Middle Grade – YA Pride

Lupe
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Lupe

Archive, Author Guest Blog

Lupe

By Vee|2020-08-26T22:12:32-05:00August 27th, 2020|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|Tags: Latinx, Mexican, Middle Grade|

by Aida Salazar I grew up watching impromptu drag shows in my living room. Many of my (very Mexican and straight) mother’s friends were men. They happened to be gay. Her best friend, Lupe, was like family. He and Mami knew each other from back in the pueblo when they were little and played dolls together. They both managed to find each other as immigrants in Southeast Los Angeles where they picked up right where they left off. Perhaps they were so close because Lupe’s strict Catholic family had disowned him and had even sent him to prison [...]

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#PreOrderHurricaneChild Campaign

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:08-05:00March 17th, 2018|Categories: Book Club, New Releases|Tags: Black, Middle Grade, nonbinary, Queer Girls|

We are so excited to announce our first ever pre-order campaign, for HURRICANE CHILD by Kheryn Callender. There is very, very little LGBTQIAP+ representation in Middle Grade books. I can list maybe seven books of the top of my head, and could find a few more through research. If I tried to list Middle Grade books about queer kids of color, that list would trickle down to almost zero. YA Pride believes that LGBTQIAP+ representation in Middle Grade is just as important, if not more important, than it is in Young Adult. Sometimes Young Adult gets to readers [...]

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The Power of Stories: Saving Lives and Connecting Readers, One Book at a Time
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The Power of Stories: Saving Lives and Connecting Readers, One Book at a Time

Author Guest Blog, Guest Blogs, New Releases, Writers on Writing

The Power of Stories: Saving Lives and Connecting Readers, One Book at a Time

By Ariel|2020-03-28T13:40:11-05:00June 22nd, 2017|Categories: Author Guest Blog, Guest Blogs, New Releases, Writers on Writing|Tags: Black, Middle Grade, nonbinary, PoC, Queer Girls|

Pride Month Blogathon: Day 10 – Introduction to Pride Month Blogathon by Kheryn Callender I didn't like myself very much when I was younger. I was the only black student in my private school for a few years, and whenever I left my school, which was deep in the countryside where many white people from the states lived, I was surrounded by locals from St. Thomas who thought I acted too snobby, who thought I spoke with a stateside accent because I didn’t love my island, who thought I acted too “white.” It seemed wherever I went, whichever community [...]

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Interview: Robin Stevenson, author of PRIDE, a Middle Grade Non-Fiction Book
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Interview: Robin Stevenson, author of PRIDE, a Middle Grade Non-Fiction Book

Archive, Author Interview, New Releases, Writers on Writing

Interview: Robin Stevenson, author of PRIDE, a Middle Grade Non-Fiction Book

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:11-05:00June 15th, 2017|Categories: Archive, Author Interview, New Releases, Writers on Writing|Tags: Activism, Middle Grade, Non Fiction|

Pride Month Blogathon: Day 7 - Introduction to Pride Month Blogathon For gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their supporters, June is a month of pride and celebration, and the high point of that month is the Pride Day Parade. Pride Day is a spectacular and colorful event. But there is a whole lot more to Pride than rainbow flags and amazing outfits. So what exactly are we celebrating on Pride Day? How did this event come to be? And what does Pride mean to the people who celebrate it? Last year at ALA, I got to chat with [...]

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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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Clearing Trans Paths in Middle Grade Fiction

By Marilla|2020-03-28T13:41:10-05:00November 20th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs|Tags: Middle Grade, Representation, Trans|

Now that my debut middle grade novel, George, has been released into the world (fly, baby, fly!!) I’ve been witnessing and engaging in conversations about “who this book is for”. In other words, “is this age-appropriate?” Now let me be clear. There is no age at which it is inappropriate to appreciate people for who they are. And there is no age before we know ourselves. We may not have fully formed those notions, but each of us is the only person we know inside and out, and each of our challenges includes finding, respecting, and celebrating that [...]

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Cover Reveal + Interview: Pride: Celebrating Diversity and Community by Robin Stevenson

By Marilla|2020-03-28T13:41:31-05:00August 6th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Interview, Cover Reveal|Tags: LGBTQIA, Middle Grade|

Pride: Celebrating Diversity and Community by Robin Stevenson is delving into an awesome new area—it's a Middle Grade nonfiction book about the history of Pride and Stonewall! It'll be coming out April 2016. Today, we're THRILLED to reveal the awesome cover of this awesome book. We also got to talk to the fantastic author herself about why this book needs to exist, what exactly is in it, and why you should be super excited for its release in April 2016! For LGBTQ people and their supporters, Pride events are an opportunity to honor the past, protest injustice and [...]

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Graphic Novel Review: Lumberjanes.

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:41:48-05:00May 16th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: Fantasy, graphic novel, Intersectionality, LGBTQIA, Middle Grade, PoC, Queer Girls|

Lumberjanes (Boom! Studios, 2014) One of the biggest challenges I face when reading, reviewing and now, publishing, is to find balance in the types of queers stories I read/review/publish. It often feels to me that the vast majority of what is out there - and what is made more visible when it comes to reviewing and award-winning - are the stories that deal with violence, homophobia, or the ones where being queer is the story. Don’t get me wrong, because those? Are super important and should be told, read and talked about. But equally important in [...]

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Stonewall Book Award – 2015 Winners

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:42:07-05:00February 3rd, 2015|Categories: Archive|Tags: Middle Grade, Queer Girls, Queer Guys, Trans|

Each year the American Library Association (ALA) announces the Youth Media Awards given to outstanding children and young adult books (including audiobooks, videos and graphic novels). This year the awards were presented on Monday Feb 1st, in a ceremony in Chicago, USA. One of the awards presented was the Stonewall Book Award, which is granted to "English language books that have exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience" (via ALA's website). This year the books recognized were: Stonewall Book Award -Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award WINNER This Day in June (Magination Press, 2014) “This [...]

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Author Interview: Ami Polonsky

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:42:24-05:00November 17th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Author Interview|Tags: Middle Grade, Realistic, Trans|

Gracefully Grayson, which we reviewed earlier this month, is a middle-grade book about a transgender girl and it's Ami Polonsky's debut novel. We had the pleasure of interviewing Ami about her amazing book and her writing process. Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky (Hyperion 2014) Q: Gracefully Grayson was just released on November 4th! What is it like to have your book out in the world? A: Thanks so much for interviewing me! It’s really exciting that GRACEFULLY GRAYSON is out in the world. I waited twenty-five months for pub day! On one hand, I love that people all over can read [...]

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