Vee – Page 8 – YA Pride

Navigating the In-Between: Demisexuality in YA Lit

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:18-05:00December 12th, 2016|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs|Tags: asexual, Demisexual|

by Dill Werner I can only speak for one person when it comes to demisexuality—me. My experiences, my preferences, my sexuality, me. Being a queer demisexual means that I fall somewhere along a spectrum within a spectrum along another spectrum. I am a demisexual floating in the asexual spectrum hunched under the queer umbrella. It’s…complicated. Demisexuality is a very individual and emotionally-linked experience, which makes it difficult to draw out an exact description of what it is to be demi. Being demi means my sexual orientation falls somewhere between asexual and sexual. I feel sexual attraction but not [...]

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Introduction: Asexuality in YA Series

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:18-05:00December 12th, 2016|Categories: Archive, Updates and Announcements|Tags: asexual, Demisexual|

During our Asexuality in YA series, we want to use our space on GayYA to support ace-spectrum voices. Last year, we decided to host Awareness Week Series over the various LGBTQIA+ Awareness Weeks throughout the year. Though we hope to include everyone on the site at all times, we wanted to dedicate a concentrated space to people from a specific community to talk about how they’re represented in YA. The response from the community was phenomenal– we got to feature many fantastic and thought-provoking posts, and watched as the community fostered some nuanced discussions via our identity-centric Twit [...]

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The Hero’s Journey in Trans YA

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:18-05:00December 2nd, 2016|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs, Readers on Reading, Teen Voices, Writers on Writing|Tags: narrative, Representation, Trans|

by Vee S. Introduction Last year I wrote a post about the “Acceptance” Narrative in Trans YA. That post detailed my thoughts on three problematic books that feature cis characters lamenting how hard it is to know someone who is trans. Today, I want to talk about another issue of representation in trans YA, and a narrative that is even more common. This post is kind of a second blush look at representation in trans YA. The “acceptance” narrative covered the really problematic representation, and this post tackles the next, more nuanced stage. Today I’d like to talk [...]

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Interview: Meredith Russo, author of IF I WAS YOUR GIRL

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:18-05:00November 30th, 2016|Categories: Archive, Author Interview, Teen Voices|Tags: Realistic, Representation, Trans|

Trans Awareness Week Series: Day #9 Previous Posts: Reading Myself in Code by Sacha Lamb, Building Zoey's World by Anya Johanna DeNiro, We Need Trans Books… But We Really Need Trans Writers by Elliot Wake, Second Trans on the Moon by Kyle Lukoff, How the Fox Became by Fox Benwell, Interview: Alex Gino, The Room Where it Happens by Parrish Turner, Trans Stories Are Human Stories by April Daniels, Center Trans Voices: Introduction to Trans Awareness Week Series by Vee S. This Summer I got to go to ALA in Orlando, which was an incredible and intense experience. I wrote some about how validating my experience was as a [...]

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We Need Trans Books… But We Really Need Trans Writers

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:18-05:00November 22nd, 2016|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog, New Releases|Tags: New Adult, Trans|

Trans Awareness Week Series: Day #6 Previous Posts: Second Trans on the Moon by Kyle Lukoff, How the Fox Became by Fox Benwell, Interview: Alex Gino, The Room Where it Happens by Parrish Turner, Trans Stories Are Human Stories by April Daniels, Center Trans Voices: Introduction to Trans Awareness Week Series by Vee S.) by Elliot Wake About 0.6% of the population of the United Sates is transgender. Which doesn't sound like much, until you put it another way: 1.4 million people in the US are trans. That's the population of a city like Philadelphia or Phoenix. And it's a conservative estimate: many [...]

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Interview: Alex Gino, author of GEORGE

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:19-05:00November 17th, 2016|Categories: Archive, Author Interview|Tags: Middle Grade, Trans|

Trans Awareness Week: Day #3 Previous Posts: The Room Where it Happens by Parrish Turner, Trans Stories Are Human Stories by April Daniels, Center Trans Voices: Introduction to Trans Awareness Week Series by Vee S.) This Summer I got to go to ALA in Orlando, which was an incredible and intense experience. I wrote some about how validating my experience was as a trans teen here. One of the highlights was getting to talk with Alex Gino, author of the Middle Grade novel George. The fact that Alex uses they/them pronouns, wrote a trans book published by Scholastic, and actually has [...]

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The Room Where It Happens

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:19-05:00November 16th, 2016|Categories: Guest Blogs, Publishing People|Tags: Representation, Trans|

Trans Awareness Week: Day #2 Previous Posts: Trans Stories Are Human Stories by April Daniels, Center Trans Voices: Introduction to Trans Awareness Week Series by Vee S.) by Parrish Turner With each new “trans book,” I hold my breath as I read over the summaries and quotes which litter the pages. Without fail, I will see the words “dark secret,” “eye-opening,” or “change the way you think.” I find myself disappointed every time. The fact is, trans people are still seen as a mysterious other. Through many people’s hard work, we are just starting to see books about transgender [...]

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Trans Stories Are Human Stories

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:29-05:00November 15th, 2016|Categories: Author Guest Blog, New Releases|Tags: own voices, Trans|

Trans Awareness Week Series: Day #1 (Previous Posts: Center Trans Voices: Introduction to Trans Awareness Week Series by Vee S.) by April Daniels So, I wrote a book. It’s a good book, and I’m proud of it. But ever since we swung into action marketing it, I’ve been having a lot of Complicated Thoughts about where the YA representation discussion is right now, particularly as it relates to trans people. Dreadnought is being billed as the story of a girl who transitions, abruptly, publicly, and must deal with the consequences. That’s true as far as it goes but what [...]

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Center Trans Voices: Introduction to Trans Awareness Week Series

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:29-05:00November 14th, 2016|Categories: Archive, Updates and Announcements|Tags: Trans|

Since election day I've been in a state of despair. I couldn't write this introduction, because all I could think of was giving up. Now, as I write this, I am sitting with a cat on my lap and the sun is warm on my skin. I am cat-sitting for a genderqueer author friend, and I am surrounded by shelves of queer and trans books. This is a safe space. I'm ready to write this introduction. I am really, really scared. We have no idea what's going to come next, and that makes it all the more terrifying. [...]

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How to Build a Safe Space for LGBTQIA+ Teens via Books

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:30-05:00November 10th, 2016|Categories: Archive, Teachers & Librarians|

I wasn't planning on posting this resource this week. And then, well, this election happened. As a queer teen, I am more scared than I have ever been in this country. And I'm white. My friends who are LGBTQIA+ and people of color... they're terrified. We need safe spaces now more than ever. I know this election has been a wake up call for many people that we need to do better, so I hope this post can help give some direction to that energy. Teachers, librarians, booksellers, I know a lot of you are scared. LGBTQIA+ content is still [...]

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