The Trevor Project, Advocate.com, and Lee Wind (That's Me!) Team Up To Create A New Book Club For GLBTQ & Allied Teens And Young Adults (13-24)!

This has been in the works for almost a year, and I'm delighted to finally share with you that it's happening!

The Trevor Project has a social networking site for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning & Allied 13-24 year olds called TrevorSpace, with over 15,000 members so far... And we're going to create a book club for them!

Here's a bit from the official press release:

“I’ve volunteered for years with high school GSAs, and there’s nothing more awkward than being a teenager and feeling like you have to talk about your identity. A shared experience, like everyone reading the same book, lets conversation happen organically and builds community. That’s why I’m so excited about teaming up with The Trevor Project to make this book club a reality,” said Wind, whose blog “I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?” has had over 450,000 visits from LGBTQ teen readers and their allies.

I'll be working with the Trevor Project's Youth Advisory Council to help select the titles - six books and authors a year featured for interviews (I'll interview the authors with my own and teen reader questions, and those discussions will debut here on this blog), 2-3 weeks of daily discussion threads on TrevorSpace, and a finale of Advocate.com-hosted live web chats where I'll moderate a Q & A between the authors and their teen and young adult readers! There will be signed copies to win as give-aways, the opportunity to talk about some great books, and most of all, a way for GLBTQ teens and young adults to connect with each other and build community!

Our preview book will be New York Times Best Selling Author Jodi Picoult's "Sing You Home" - with the kick-off interview on March 4, 2011. The book club will officially launch with David Levithan and John Green's Ground- and Record-Breaking (as the first teen novel with a Gay main character to bust onto the New York Times Best Seller List) "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" on April 29, 2011. Other titles this year will be Lambda Award Winner Alex Sanchez' "Boyfriends with Girlfriends" and New York Times Best Selling Author Ellen Hopkins' "Perfect," with more authors and titles in the works.

"Sing You Home" is wonderful - at times heart-breaking, with moments of humor, great characters and so much drama - as we follow the story of a lesbian couple and their struggles to start a family. It is even accompanied by a CD of music - for which Jodi wrote the lyrics and collaborated with Ellen Wilber who wrote the music and performed the songs. The book is available starting March 1st, and on March 4th we'll kick things off with an exclusive interview with Jodi right here! An extra event is a virtual book-signing with Jodi on March 7th produced through LiveStream!

The TrevorSpace book club preview title:
"Sing You Home" by Jodi Picoult

One more great thing: Jodi is donating proceeds from autographed copies of "Sing You Home" purchased through this link (http://bit.ly/JodiTrevor)! to the Trevor Project, to help them change the world:

"Each of us deserves a chance to dream big and achieve big, regardless of our sexual orientation or gender identity. The Trevor Project is here for young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning people to help whenever you or a friend might need to talk to someone. With lifesaving programs and information, The Trevor Project works every day to make the future better for all LBGTQ youth. Learn more at www.TheTrevorProject.org

So go right now and join up at TrevorSpace (if you're 13-24) and if you're not, know that we'll be talking about these great books here, too!

And click on back for my interview with Jodi on March 4th that will start the whole thing off!

Namaste,
Lee