Representation – Page 6

Labels are for Soup Cans (and also for me)

By Nita|2020-03-28T13:41:47-05:00May 17th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|Tags: asexual, Representation|

by Nita Tyndall I was twelve the first time I realized I was queer. Back then, I identified as bisexual. Although I didn’t think I was a lesbian (even though I’d never felt attracted to boys), I wanted to keep my options open. And when I was twelve, those were the only two words I knew—lesbian and bisexual, though neither of them felt right. Gay didn’t, either, because I’d always associated that word with gay men, and I wasn’t one of those. So from twelve to thirteen, I was bisexual. When I was in high school and started [...]

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We’re All Bending Reality

By Olivia|2020-03-28T13:41:48-05:00May 15th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|Tags: gay, Queer Guys, Representation, Speculative|

By Alex London As a closeted teenager, thinking about any kind of future for myself was an act of speculative fiction. I attended a conservative all-boys prep school, a place where, at the time, athletes were kings and heroes and there was only one way to be a man. Any deviation from that way was seen as a personal failing. And I was failing. I had deviant desires and strange daydreams. I was different. I also had no gay role models and no books with gay characters to look to. Without any external guidance to look to, my [...]

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I’ve got a girl in the war

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:41:48-05:00May 13th, 2015|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog, Guest Blogs, Readers on Reading|Tags: asexual, Non Binary, Representation|

by Marieke Nijkamp “The objection to fairy stories is that they tell children there are dragons. But children have always known there are dragons. Fairy stories tell children the dragons can be killed.” With these words, the late, great Terry Pratchett famously misquotes G.K. Chesterton’s Tremendous Trifles. It’s not a misrepresentation of Chesterton’s ideas though. For Chesterton, too, stories were St. Georges, dragonslayers. But I’d like to think it goes further than that. Stories tell readers dragons come in many ways and many forms—from false friends to overwhelming dystopias. Stories do not just tell readers dragons can be [...]

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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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New Releases: April 2015

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:42:01-05:00April 5th, 2015|Categories: Archive, New Releases|Tags: Bisexual, Fantasy, gay, graphic novel, New Adult, New Releases, Queer Girls, Queer Guys, Realistic, Representation, Trans|

April 2nd (USA) Weathering the Storm (Harmony Ink Press, 2015) Weathering the Storm by Caitlin Ricci -- (GAY) Goodreads Summary: "Robbie’s dad has always been hard on Robbie and his brothers, but when their mom dies on Robbie’s sixteenth birthday, he becomes downright abusive. Robbie doesn't understand why his dad is so mean to him or why his brothers resent him for their mom's accident, but he desperately tries to hide the bruises. On top of that, after his dad's horse training jobs run out, he moves them to Colorado to their uncle's ranch in the [...]

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Gay YA: a personal retrospective

By Nathaniel|2020-03-28T13:42:18-05:00January 14th, 2015|Categories: Archive|Tags: LGBTQIA, Representation|

How They Met and Other Stories (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2008) The first gay YA I picked up, in early 2009, was David Levithan’s short story collection How They Met, and Other Stories, recommended to me by someone on tumblr. The first story in the collection, “Starbucks Boy”, radically changed the way I thought about myself. My interest in guys, to that point, had been mostly theoretical. I knew I liked them, theoretically and I knew there were some attractive ones at school with me, but only towards the end of 2008 did the idea [...]

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Women In Love

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:42:20-05:00December 24th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs|Tags: Bisexual, lesbian, Queer Girls, Representation, Romance|

Make sure to check out the Twinja Book Reviews Diversity Month, where they feature interviews and guest posts from all sorts of great bloggers and authors-- it's happening now! I’m catching up on Orange Is the New Black as we speak. As a long-time Netflix basher, I finally caved in and became a subscriber. Even though I'd bought the first season on DVD, I couldn't wait to finally watch season two, to see all these interesting stories about women unfold. Orange is the New Black (Netflix series created by Jenji Kohan) I saw relationships end and start. [...]

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On Queer Characters of Color

By Shelly|2020-03-28T13:42:20-05:00December 17th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs, Teen Voices|Tags: Black, Intersectionality, PoC, Representation|

Black Lives Matter Series: Day 3 – Previous Posts: Black Lives Matter, But Where Are We? - I Was Made To Believe There Was Something Wrong With Me – Introduction to Black Lives Matter Series by Aleah Things have grown and changed drastically in the literary world over the years, leading authors to write characters with more racial and sexual freedom. As a straight African-American young woman in support of Gay Rights, I love to see YA novels featuring intertwined sexual and racial diversity. Sadly, while the publication of LGBTQ books is constantly on the rise, those featuring teens of color are few. (When [...]

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I Was Made to Believe There’s Something Wrong With Me: Why #BlackLivesMatter in YA Lit

By Shelly|2020-03-28T13:42:20-05:00December 14th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs|Tags: Black, Intersectionality, PoC, Queer Girls, Representation, Trans|

Black Lives Matter Series: Day 1 - Previous Posts: Introduction to Black Lives Matter Series by Nakiya I’ve been reading LGBTQ YA fiction for almost five years and I’ve never read a book focused on a black LGBTQ woman. When I was in elementary school, one of my favorite books was Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. In middle school two of my favorite series were The Babysitter’s Club by Ann M. Martin and Animorphs by K. A. Applegate, both of which had a central black female character. I grew up in a town that [...]

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The Question of Queering the Mainstream Novel: A Conversation with authors Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith

By Nadia|2020-03-28T13:42:21-05:00December 5th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog, Author Interview|Tags: Fantasy, gay, publishing, Queer Girls, Queer Guys, Representation, Speculative|

The story behind the story is sometimes, as they say, stranger than fiction. Stranger is the title of a Viking November release by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith and, if you read this book, as I did (when Rachel asked me, in my paranormal YA novelist persona Tate Hallaway, to blurb it,) you might not think much more beyond how awesome and captivating a story of superpowers and survival in a post-apocalyptic future it is. Stranger (Viking Juveline, 2014) This book, however, almost didn’t get published. Sure, okay, you’re thinking, lots of great books don’t get published, what’s [...]

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