June is Pride Month in the US and in honor of that here is a list of books featuring gay characters and themes. As with other book lists I wanted the themes/morals of the stories to be secondary to the characters. After all if books have well developed gay characters then they'll naturally raise awareness about gay people and the issues they face. Some of the books listed with have a primary focus of gay characters and issues while other's will be stories that happen to have gay characters. Also a lot of the gay rights movement and Pride focus on white men to the extent of silencing or ignoring women, people of color, and other people on the LGBTQ spectrum. The counter this I tried to find several books that focused on or included characters that were POC and LGBTQ.
Book's I have read are marked with an *.
P-K/Kindergarten
* And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (The charming story of Roy and Silo, two boy penguins who fall in love and are given an egg to foster by their zoo keeper.)
Daddy, Papa, and Me by Leslea Newman (A Pre-K boardbook about a young toddler playing and daddy and papa and the activities they get up to. The writing is in short rhymes. It also has a companion Mommy, Mama, and Me.)
King & King written and illustrated by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland. (This is a story of a prince who is supposed to find a princess to marry, but falls in love with a prince instead. This book has been translated into several languages and has a sequel King & King & Family.)
The White Swan Express by Jean Davies Okimoto and Elaine M. Aoki. (This is the story of four Chinese baby girls and the people who adopt them. One family is a lesbian couple, and another person is a single mom. )
1st - 2nd Grade
Anna Day and the O-ring written and illustrated by Elaine Wickens and Alyson Wonderland. (Evan, his two mom's, and their dog Anna Day are getting ready for Evan's birthday party when the O-ring for the tent goes missing.)
Mom and Mum Are Getting Married! by Ken Setterington. (Rosie's mom's are getting married and she wants to be the flower girl and take care of the wedding rings. But are Rosie and her brother Jack mature enough?)
One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads by Johnny Valentine. (A Dr. Seuss like rhyming book about a brown boy, Lou, answering his friend's questions about Lou's two blue dads.)
3rd - 5th Grade
* The Skull of Truth by Bruce Coville. (Charlie, a chronic lier, finds a skull (that used to belong to Shakespeare!) that makes everyone around it tell the truth. A sub-plot of the book has to do with the revelation that Charlie's favorite uncle is gay)
Young Adult
* Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan. (Jamie, one of the main characters of the series, is gay. Several secondary characters are as well. The main focus of the story is on magic and family, though additional content on Rees Brennan's web-page shows more from Jamie's, or the secondary characters, perspectives.) Reviewed by me.
The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson. (Bi-racial Staggerlee has felt even more confused and different ever since she kissed her best friend Hazel. Luckily she has a kindred spirit in her cousin Trout.)
The Pride Pack by R.J. Hamilton. (A mystery series about gay teens and adults. The first two books in the series are Who Framed Lorenzo Garcia? and The Case of the Missing Mother.)
* Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez. (The story of Kyle, Jason, and Nelson, three gay teens growing up and falling in love in a conservative town. There are two sequels Rainbow High and Rainbow Road. All of the books have some sexual content. Not the best written series ever but it really focuses on gay characters and themes and the later books have other LGBTQ characters.)
Monday, June 13, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Awareness and Aid
Last month the Book List was for Autism Acceptance and I wish this event was happening then. On May 12 at 7:30 pm Wretches and Jabbers will be shown in 100 cities across the United States. The movie is about two men with autism, who were excluded from public schools as children, who travel the world and meet other people with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Here's the web page with city listings.
The PepsiRefresh Project gave a grant to a gentleman who is using it to provide books to public schools in Chicago. People can vote for the PepsiRefresh Projects they like and the more votes the projects get the larger their grant funding. You can vote for this project here.
A friend of mine, Elizabeth Handel, runs a literacy program for inmates and their children in Massachusetts. It's called A Book from Mom/ABook from Dad and was started in 2004. They take donations of used books to prisions for parents to give to their children when they visit. If parents can't meet with their children some prisions allow them to record themselves reading the book and then send the book and recording to their child. It's very local with Handel sorting and delivering most of the books herself, some information about the program is available here. Sadly A Book from Mom/A Book from Dad is not set up for internet donations. But if you're in MA look out for bookstores and schools who work with this organization and donate through them
The PepsiRefresh Project gave a grant to a gentleman who is using it to provide books to public schools in Chicago. People can vote for the PepsiRefresh Projects they like and the more votes the projects get the larger their grant funding. You can vote for this project here.
