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6th, 7th, and 8th grade can be tough.
Especially with no books to read about anyone else like you. Anyone who thinks they might be Gay. Or Lesbian. Or Bi. Or doesn't really act like a boy "should." Or a girl "should." Or whose parent, or family member, or friend, is GLBTQ.
But wait!
There ARE some books out there... And here's a list to get you started:
Books About & Where the Kid is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning or Gender Non-Conforming:
House of Hades (part of Rick Riordan's NYTimes Bestselling series)
Better Nate Than Ever
Five, Six, Seven, Nate!
The Boy In The Dress
Letters In The Attic
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park
If You Believe In Mermaids... Don't Tell
From Alice To Zen and Everyone In Between
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous
The Boys and The Bees
The Misfits
Totally Joe
Choir Boy
Blue Boy
Wandering Son, book 1
Wandering Son, book 2
Drama (graphic novel)
Marco Impossible
So Hard To Say
Sam & Aaron (a wordless online graphic short story that’s free)
Gracefully Grayson
Jacob, King of Portalia
George
Freak Camp
Learning To Kiss Girls
Husky
The Other Boy
Lily and Dunkin
Books About & Where someone in the Kid's life is GLBTQ
The Popularity Papers (series)
No Big Deal
Box Girl
The Manny Files
Hit The Road, Manny
Holly's Secret
Luv Ya Bunches *
My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer
The Skull Of Truth
Sonny's House Of Spies
Royally Jacked (a.k.a. Royally Crushed)
The Terrible Thing That Happened To Barnaby Brocket
Double Play
Best Friend Next Door
Two Weeks With The Queen
Riding The Rainbow
The Marvels
The Lotterys Plus One
(*5th grade characters, one of whom has Two Moms, so it's elementary school, really. And, controversy aside, it's not really ABOUT the Two Moms.)
Did I miss any YOU know of? Help me make this GLBTQ Middle Grade Bookshelf comprehensive!
And hey, now you have over 25 books to check out!
Namaste and Happy Reading,
Lee
**last update: May 2017**
16 comments:
Thanks for this list, Lee. We can put it to good use!
Slob by Ellen Potter.
The main character's little sister is a member of Girls Who Are Boys (GWAB) They go by boys names, wear boys clothes with short hair and fight gender conformity
How about Waiting for Normal? The main character befriends an older gay couple who run a restaurant near her trailer.
I just blogged about Ignatow's The Popularity Papers (due out in March). Julia's family is made up of two dads. No big deal, just a fact.
Hi, Lee. I see this Middle-grade thread hasn't been updated in a while. Two more recent ones I can think of that include LGBTQ characters in the kids' life are "Waiting for Normal" by Leslie Connor and "The Name of This Book Is Secret" by Pseudonymus Bosch.
'So Hard To Say' by Alex Sanchez is about 8th graders, so fits in with the books for younger readers. 'Double Play' by Sara Cassidy has lesbian parents of middle schoolers. 'Eagle Kite' by Paula Fox has a gay father with AIDs (older book).
Hi Anonymous Oct 29, 2013 4:05pm,
I'd already posted on "So Hard To Say" but hadn't included it here in this list - great catch! "Eagle Kite" is about a freshman in high school, so I think it's better left in the LGBTQ parent/caretaker category. And I hadn't heard of 'Double Play' - I'll be blogging about it soon. Thanks very much for sharing!
best,
Lee
Morris Gleitzman's 'Two Weeks With The Queen'. Wonderful, wonderful book. (The queen of the title is Colin's gay friend Ted, far and away the most sane adult character in the book.)
All of these books sound interesting, except for "Wandering Son", which I've already read, and enjoyed immensely. Just to let you know, Wandering Son is (as of June 2014) now up to six volumes. Keep up the great work!
Where are the middle grade novels for trans BOYS? I only see those for kids transitioning to female.
Hi Anonymous Jan 16, 2016 -- that's a really good point. I don't know of any... yet. Let's put out the call and see if anyone knows of some. (And if not, maybe we'll get some authors to write 'em!)
Thanks for sharing honestly!
Lee
There is a new book Called "The Art of Being Normal" by Lisa Williamson about both a trans boy and a trans girl that is so great. It is set to pub in June/July of 2016 but I read an eGalley and it is my new favorite.
A few other recommendations for the middle grade bookshelf are:
George by Alex Gino (lovely, heartwarming story about a young trans girl who yearns to play Charlotte in her school's production of Charlotte's Web)
The Other Boy by MG Hennessey (a trans boys journey toward acceptance)
The Lotterys Plus One by Emma Donaghue (this book is coming out early 2017, and I can't recommend it enough -- it is SUCH a joyful read and deals with very realistic family conflict. Sumac, the narrator, is the 5th of 8 adopted kids who are being co-parented by two sets of queer couples to form a big "multi-culti" group family. All the queer parents have fun nicknames -- Popcorn and Papadum, MaxiMum and CardaMom. When Popcorn's estranged conservative father starts having difficulty caring for himself at home, he is brought -- begrudgingly -- into what he considers a wild and crazy household. Will the kids ever grow to appreciate grumpy grandpa? Will he ever warm up to this strange new world and embrace them as his family? One of the younger siblings in the family is trans. Lots of great diversity in this one!)
A couple to add if you think they are good. This list is very helpful.
Hitchcock, Shannon. One True Way (March 2018)
Barakiva, Michael. One Man Guy
Dee, Barbara. Star-Crossed
Petro-Roy, Jan. P.S. I Miss You
Wittlinger, Ellen. Saturdays with Hitchock
A new F to M trans title for middle schoolers is 'The Pants Project' by Cat Clarke. Liv is going to a new school that requires girls to wear skirts, and Liv hasn't yet managed to tell his two moms that he's a boy.
I also adored 'Star-Crossed' by Barbara Dee.
Check out A Home for Goddesses and Dogs by Leslie Connor. It is about a girl who moves in with her aunt and her aunt's wife after her mother dies. Also includes a questioning character.
Also check out The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson. One of the main child characters is gay.
Both of these books are gears toward upper elementary to middle school.
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