Books for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, asexual, and intersex readers and their allies continue to thrive and evolve in reflection of the variety of families and individual identities today. Deemed “an essential purchase” in a starred review by School Library Journal, this matchless guide returns in an updated edition. Offering library workers and teachers the information and tools they need to build a diverse, inclusive collection and confidently share it with the patrons they support, this resource:
- provides hundreds of annotated book entries, complete with author and illustrator, publisher, date of publication, descriptions of each book’s LGBTQIA+ representation, and helpful prompts to foster discussion;
- surveys the current censorship push against books with LGBTQIA+ topics, themes, and characters, discussing its effect on young people and how to deal with objections and book challenges head on;
- includes interviews with noted authors that explain not only why they write for children, but what they feel librarians and teachers should understand when working with queer children and their classmates;
- spotlights picture books for young children that depict kids, parents, and families with a variety of gender and sexual dynamics;
- introduces books for middle-grade readers, focusing on titles with young people who are questioning and finding themselves while searching for where they belong;
- shares books for teens that range from stories touching on mental health and other issues that develop as youth start high school to others that explore housing insecurity and other concerns that impact older teens; and
- shares ideas for programming and marketing, advice on outreach to stakeholders, and best practices for supporting LGBTQIA+ students.