A friend of mine, Elizabeth Handel, runs a literacy program for inmates and their children in Massachusetts. It's called A Book from Mom/ABook from Dad and was started in 2004. They take donations of used books to prisions for parents to give to their children when they visit. If parents can't meet with their children some prisions allow them to record themselves reading the book and then send the book and recording to their child. It's very local with Handel sorting and delivering most of the books herself, some information about the program is available here. Sadly A Book from Mom/A Book from Dad is not set up for internet donations. But if you're in MA look out for bookstores and schools who work with this organization and donate through them
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Book Review - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the first book in the Mockingjay Trilogy which follows the story of Katniss Everdeen as she attempts to survive in the post-apocalyptic world of Panem. Panem is the remains of a war torn North America and is separated into twelve districts and the Capitol. It experiences class and wealth divides with the Captiol having a extreme wealth and plenty of resources, while many of the districts surviving on little. Approximately 100 years ago a war was fought over this set up. This civil war resulted in District 13 being "obliterated" and the yearly gladitorial Hunger Games where two children of each district fight. Katniss volunteers to take the place of her younger sister and immediately becomes a figure of interest in the year's Hunger Games. Her attempts to survive and save the lives of other children in the games leads to political instability which becomes the major plot points of Catching Fire and Mockingjay.
I devoured the Mockingjay series in about a week. The writing is good, most of the characters are well developed, and the themes, sometimes shown only by small details, are deep and relevent. They are also rather adult. This book is considered Young Adult, but I think part of that classification comes from the ages of the characters. Katniss starts the series as the age of 16.
However the book portays the brutal death of multiple children and teenagers. It also deals with PTSD, alcohol and drug addiction and contains multiple cultural critiques such as classism, racism, and an entertainment obsessed culture. It's incredibly deep.
While I think teenagers can read and appreciate The Hunger Games and the rest of the trilogy I think they have to be emotionally mature to do so. A twelve-year-old might understand the words and follow the story, but this series is more on the sixteen-year-old end of the YA classification.
This is certainly a series that leads to discussion. It's great for a book club or for parents and teens to read and discuss together. This is also a way for younger teens to read the book and gain understanding of the more mature themes in the book.
As a YA book The Hunger Games is for Self Extending Readers and ones at the higher end of the level. Readers definately need some background knowledge on Roman history and the geography of North America to understand the layout of Panem and the significance of gladitorial games. To catch the classism and racism that is portrayed readers obviously need to have some understanding of these issues and how the manifest in small ways. Even then some readers are likely to miss that the poorer discricts and people are more likely to have darker coloring as this is something that Collins portrays through character descriptions, but doesn't explain the significance of.
As a side note there is a movie of The Hunger Games and I imagine it will be very popular. It will still be some time before the film comes out. I'm always in favor of reading a book before seeing the film and I think it's good to see how the different mediums seek to tell the same story. The Hunger Games will be especially interesting in this regard as Suzanne Collins is helping to write the script.
However the book portays the brutal death of multiple children and teenagers. It also deals with PTSD, alcohol and drug addiction and contains multiple cultural critiques such as classism, racism, and an entertainment obsessed culture. It's incredibly deep.
While I think teenagers can read and appreciate The Hunger Games and the rest of the trilogy I think they have to be emotionally mature to do so. A twelve-year-old might understand the words and follow the story, but this series is more on the sixteen-year-old end of the YA classification.
This is certainly a series that leads to discussion. It's great for a book club or for parents and teens to read and discuss together. This is also a way for younger teens to read the book and gain understanding of the more mature themes in the book.
As a YA book The Hunger Games is for Self Extending Readers and ones at the higher end of the level. Readers definately need some background knowledge on Roman history and the geography of North America to understand the layout of Panem and the significance of gladitorial games. To catch the classism and racism that is portrayed readers obviously need to have some understanding of these issues and how the manifest in small ways. Even then some readers are likely to miss that the poorer discricts and people are more likely to have darker coloring as this is something that Collins portrays through character descriptions, but doesn't explain the significance of.
As a side note there is a movie of The Hunger Games and I imagine it will be very popular. It will still be some time before the film comes out. I'm always in favor of reading a book before seeing the film and I think it's good to see how the different mediums seek to tell the same story. The Hunger Games will be especially interesting in this regard as Suzanne Collins is helping to write the script.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Book List - Autism Acceptance Month
For insight into why I use the term Autism Acceptance instead of the more popular Aurism Awareness see my previous post. In a similar vein, the books on this month's list are not necesarilly about promoting awareness of Autism Spectrum Conditions or helping children understand people with Autism Spectrum, though any book with well developed characters that have Autism should naturally do this. Which is what these books do have, characters with Autism Spectrum. Some of these characters are the narrators some are not, but I wanted to find books were the characters with Autism Spectrum were active, where they were more then learning experiences for others. I haven't read every book on this list, so if I fail in my goals then I apologize.
