Top 200 Lgbtq Books for Teens : Coming Out, Being Out and the Search for Community

by Michael Cart, Christine A. Jenkins

Overview

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 kinds, as well as graphic novels and general nonfiction aimed at readers in middle school and high school, and include recent publications as well as classics that continue to be read and enjoyed by 21st-century teens. Information on how to find library programs, services, and additional resources for LGBTQ teens is also provided, making this a one-stop sourcebook for LGBTQ teens, their families, friends, and classmates, as well as teachers and librarians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937589561
Publisher:	Independent Publishers Group
Publication date:	05/01/2014
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Michael Cart is a columnist and reviewer for Booklist magazine and a leading expert in the field of young adult literature who has lectured widely on all aspects of literature for young readers. He is a former president of both the Assembly of Literature for Adolescents of the NCTE and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). He is the author or editor of 20 books, including Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism. and the coauthor of The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content 1969–2004. He has been awarded a Grolier Medal and was the recipient of the 2008 YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group Service to Young Adults Achievement Award. He was also recently selected as the recipient of the St. Catherine Drexler Award from the Catholic Library Association. He lives in Columbus, Indiana. Christine A. Jenkins is an associate professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign. She is the author of A Look at Gayness: An Annotated Bibliography of Gay Materials for Young People. They are the coauthors of The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969–2004.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

Fiction 1

Graphic Novels 113

Nonfiction 127

Professional Resources 151

Appendix: Fiction Codes: Tracking Trends over Time 153

Index 157

Editorial Reviews

"This updated and expanded second edition of Cart's already lively and comprehensive history of young adult literature (1996) is an essential resource. . . . Highly accessible and thorough, the text is a staple for any study of the canon. Students and newcomers to the conversation will appreciate Cart's experience and insight. And, once again, the books he mentions as examples will send readers straight to the shelves." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

This offers a carefully chosen collection of almost 200 fiction titles, mostly set in the United States. The rest of the top 250 are graphic novels and nonfiction. Concise and excellent annotations will entice teens to read them and librarians to add them to their collections. Publication dates range from the 1990s, the decade when this literature began to have an impact, to the present. The literature remains one “in transition” as the authors state that too many titles “continue to treat being homosexual or transgender as a problem or issue.” Each fiction book and graphic novel section is coded: HV (homosexual visibility) in which a character’s homosexuality is revealed in the story; GA (gay assimilation) in which one or more characters’ homosexuality is acknowledged as just another identity in a “melting pot” of other characters; or QC (queer consciousness) in which characters live in a community of LBGTQ people and their allies. Titles are arranged in author order and are accompanied by black-and-white book jacket photos. Nonfiction works include poetry, guides from the It Happened to Me series, history, biographies, memoirs, and interviews. There is also a list of non-annotated professional resources. Cart and Jenkins include a short history of the literature in the introduction as well as the criteria for inclusion of titles. This is a practical resource for teens, families, educators, and librarians. Reviewer: Pam Carlson; Ages adult professional.

VOYA, February 2016 (Vol. 38, No. 6) - Pam Carlson

06/01/2015
On the heels of the conversations happening as a result of the We Need Diverse Books movement, acquiring quality LGBTQ titles for young adult collections is more important than ever. Enter Top 250 LGBTQ Books for Teens, in which even dedicated fans of LGBTQ teen titles will find new favorites to enjoy and classic selections to explore. Here, one can peruse an exhaustive collection of the best fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels this niche has to offer. Each title is painstakingly annotated and given equal space within. Books are arranged by author, though the coding system is slightly awkward; readers may have been better served by separate sections for each genre. In addition, a section of professional resources for teachers, librarians, and counselors is included. This title is current through 2013 and includes Sara Farizan's Lambda Award-winning If You Could be Mine (Algonquin, 2013). Only a few 2014 titles appear and the two most recent and significant Printz Award and Honor titles, Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You the Sun (2014) and Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle (2014, both Penguin), both of which prominently feature queer protagonists, are missing. Despite its excellent attention to detail and clear celebration of LGBTQ literature, it's sadly a book that will be dated rapidly as new titles hit the market. VERDICT An additional purchase, best used for backlist collection development.—Ingrid Abrams, Brooklyn Public Library, NY

School Library Journal