuts her hair short with a Swiss army knife, is openly queer, and is working to keep NorthStar  corporation out of her school.  Jesse and Emily seem to have nothing in common, yet they meet secretly to kiss passionately in the library restroom every Tuesday afternoon.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): At first, I felt very sorry for Jesse and disliked Emily intensely.  Jesse is bullied and Jesse's only friend left school to be home-schooled.  Jesse is a social misfit kind of drifting through life and has a hopeless crush on Emily, who is seemingly the stereotypical preppy perfect high school girl.  Emily likes to toot her own horn and explain over and over how good her intentions are and how she so much wants to help people.  Very irritating.

Two Boys Kissing--"We resent you. You astonish us."

Title: Two Boys Kissing

Author: David Levithan


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Craig and Harry want to set the world's record for the longest kiss.  Peter and Neil are a couple who are going through normal ups and downs in their relationship.  Avery and Ryan have just met, and Cooper is alone and depressed. Snapshots of the lives of each boy are described.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): First of all, this book was one of the most challenged books of 2016, and a lot of the hype was caused by its cover, which is a picture of . . . two boys kissing.  Duh. What else should be on the cover? Oh my goodness, teenagers will discover that gay people exist by looking at the cover even if they don't read the book!!!!

I'm clutching my pearls, guys, for real.