Read with Pride
June is GLBT Book Month™, a national celebration of authors and books that reflect the GLBT experience.
No longer a place for just books, libraries are transforming lives by fostering community, understanding and access to the very best in GLBT literature and community resources.
Below are five of my favorite LGBTQ advocacy books and conversation starters. Want help advocate? Go to a book discussion or start your own conversations about diversity and LGBTQ youth. Share videos and stories. In light of the recent tragedy in Orlando, here’s a powerful video featuring five LGBTQ youth discussing experiences related to their identities: LGBTQ Youth; Voices of Trauma. Lives of Promise.
GLBT Book Month™ is an initiative of the American Library Association and is coordinated through its Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table. For more information about the American Library Association’s mission for diversity, visit http://www.ala.org/offices/diversity.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green; David Levithan
Call Number: YA FIC GREEN,J
When two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other’s best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both.
Every Day by David Levithan
Call Number: YA FIC LEVITHAN,D
Every morning A wakes in a different person’s body, in a different person’s life, learning over the years to never get too attached, until he wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon.
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Call Number: YA FIC NELSON,J
A story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal told from different points in time, and in separate voices, by artists Jude and her twin brother Noah.
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
Call Number: YA FIC SMITH,A
Austin Szerba narrates the end of humanity as he and his best friend Robby accidentally unleash an army of giant, unstoppable bugs and uncover the secrets of a decades-old experiment gone terribly wrong.
Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler
Call Number: YA 92 HARTZLER,A
Sometimes salvation is found in the strangest places: a true story. Aaron Hartzler grew up in a home where he was taught that at any moment the Rapture could happen. That Jesus might come down in the twinkling of an eye and scoop Aaron and his family up to heaven. As a kid, Aaron was thrilled by the idea that every moment of every day might be his last one on planet Earth. But as Aaron turns sixteen, he finds himself more attached to his earthly life and curious about all the things his family forsakes for the Lord. Aaron Hartzler recalls his teenage journey to find the person he is without losing the family that loves him. It’s a story about losing your faith and finding your place and your own truth–which is always stranger than fiction.
I also really love With or Without You by Brian Farrey, but our library doesn’t have a copy in stock yet. We currently have it on order, so consider this a bonus book to read later.
With or Without You by Brian Farrey
Eighteen year-old Evan and his best friend, Davis, get beaten up for being loners. For being gay. For just being themselves. But as rough as things often seem, at least Evan can take comfort in his sweet, sexy boyfriend Erik–whom he’s kept secret from everyone for almost a year. Then Evan and Davis are recruited to join the Chasers, a fringe crowd that promises them protection and status. Davis is swept up in the excitement, but Evan is caught between his loyalty to Davis and his love for Erik. Evan’s lied to keep his two worlds separate. Now his lies are about to implode…and destroy the very relationships he’s been trying to protect
Want more? Check out our online Teen Book Suggestions List: LGBTQ
What are your favorites?