P-K - Kindergarten
Jeffery and the Despondent Dragon by John Sprecher (The author wrote this book for his son who has Autism)
1st - 2nd Grade
P-K - Kindergarten
Jeffery and the Despondent Dragon by John Sprecher (The author wrote this book for his son who has Autism)
1st - 2nd Grade
Troy’s Amazing Universe by Sharon Kennedy Tosten (A series of four books where the narrator, 7 year old Troy has some incredible adventures. Tosten wrote these books for and about her son Troy, who has Autism)
3rd - 5th GradeRescued by a Cow and a Squeeze: Temple Grandin by Mary W. Carpenter (A book about Temple Grandin and how she used her Autism to revolutionize the farming/meat industry)
Young AdultWright & Wong Mysteries by Laura Burns & Melinda Metz (A series about 7th grade detectives. One of the main characters has Asperger's. Is appropriate for younger children.)
Curious Incident of the Dog and the Night Time by Mark Haddon (This book approaches the adult edge of YA fiction. It is very emotionally heavy. While never explicitly stated the 15 year old narrator/detective Christopher is generally considered to have Autism Spectrum Conditions)
The Boy Who Ate Stars by Kochka (12 year old Lucy moves to France and meets Matthew, a four year old with Autism, his mother and silent nanny. These three people change Lucy’s life.)
Out to Get Jack by James M. Williams (11 year old Jack is always blamed for other people's misbehavior, just becuase he has Autism. Jack decides to take matters into his own hands and becomes a detective. The author has autism and wrote this book when he was 13 years old)
Autism Acceptance
Technically April is the month of Autism Awareness, but there are problems with only striving for awareness. Also, a recent post on Shakesville pointed out some problems with the Autism Awareness Community and how their events aren't always very accepting of people with Autism Spectrum Conditions.
I use the term Autism Spectrum Conditions over the other options for two reasons. First, it is a spectrum that includes Asperger's, high or low functioning versions, and the exact definitions and classifications keep changing as doctors/psychologists learn more about the brain and Autism Spectrum. Secondly, I use the term conditions because I also am neurologically atypical and I hate when my ADD or LDs are referred to as a disease or disability. My brain, and the brains of people with Autism Spectrum do not always function in a "typical" manner. This manifests itself in various conditions like disgraphia, sensitivity to loud noises, difficulty in reading facial expressions, shortened attention spans, inability to stand certain textures or sensations, hyperfocusing and various and myriad other ones. But it does not automatically mean I or others who are neurologically atypical are sick or in need of a cure. Certainly some people feel this way, but not all of us do, so I'm against anything being considered a disease or disability and therefore something bad and in need of curing when people with the actual condition disagree with the definition.
This is not to say that people with Autism Spectrum Conditions don't face difficulties in life that are unique to their situations. However, many of these difficulties come not just from the conditions of being neurologically atypical, but how the priviledged majority in society treat people with Autism Spectrum. For more on the priviledge of being Nueologically Typical in regards to Autism Spectrum see this list.
Originally this post was meant to be a book list, but it turns out I had more to write about Autism Acceptance than I thought.
I use the term Autism Spectrum Conditions over the other options for two reasons. First, it is a spectrum that includes Asperger's, high or low functioning versions, and the exact definitions and classifications keep changing as doctors/psychologists learn more about the brain and Autism Spectrum. Secondly, I use the term conditions because I also am neurologically atypical and I hate when my ADD or LDs are referred to as a disease or disability. My brain, and the brains of people with Autism Spectrum do not always function in a "typical" manner. This manifests itself in various conditions like disgraphia, sensitivity to loud noises, difficulty in reading facial expressions, shortened attention spans, inability to stand certain textures or sensations, hyperfocusing and various and myriad other ones. But it does not automatically mean I or others who are neurologically atypical are sick or in need of a cure. Certainly some people feel this way, but not all of us do, so I'm against anything being considered a disease or disability and therefore something bad and in need of curing when people with the actual condition disagree with the definition.
This is not to say that people with Autism Spectrum Conditions don't face difficulties in life that are unique to their situations. However, many of these difficulties come not just from the conditions of being neurologically atypical, but how the priviledged majority in society treat people with Autism Spectrum. For more on the priviledge of being Nueologically Typical in regards to Autism Spectrum see this list.
Originally this post was meant to be a book list, but it turns out I had more to write about Autism Acceptance than I thought.
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