YA Pride

A Girl Like Me

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:03-05:00March 14th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|Tags: graphic novel, publishing, Trans|

With more publishing options out there than ever before, and many stories of success and failure on every front, how do you know which path is right for you? Traditional, indie, and self-publishing all have their pros and cons. It’s important to know what to expect with each one, but it’s even more important to know yourself and your project. Know your strengths, your limitations, and your relationship to the project. Each project is different. What is an ideal publishing route for one might not be for another. In a feature I wrote on publishing, author Steve Almond [...]

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The (im)possibilities of Openly Straight

By Nathaniel|2020-03-28T13:42:06-05:00March 11th, 2015|Categories: Archive|Tags: gay, Queer Guys|

I first read Bill Konigsberg’s Openly Straight in April, 2014. Ten months later, reading it again, the questions it poses are as powerful as they were the first time. How do I really feel about being gay? I always thought I was okay with it. Am I though? Relative to many (most, even) members of the LGBTQ+ community, I have had something of a charmed life. I was never really in any doubt about my sexuality: like Paul from Boy Meets Boy, it just seemed obvious to me. I talk sometimes about my parents having two sets of [...]

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Exclusive Cover Reveal + Interview: Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:06-05:00March 9th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Interview, Cover Reveal|Tags: Trans|

We're so happy to be revealing the cover of Pat Schmatz's newest novel, Lizard Radio! Lizard Radio will be released September 2015. I could go on for quite awhile about how excited I am for this book, but I think you'll experience the excitement yourself, as you learn more about this book, without any prompting. First, here is the newly released blurb! FEAST YOUR EYES. Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz: Fifteen-year-old bender Kivali has had a rough time in a gender-rigid culture. Abandoned as a baby and raised by Sheila, an ardent nonconformist, Kivali has always been surrounded by uncertainty. Where [...]

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New Releases: March 2015.

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:42:06-05:00March 9th, 2015|Categories: Archive, New Releases|Tags: Bisexual, gay, lesbian, LGBTQIA, New Adult, New Releases, PoC, Queer Girls, Queer Guys|

March 2nd (USA) Top 250 LGBTQ Books for Teens (Huron Street Press, 2015) Top 250 LGBTQ Books for Teens: Coming Out, Being Out, and the Search for Community by Michael Cart — (LGBTQAI+) Goodreads Summary: "A summary of the 250 best books for LGBTQ teens, written by experts on the subject and addressed to teen book buyers. Identifying titles that address the sensitive and important topics of coming out, being out, and the search for community, this catalog spotlights the best gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, and questioning books written for teens. The authors cover fiction of all [...]

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5 Reasons to Love Benjamin Alire Saenz’s Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

By Sonia|2020-03-28T13:42:06-05:00March 5th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: Historical, Latin@, Queer Guys, Realistic|

by Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2012) opens in the summer of 1987 in El Paso, Texas and follows Aristotle Mendoza’s journey toward self-discovery. Fifteen year old Ari is smart and witty but quite isolated from other boys his own age. However, after meeting Dante Quintana at the pool he begins to feel a renowned interest in life and an unfamiliar feeling for Dante. Benjamin Alire Saenz[1] creates a beautiful flourishing relationship between the two young boys that forces both of them to look inward. Ari and Dante find solace, [...]

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Author Interview: Steven Dos Santos

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:42:07-05:00February 19th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Interview|Tags: Dystopia, LGBTQIA, Queer Guys|

The Culling (Flux, 2013) Vee: Hello there Steven! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. It's a pleasure to have you on the blog. To start off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Steven: Thanks for having me, Vee! I was born in the Big Apple to Portuguese & Dominican parents, but grew up in sunny South Florida, which I still currently call home (when I’m not calling it some not-so-nice words in the height of our steamy summers). I have a Journalism/Communications degree and also studied Motion Picture [...]

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Review of I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN

By Katie|2020-03-28T13:42:07-05:00February 13th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: gay, LGBTQIA, New Releases, Queer Guys, Realistic, Romance|

I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUN by Jandy Nelson I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN is a complex story about FAMILY, secrets, GRIEF, love, growing up, FINDING AND BECOMING YOURSELF, self-esteem, and art. It’s perfectly described in one of the epigraphs with the following e. e. cummings quote, “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are” (spoiler alert: It takes a whole lot of courage. And it’s incredibly difficult). The novel reflects on the journey to becoming that person. FROM GOODREADS: Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly [...]

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Leelah Alcorn & Invisible Monsters

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:07-05:00February 11th, 2015|Categories: Archive|

Leelah Alcorn Of course, we’re all talking about Leelah Alcorn. Or at least we should be. And if we’re not, then we’re not grasping the meaning of her last letter to the world. It's much easier to go through life unaware of actual abuse transgender minors are put through by their own unaccepting parents. Sometimes we just don’t listen, and it isn’t until these struggles are written out in a novel, or a television script, or even a suicide note, and handed to us that we truly listen. But sometimes scripts and even novels dance around [...]

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Cut Both Ways by Carrie Mesrobian: Exclusive Cover Reveal and Interview

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:07-05:00February 6th, 2015|Categories: Archive|Tags: Bisexual, Queer Guys|

We are absolutely thrilled to be hosting Carrie Mesrobian's cover reveal for her new book Cut Both Ways out in September 2015. Carrie was one of mine and Kathleen's middle school writing teachers, and we've been in other classes with her over the following years. She's a great instructor, a fabulous writer, and has been incredibly supportive of us as we re-launched GayYA. We've been hearing little snippets about this unnamed book that had a bisexual guy as the protagonist for months, so when she approached us with the chance to host the cover reveal I was like uuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmm YES. [...]

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New Releases: February 2015.

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:42:07-05:00February 4th, 2015|Categories: Archive, New Releases|Tags: Bisexual, gay, lesbian, Queer Girls, Queer Guys, Realistic|

February 5th (USA) Unspeakable (Atom, 2015) Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton -- (LESBIAN) Goodreads Summary: "Megan doesn't speak. She hasn't spoken in months. Pushing away the people she cares about is just a small price to pay. Because there are things locked inside Megan's head - things that are screaming to be heard - that she cannot, must not, let out. Then Jasmine starts at school: bubbly, beautiful, talkative Jasmine. And for reasons Megan can't quite understand, life starts to look a bit brighter. Megan would love to speak again, and it seems like Jasmine might be the answer. [...]

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