Thanks to everyone who helped create this list! Below you will find
some outstanding responses to help build a collection for middle and
high school students. I have chosen some meaningful titles for my
particular student.
Here is my original query:
Our middle school counselor sent me this request:
"I was wondering if you could pull up a list of books for me for a
student (boy) in middle school who's questioning his sexuality. I
don't know how much is out there but was hoping to give him a list
appropriate for that age (8th grade) although he's at a pretty low
reading level."
I'm thinking she wants fiction books about other boys going through
the same thing AND non-fiction titles as well. Any suggestions you
have would be great! I'm willing to purchase a few new titles if
necessary, so the "newer" the better.
Thanks in advance!!
HIT:
There's not a huge amount of great material about kids questioning their
sexuality; most GLBT YA these days has the characters taking their
sexuality as a given and figuring out how to operate from there. But
here are a few fiction recommendations:
James Howe, The Misfits
James Howe, Totally Joe
Easy reading levels, geared toward middle school. Joe is a character in
the first book, about a group of friends who don't quite fit in for
their own individual reasons, but work on making their school more
tolerant of everyone. He gets his own starring vehicle in the second
book, which has the same characters, and in which he is writing an
"alphabiography" for a class; he uses it as a way to tell his story and
reflect on dealing with everything from crushes to teasing. He's
incredibly verbally adept, well beyond the level of any believable
middle school student, but both these books are really marvelous
choices.
Brent Hartinger, Geography Club
A group of kids wants to start a club for gay and lesbian students, but
they don't want anyone finding out, so they try to choose a topic for
their club that will be so boring to the average high schooler that no
one will show except for those they specifically invite. It doesn't
totally work, and neither does the protagonist's relationship with the
school jock, but it's an affirming book in the end.
David Levithan, Boy Meets Boy
Set in an almost ridiculously pro-gay town, this one might be a bit too
over-the-top for a kid who's just figuring himself out, but it's one of
the most romantic and deliriously affirming books out there. Truly
great if this boy needs his spirits bucked up.
For nonfiction titles(which I'm a bit less "up" on than with the fiction
titles), you might try a couple of older books: The Shared Heart by
Adam Mastoon, which is from the early-mid nineties, but combines
photographs of gay and lesbian teens with personal statements, or
Michael Thomas Ford's Outspoken (1998), where each chapter poses a "big
question" a gay or lesbian teen might have, then proceeds to answer it
and provide a section that shows how an individual gay or lesbian role
model (all real people) addresses or responds to this question. There
are probably good titles that are more recent, but I'm not aware of
them.
Two notes: you might have people recommend Alex Sanchez's Rainbow Boys
books because they are all in print and so well known; I'd probably
avoid them for an 8th grader, as they can get rather explicit. (Not
that I haven't seen/heard of middle school kids who respond to and
benefit from them, but they're probably a bit much for a lot of kids who
are just figuring themselves out.) Also, with the fiction titles I
recommended above: if I'm remembering correctly, I think kissing is as
far as it goes physically for any of the characters, so if that's an
issue for your community, the counselor, the boy's parents, etc., these
should pass muster.
>
> GLBTQ : the survival guide for queer & questioning teens / Kelly
> Huegel.
> Minneapolis, MN : Free Spirit Pub., c2003.
> Describes the challenges faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
> transgendered teens, offers practical advice, real-life
> experiences, and accessible resources and support groups.
>
> Teens & gay issues / Hal Marcovitz.
> Broomall, PA : Mason Crest Publishers, c2005.
>
> Queer 13: Lesbian and Gay Writers Recall Seventh Grade.
> Funny, sad, anguished and tender; these are stories about crushes,
> harassment, embarrassment and first love.
>
> Absolutely Positively Not...Gay by David LaRochelle.
> Chronicles a teenage boy's humorous attempts to fit in at his
> Minnesota high school by becoming a macho, girl-loving, "Playboy"
> pinup-displaying heterosexual. (It's about a boy who is questioning
> his sexuality, doesn't want to be gay, even goes so far as to check
> out books from the library about how to "cure" homosexuality. It's
> really gentle and funny and sweet.)
>
> So Hard to Say by Alex Sanchez
> Thirteen-year-old Xio, a Mexican American girl, and Frederick, who
> has just moved to California from Wisconsin, quickly become close
> friends, but when Xio starts thinking of Frederick as her
> boyfriend, he must confront his feelings of confusion and face the
> fear that he might be gay.
