Children's Literature - Paula McMillen

Part of the series, "Gallup's Guide to Modern Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Lifestyle" homosexuality, alternative sexual preferences and lifestyles are areas that certainly can benefit from accessible texts for pre-teens and teens. These are topics that are frequently accompanied by high levels of emotion and controversy and therefore demand the most accurate and authoritative treatment. Overall this series falls short on these latter requirements, as it relys largely on popular press and websites for sources and utilizes statements in the text without citing the relevant source(s). Citations in the bibliography often fail to provide an issue or page numbers when journal articles are included. Typographical errors were found in several texts. Each book is opened with the identical introduction from the series editor, James Sears, former editor of the Journal of LGBT Youth. The introduction describes the tensions between societal expectations and individual rights which largely underlie discrimination against non-dominant groups in any culture. Each book is organized in short chapters with terms highlighted in the text and defined in colored boxes. In this text, the chapters about lesbians and bisexuals are considerably shorter than the chapter about gay men. Definitions of terms are generally imprecise, the same word may be defined in one text but not another, and some words are not defined at all that should be (e.g., dyke or straight). Illustrations and photos are spread throughout, short lists of additional information sources close each chapter, and a bibliography and index follow the main text of the book. The layout and production quality make these books accessible and the tenor of the messages to youth dealing with these issues is positive; however, the quality of the information suggests these be used only as ancillary information in a school or public library setting. Reviewer: Paula McMillen, Ph.D.