From: Bj|rn Skolander <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 1994 22:06:35 +0100 (NFT)

Gay/Lesbian Youth Bibliography (English)

>From the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Librarians Network
Compiled by [email-masked] Fri Nov  4 21:14:28 1994

GAY/LESBIAN YOUTH BIBLIOGRAPHY

Am I Blue?  Coming out from the Silence.  Edited by Marion Dane Bauer.  New
York:  HarperCollinsPublishers, 1994.
        This anthology of short stories dealing with gay and lesbian themes
is the hottest thing to come down the pike as far as main stream publishing
addressing teen sexuality is concerned.  Includes such known childrens/young
adult authors as Nancy Garden, Francesca Lia Block, Bruce Coville, M.E.
Kerr, Lois Lowry, and Jane Yolen along with authors known for gay/lesbian
writing such as Leslea Newman.  The stories all address questions of
sexuality or being a gay/lesbian youth.  A stunning collection and a
wonderful read.  Yea
HarperCollins!

Bargar, Gary W.  What Happened to Mr. Forster?.  New York:  Houghton
 Mifflin/Clarion Books, 1981.
        Set in the 1950's this story features a boy who comes into his own
during sixth grade with the help of an understanding teacher who is
eventually fired for being gay.  Deals sensitively with the nature of
prejudice and intentional and unintentional cruelty of children.

Block, Francesca Lia.  Weetzie Bat.  New York:  Harper & Row, Publishers,
1989.
        This series also includes Witch Baby (HarperCollins, 1991),
Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys (Harper Keypoint, 1992),  and the most recent
Missing Angel Juan (HarperCollins, 1993).  Block has created unique and very
contemporary characters.  The characters include both gay and straight young
people who build their own family and chart the structure of their
relationships.
 Refreshing, and well written.  A very stylish read.

Garden, Nancy.  Annie on my Mind.  New York:  Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1982.
        The lesbian teen romance novel that has set the standard for all
others. Sweet, realistic, and heart-rending.  Garden is a vocal and "out"
lesbian writing for children and young adults.  Her contribution in this
field and as an advocate for gay and lesbian youth is outstanding.  Liza
reflects on her coming out and her romance with Annie during her freshman
year at MIT.

Garden, Nancy.  Lark in the Morning.   New York:  Farrar Straus & Giroux,
1991.
        Garden seeks to include gay and lesbian teens as a matter of course
in this novel, not as a central theme.  17 year old Gillian Harrison loves
her best friend, Suzanne but the plot centers around two young runaways,
Lark and Jackie, that Gillian discovers in the woods near their summer
vacation home.  The children are running from abusive parents and Gillian
must decide how best to deal with this crisis.

Gleitzman, Morris.  Two Weeks with the Queen.  New York:  G.P. Putnam's
Sons, 1989.
        Colin, an upper elementary age boy, is sent from his parent's home
in Australia to stay with relatives in the U.K..  Colin's younger brother
has cancer and Colin wants to see the Queen to enlist her help.  In his
travels he meets a gay man whose lover is in the hospital with AIDS.  A
friendship develops and Colin learns about love, caring, and terminal
diseases.  Well done for the younger student.

Hall, Lynn.  Sticks and Stones.  Chicago:  Follett, 1972.
        Tom Naylor, 17 year old musician, lives with his mom in a small town
where they run an antique store.  The plot involves Tom's friendship with
Ward, an older man who has been discharged from the army.  Ward is treated
as an outcast and homosexuality is treated as a disease.  Basically, there
is no decent account of what being gay means in this book.

Homes, A. M.  Jack.  New York:  Macmillan, 1989.
        15 year old Jack discovers that his father is gay, his best friend's
mother is a victim of domestic violence, and that he's a better coper than
he had imagined.  Told with great humor and sensitivity.  This is a fun read
and a very well done piece of fiction.

Kaye, Marilyn.  Real Heroes.  San Diego, California:  Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, 1993.
        Kaye uses this novel as a vehicle to provide AIDS information.  Her
message of, get the facts, know the facts, this disease affects us all
cannot be disputed, yet gives the novel a preachy tone.  The main character,
6th grader Kevin Delaney, suffers a family split.  Left with his cop father
whose affection and approval he so desires, he follows his father's lead and
refuses contact with his mother.  Kevin grows in the course of the book and
recognizes the grey areas of life.  The plot revolves around Kevin's gym
teacher Jeffrey Logan who is HIV+.  Parents, including Jeffrey's father get
hold of this information and spearhead a campaign to get Mr. Logan fired.
 Although Kevin knows the facts about how HIV is transmitted he cannot stand
up to his father.  At the close of the novel Kevin begins to separate
himself from his father.  Nice idea but the characters are somewhat flat.

