YA Pride

When Books Save Lives… And When They Don’t

By Kale|2020-03-28T13:41:48-05:00May 9th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|Tags: Bisexual, gay, Latin@, Mental Health|

(warning for discussion of suicide) by Alex Sanchez Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez (Simon & Schuster, 2001) When my first novel, Rainbow Boys, was about to be published my editor asked me, “Do you realize this book isgoing to save lives?” I wondered if he’d confused my book with someone else’s. But then the novel came out, and I began to receive emails from readers. Some said the protagonists had become their role models. Others said they’d read the book over and over when they felt lonely and afraid. And then came responses like this one: [...]

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On Building a Better Tomorrow

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:41:48-05:00May 8th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|Tags: Advocacy, Allies, Minor Queer Characters|

by Ellen Hopkins I write contemporary young adult fiction. To date, I’ve published eleven bestselling YA novels-in-verse, and each storyline is unique. I’ve written about addiction, abuse, suicide, prostitution and the drive for perfection, both internal and external—issues that touch teen lives every day. The books are diverse, but they all have in common queer characters somewhere in their pages. Burned by Ellen Hopkins (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2006) Sometimes they’re main characters. Other times, they’re peripheral or barely seen. For instance, in Burned, Pattyn has a gay uncle who’s been shunned by his ultra religious [...]

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Tanuja Desai Hidier’s “Dimple Lala/ GayYA Bday Party Playlist”

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:41:49-05:00May 7th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog, Fun Things, Guest Blogs|Tags: Intersectionality, Minor Queer Characters, Other Media, PoC, Queer Girls, Realistic, South Asian|

4 original songs from Tanuja’s ‘booktrack’ albums When We Were Twins (songs based on her first novel, Born Confused) & Bombay Spleen (songs based on her new novel, sequel Bombay Blues) to celebrate GayYA’s 4th birthday! And for now, and always, I knew: Love had to be allowed in wherever, whenever, and in whatever form it took. We didn’t have to shrink to fit it, box it to casket. And even then, when we found it dying, could opt for ashing down rather than burial, scatter it to all five corners of the earth and ether. Whatever could [...]

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Author Guest Blog: Kimberly Derting

By Olivia|2020-03-28T13:41:49-05:00May 6th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|Tags: Advocacy, Allies|

By Kimberly Derting I have three kids, and I’ve raised them all to be conscientious and loving—to see people as people rather for their sexual orientations or skin colors or religious beliefs. But it’s my youngest daughter—my 14-year-old—who is fierce about these principles, to the point of being rabid. This was what she asked for as her 14th birthday. "Why ban gay marriage when you can ban kidz bop?" She wears it everywhere, until eventually I have to sneak it into the wash. I think, secretly, she wants to overhear a whispered slur just so [...]

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Booktube Needs You!

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:41:49-05:00May 5th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Book Review, Guest Blogs, Readers on Reading|Tags: Book Community|

by Danika Leigh Ellis If you're a bookish person, and especially if you're a fan of YA, you should be exploring the wonderful world of Booktube by now. Booktube is the bookish community of Youtube. Hundreds of people make videos about books, from reviews to bookish tags to provocative discussion topics. It's similar to the book blogosphere, but feels more interconnected. Being able to see people's faces as they discuss book they're passionate about makes it a much more personal interaction, and you quickly begin to feel like you really know the people you follow. Booktube is also [...]

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The Love that Does Not Know Its Name

By Kale|2020-03-28T13:42:00-05:00May 5th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|Tags: LGBTQIA, Queer Girls|

by Elizabeth Wein Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (Hyperion, 2013) Occasionally, in the heat of a conversation and unable to quickly recall this week’s in-favor politically-correct acronym, I find myself saying, “So, I heard about this new LGBT-QRST book…” Then I think, OMG, that’s not right! What did I forget? Someone is going to be so offended! My problem with labelling is that I don’t like boxes. I don’t like age-banding of books, and I don’t like genre categorization – I don’t like being branded. I write historical/fantasy/adventure/spy/Arthurian/mystery/war novels. The hero of four of my [...]

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Have You Ever Considered Writing About Straight People?

By Marilla|2020-03-28T13:42:00-05:00May 4th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog, Writers on Writing|Tags: LGBTQIA, Queer Girls, Queer Guys, Representation, Trans|

by Robin Talley Last week I spoke to a group of middle schoolers about what it’s like to be a writer. It was an all-girls school, and the students were earnest, smiling, and full of questions. For the most part, they asked the same sorts of things everyone else asks ― how do you deal with writer’s block, when did you first start writing, what made you want to write a book about school integration ― but quite a few girls also had questions about the fact that my books star QUILTBAG characters. I was delighted. When I [...]

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Blogathon Schedule: Week 1

By Vee|2016-05-24T14:50:32-05:00May 4th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Updates and Announcements|

May 1st: I'll Write Queer Characters Forever by Francesca Lia Block May 2nd: I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It but not in a Vapid Katy Perry Way Justina Ireland May 3rd: They Turned My Gay Teen Novel Into a Movie. Here’s What I Learned. by Brent Hartinger May 4th: Have You Ever Considered Writing About Straight People? by Robin Talley May 5th: DOUBLE POST The Love That Does Not Know Its Name by Elizabeth Wein Booktube Needs You! by Danika Leigh Ellis May 6th: Guest Blog by Kimberly Derting May 7th: Guest Blog by Tanuja Desai [...]

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They Turned My Gay Teen Novel Into a Movie. Here’s What I Learned.

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:42:00-05:00May 3rd, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|Tags: gay, Other Media, Queer Guys, Realistic|

by Brent Hartinger Geography Club (HarperTeen, 2003) They've turned my 2003 gay teen novel Geography Club into a movie. It came out in 2013 (and it's on Netflix now if you're curious). Since then, people have asked me how it all happened and what I've learned from the whole experience. What did I learn? The story starts when I graduated from college and decided to try to make a career writing novels and screenplays. It was the early 90s, and one of my first books was a young adult novel about a gay teen named Russel Middlebrook and his misfit [...]

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I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It but not in a Vapid Katy Perry Way

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:00-05:00May 2nd, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog, Guest Blogs, Readers on Reading|Tags: Bisexual, Queer Girls|

by Justina Ireland The first time I kissed a girl I was fifteen. It was at one of those awkward boy/girl house parties where everyone wants something (beer, weed, sex) but the parents are too near to properly get at it. We played spin the bottle, since this was before the Internet and that’s what we did for fun in the old days, and mine happened to land on a girl I barely knew. For a moment we hesitated, while everyone in the room collectively held their breath. Then I shrugged. “We don’t have to if you don’t [...]

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