>
> Totally Joe by James Howe
> As a school assignment, a thirteen-year-old boy writes an
> alphabiography, and explores issues of friendship, family, school,
> and the challenges of being a gay teenager.
>
> 7 Days at the Hot Corner by Terry Trueman New York : Harper Tempest
> 2007
> Varsity baseball player Scott Latimer struggles with his own
> prejudices and those of others when his best friend reveals that he
> is gay.
>
> Baby be-bop by Francesca Lia Block NY : Harper Collins 1995
> Sixteen-year-old Dirk comes to terms with being gay after a visit
> from his dead father and great-grandmother.
>
> Eight seconds by Jean Ferris NY : Puffin 2002
> Eighteen-year-old John must confront his own sexuality when he goes
> to rodeo school and finds himself strangely attracted to an older
> boy who is smart, tough, complicated, gorgeous, and gay.
>
> Empress of the world by Sara Ryan NY : Speak 2003
> While attending a summer institute, fifteen-year-old Nic meets
> another girl named Battle, falls in love with her, and finds the
> relationship to be difficult and confusing.
>
> The good side of my heart by Ann Rinaldi NY : Holiday House 1987
> When, despite her father's disapproval, sixteen-year-old Brie
> begins to date the handsome and considerate Josh, she hopes that
> their relationship will go beyond friendship until he reveals to
> her that he is homosexual.
>
> Naomi & Ely's no kiss list : A novel by Rachel Cohn & David
> Levithan 2007
> Although they have been friends and neighbors all their lives,
> straight Naomi and gay Ely find their relationship severely
> strained during their freshman year at New York University.
>
> Peter by Kate Walker Boston: Houghton Mifflin 1993
> An ordinary fifteen-year-old Australian kid, who enjoys riding his
> dirt bike and wants to be a photographer, becomes confused about
> his sexuality when he finds he is attracted to a gay friend of his
> older brother.
>
> Talk by Kathe Koja NY Frances Foster Books 2005
> Kit auditions for a controversial school play and discovers his
> talent for acting; however, both he and his costar face crises in
> their view of themselves and in their close relationships.
>
> What happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci 2002
> Sixteen-year-old Claire is unable to face her fears about a
> recurrence of her leukemia, her eating disorder, her need to fit in
> with the popular crowd on Hackett Island, and her mother's
> alcoholism until the enigmatic Lani Garver helps her get control of
> her life at the risk of his own.
>
> Someday this pain will be useful to you / Peter Cameron
> Eighteen-year-old James Sveck copes with the uncertainties of
> adolescence as he works in his mother's Manhattan art gallery,
> falls for a charming older gentleman, and tries to decide what he
> wants out of life.
>
> Geography club by Hartinger, Brent.
> A group of gay and lesbian teenagers finds mutual support when they
> form the "Geography Club" at their high school.
>
> Boy meets Boy by Levithan, David.
> Paul's simple high-school life is confused by his desire for
> another boy who seems unattainable, until Paul's friends help him
> find the courage to pursue the object of his affections.
>
> Am I Blue, edited by Marion Dane Bauer.
> A collection of short stories about homosexuality by such authors
> as Bruce Coville, M.E. Kerr, William Sleator, and Jane Yolen.
> Here's a link to the SLJ review:
> http://reviews.schoollibraryjournal.com/bd.aspx?isbn=0060242531&pub=sl
>
> Gravel Queen. Benduhn, Tea.
> Aurin’s relationships with her best friends change when together
> they meet Neila, and Aurin falls in love with her.
>
> Entries From a Hot Pink Notebook. Brown, Todd D.
> Growing up gay in the Reagan years, Ben keeps a journal during his
> freshman year in high school.
>
> My Father’s Scar. Cart, Michael.
> Andy looks back at his difficult childhood, the rejection by his
> father when he came out, and the queer-bashing of his friend Evan.
>
> "A Tale of Two Summers" by Brian Sloan
> Even though Hal is gay and Chuck is straight, the two fifteen-year-
> olds are best friends and set up a blog where Hal records his
> budding romance with a young Frenchman and Chuck falls for a summer
> theater camp diva.
>
> Kissing Kate by Lauren Myracle NY : Dutton's Children's Books 2003
> Sixteen-year-old Lissa's relationship with her best friend changes
> after they kiss at a party and Lissa does not know what to do,
> until she gets help from an unexpected new friend.
>
> Annie on My Mind. Garden, Nancy.
> High school students Liza and Annie fall in love and face the
> reactions of others.
>
>
>
> Cindy Wagner
K-12 Librarian
Assets School
Honolulu, HI
cwagner@assets-school.net
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