Kerr, M.E.  Deliver Us From Evie.  New York:  HarperCollinsPublishers, 1994.
        Here, finally, is a challenger to Annie on My Mind.  This well
crafted, interesting, and believable novel features a midwestern farm family
with a lesbian daughter.   Kerr creates a character who knows who she is and
feels at home in her difference.   Evie's younger brother Parr narrates the
story.
 Parr plays a key role in the action that revolves around how the town deals
with Evie's love for the wealthy daughter of the town's most powerful man.
 A real refreshing heroine.  I'm still so high on this book I'm not sure how
to annotate it.  I'll give you an excerpt:
"Mom got up and rinsed out her coffee cup.  She said, 'I just hope Evie has
the name without the game.  It's bad enough to look that way, but it's awful
to look it and actually be it....Then you're a stereotype.  You're what
everybody's always thought one of those women was like.'
'I'm what everybody thinks a farm boy's like.  I'm driving around on
tractors, going to 4-H, planting in the spring, harvesting in the fall-
what's the difference?'
'The difference is you're not against the law, Parr.  And the church doesn't
call you a sinner.'
'Maybe something's wrong with the law.'

Kerr, M.E.  Night Kites.  New York: Harper & Row, 1986.
        An AIDS story that is now dated.  This is Erick Rudd's coming of age
story. His brother Pete is gay and has AIDS.  AIDS info is dated now and
Pete leads a closeted, narrow, stereotyped life.  Important for Kerr's
willingness to tackle this subject for young adults in 1986.

Mullins, Hilary.  The Cat Came Back.  Tallahassee, Florida: The Naiad Press,
Inc., 1993.
        From an adult perspective the writing is boring and repetitious but
given that it is written as a 17 year old's journal it may still appeal to
young adults.  Stevie, the hockey playing main character, falls for Andrea,
a feminist conference going fellow student from Northampton, MA whose mom
works at Smith.  Stevie is an incest survivor who spends 3 years of her prep
school career sleeping with the male teacher who seduced her.  Her
relationship with Andrea is rocky and rough.  Of mediocre quality.

Murrow, Liza Ketchum.  Twelve Days in August.  New York:  Holiday House,
1993.
        Murrow approaches issues around homosexuality from a straight jock
point of view.  A general message of tolerance is conveyed and directed to
heterosexual male readers.  Todd struggles with his homophobia when a new
member of his soccer team is ostracized by the team leader/tough guy.
Todd's understanding grows when he discovers that his favorite uncle is gay.
Filled with soccer info, this is a decent story with a good message full of
teen concerns such as cars, sports, romances, popularity, and principles.

Two Teenagers in Twenty: Writings by Gay and Lesbian Youth.  Edited by Ann
Heron.  Boston:  Alyson Publications, Inc., 1994.
        This non-fiction title updates the 1983 title One Teenager in 10.
Some new entries have been added and some originals retained.  Young men and
women from around the country talk about their personal feelings and
experiences surrounding their sexuality, coming out, being closeted, school,
home, friends, etc..  A title that should be in every library.  Contains a
bibliography and a pen pal service.

Salat, Christina.  Living In Secret.  New York:  Bantam Skylark, 1993.
        Realistic look at the problems associated with custody struggles
where one parent is gay or lesbian.  11 year old Amelia wanted to live with
her lesbian mother when her parents split but her father was awarded custody
by a homophobic court.  The novel has a fast paced plot of new identities,
secrets, and fresh starts when Amelia's mother arranges to kidnap her (with
Amelia's consent) and move from Long Island to San Francisco.  Although
realistic, with no happy ending, the lesbian aspects are a bit stereotyped,
ie: crystals and sprouts.  The writing is choppy and the sentence structure
not varied enough but the book does fill a gap.

Shannon, George.  Unlived Affections.  New York:  Harper & Row, 1989.
        At Grom's death, 17 year old Willie finds letters from his dad.
Willie's mom died when he was 2 years old and his grandmother who raised him
kept his father's history and existence a secret.  Willie now discovers that
his father is alive, loved his mother very much, and is gay.  Some nice
aspects but generally mediocre.

Walker, Kate.  Peter.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin, 1993.  (published 1991 in
Australia)
        Peter enjoys photography and BMX motorcycle riding.  He hangs out
with the guys and struggles through the macho environment, peer isolation,
and ridicule endemic to the life of a 15 year old.  The novel centers on
Pete's confusion about his sexuality.  He finds he is attracted to his older
brother's gay friend David.  Walker provides a good, realistic sketch of the
emotional roller coaster teens experience while questioning their sexuality.
 She makes a strong point for tolerance.  Her piece on the limits that
labels impose is grounded in feminist writings on subjectivity and hold an
important message.  Well done.

Wielder, Diana.  Bad Boy.  New York:  Delacorte Press, 1992.
        A.J. Brandiosa, a high school senior, and his best friend Tully make
the Cyclones hockey team which serves as a backdrop for the internal
conflict A.J. experienced while he questions his sexuality.  Tully, the
golden boy with girlfriends, a fine hockey sense, has trouble with drugs and
often lies to his hippy parents and caring intelligent sister, Summer.  A.J.
does not have the tools to help his friend.  He is estranged from his father
has a rough home life.  With his coach's encouragement he throws himself
into the game as the "Bad Boy" enforcer on the ice.  A.J. runs into Tully
and a fellow hockey team member, Derek LaVelle ( a mean spirited closet
case) at a gay bar.  A.J. flips and turns his back on Tully although he
misses him dreadfully.  His homophobic reactions culminate in his attempted
rape of Summer.  A.J.'s rage stems from his concern that he might be gay.
The ice hockey theme is strong.  The characters all have flaws, are quite
alive, and three dimensional.  Very well written.

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