"The whole family joins the fun!"--Picture book recommendations

Last summer, I put together a presentation recommending books  for a group of parents with gender nonconforming/trans children. I reviewed and recommended eight picture books and thought I would post about them. Picture books can be enjoyed by all ages!

Ana on the Edge--"I don't want them to think girl, but I don't want them to think boy either"

Title: Ana on the Edge

Author: A.J. Sass


LGBTQ+ Representation: Main character is nonbinary, secondary characters are gay and transmasculine.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Twelve-year-old Ana-Marie is a junior figure skating champion. Yet she does not feel comfortable when her new skating outfit has a skirt: she doesn’t feel girly. Ana meets Hayden, a transgender boy who assumes Ana is also a boy. Ana finds comfort in a boyish identity but isn’t sure it fits how she feels either. Will living her truth ruin her skating career?


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): What sticks with me a lot about this book is how super mature and responsible Ana is, especially for a twelve-year-old. She and her mother, who has sacrificed to help Ana become a successful skater, have a great relationship. 
    

Anger is a Gift--"You gotta grasp on to it, hold it tight and use it as ammunition. You use that anger to get things done instead of just stewing in it."

Title: Anger is a Gift

Author: Mark Oshiro


LGBTQ+ Representation: Gay, lesbian, biromantic/bisexual, LGBTQ+ adults, transgender, asexual, nonbinary


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Moss is a sixteen-year-old African-American boy with a great group of friends and a new love interest (cute Javier!). But Moss wishes he could be someone else--someone who doesn't suffer from panic attacks as a result of witnessing the police kill his innocent father. When the school administration begins an "enhanced security program" at the financially-stressed high school, Moss and the community, tired of being treated like criminals, stand up for themselves via organized protests.


What I think: This story is amazing, and I couldn't put it down--except, of course, when I HAD to put it down due to my anger and frustration--

In which I tweet my displeasure at a major event in the story, claiming "never to speak to author again" while already picking up the book to finish reading it.

All Out--"Love is the only higher power I'll answer to"

Title: All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages

Editor: Saundra Mitchell


About the anthology: Seventeen different young adult authors from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum each wrote stories that are included in this anthology. The stories take place during different time periods, locations, and cultures, and across multiple genres.

I am going to review this collection similar to how I reviewed The Bane Chronicles, but not exactly the same since each story has its own author and those authors are all brilliant in their own rights.

Also, this will be a live review! No, I am not usually a zombie reviewing books from my kingdom of the undead, although that sounds intriguing. By live, I mean I am going to read each story, and then write down my thoughts about it right away.


Short story title #1: "Roja"

Author: Anna-Marie McLemore (author of When the Moon Was Ours)

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me--"I'm just willing what I'm feeling to be true. I'm willing myself to believe this is real."

Title: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me

Author: Mariko Tamaki; Illustrations by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell


LGBTQ+ Representation: Main and supporting characters are lesbians and background characters are queer


Content Waring: Abortion


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Freddy is madly in love with her girlfriend, Laura, but Laura (who is popular, funny, cute, thoughtless, and MEAN) keeps breaking up with her. Freddy's friends can't understand why she keeps going back to Laura Dean, and their on-again, off-again relationship nearly causes Freddy to lose her best friend.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): Laura Dean is one of those books that I can see non-YA readers (or those who prefer their books to be moralistic in content) scoffing at. Teenage Freddy is besotted with Laura, who is just the WORST. I strongly identify with Rainbow Rowell's blurb on the back of the book:

The Cardboard Kingdom--"I'm a SORCERESS . . . in EXILE"

Title: The Cardboard Kingdom

Authors: Chad Sell, with Jay Fuller, David Demeo, Katie Schenkel, Manuel Betancourt, Molly Muldoon, Vid Alliger, Cloud Jacobs, Michael Cole, Barbara Perez Marquez, and Kris Moore (posthumously).


LGBTQ+ Representation: Several gender nonconforming characters and at least two characters who might be gay.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): All the children in the neighborhood spend the summer playing fantasy characters, including an evil sorceress and her minion, a huntress, a handsome prince and dashing rogue, a beast, a gargoyle, a robot, an animal queen, and more. The children make their own imaginative costumes and set pieces out of cardboard and furniture; they don't always get along perfectly, but solve their conflicts appropriately, often by "battling" each other in their cardboard kingdom.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): Every time I read a graphic novel, I think "I should read more graphic novels." It just takes a bit of work at the beginning to force my ADHD brain to "read" the pictures as well as the text, but once I get into the story, I usually really enjoy it. The Cardboard Kingdom was no exception--I loved it, both the pictures and the story.

How to Be Remy Cameron--"Discovery is in the journey, not the destination"

Title: How to Be Remy Cameron

Author: Julian Winters


LGBTQ+ Representation: Main character is gay.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Remy Cameron is pretty well-known at school: he is out and proud, surrounded by friends, and is confident that he wants to attend Emory after he graduates. However, when he is asked to write an essay defining himself, Remy does not know where to start. Gay? Black? Adopted? Single? When he meets a surprising new person and starts a new romance, Remy is more confused than ever. How should he define himself?


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): I read a lot of young adult literature--years of working with teenagers and happy memories of reading as a teenager fuel my love of books for teenagers. Every once in a while, I read a book in which the character's voice is extremely realistic: it hits that happy, confusing, hormonal, mature-yet-immature medium of teenage-hood.

How to Be Remy Cameron is that book.