Cool Stuff For Queer Kids
Max and Friends – an Early Chapter Book Series Starring a Trans Kid and His Gender Nonconforming Friends, written by Trans author Kyle Lukoff
Call Me Max by Kyle Lukoff When Max starts school, the teacher hesitates to call out the name on the attendance sheet. Something doesn’t seem to fit. Max lets her know the name he wants to be called by—a boy’s name. This begins Max’s journey as he makes new friends...
Tim Te Maro And The Subterranean Heartsick Blues – A YA Fantasy Where Two Gay Teen Boys at a Magical Boarding School Team Up To Get Back At Their Exes… And Fall For Each Other
Tim Te Maro And The Subterranean Heartsick Blues by H. S. Valley Tim Te Maro and Elliott Parker – classmates at Fox Glacier High School for the Magically Adept – have never gotten along. But when they both get dumped the day before the big egg-baby assignment, they...
Wisdom and Inspiration from “The Big Five OH!” SCBWI Summer Conference, part 1
Not blogging the conference was really tough, but I still collected a bunch of helpful quotes and moments in my journal. Here are a few: Malinda Lo’s helpful question when revising: “What emotional impact do I want readers to have when reading my book?” (And apply to...
A Personal Note About SCBWI
As the SCBWI 50th Anniversary Summer Conference gets underway, I want to acknowledge the crisis of confidence and belonging SCBWI is going through. It’s a crisis that has led to there not being a team blog reporting on this conference, and to there not being an LGBTQ+...
The Taking of Jake Livingston – A Gay Teen Who Sees Dead People Struggles With Being One of the Only Black Kids at His Prep School, a Vengeful Ghost, and a Hot New Guy…
The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass Sixteen-year-old Jake Livingston sees dead people everywhere. But he can't decide what's worse: being a medium forced to watch the dead play out their last moments on a loop or being at the mercy of racist teachers as one...
Bryce Dershem Gives the Queer-Positive, Mental Health-Aware Valedictorian Speech His High School Administration Tried To Silence
This story is really infuriating and inspiring. Infuriating: the administrator turning OFF Bryce's microphone after Bryce said he came out as Queer his freshman year and taking his printed speech away. Inspiring: Bryce giving the speech he truly wanted to give anyway...
Of Fire and Stars and Of Ice and Shadows – In a World of Dangerous Magic and With Their Kingdoms in Peril, Two Princesses Fall in Love With the Wrong People – Each Other
Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile lands....
The Deep & Dark Blue – A Middle Grade Graphic Novel with Twins on the Run, Magic, and – for One Twin – a New, More Authentic Gender Identity
The Deep & Dark Blue by Niki Smith After a terrible political coup usurps their noble house, Hawke and Grayson flee to stay alive and assume new identities, Hanna and Grayce. Desperation and chance lead them to the Communion of Blue, an order of magical women who...
We Donated More Than 70 Copies of “No Way, They Were Gay?” to LGBTQIA2+ Teens!
Thank you, community! Here I am, surrounded by the donated copies! I'm so excited to share that this week the copies were delivered to the team at Brave Trails, this amazing nonprofit that's building the next generation of LGBTQ+ youth leaders! The donations of my...
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