The 2013 ALA Rainbow List Is Announced! 49 Books with Queer Content are Recommended for Children and Teens!

The Rainbow Book List presents an annual bibliography of quality books with significant and authentic GLBTQ content, which are recommended for people from birth through eighteen years of age.  This year's list includes 49 books from 31 publishers, and includes self-published titles, too.

Here are their top ten (in alphabetical order):


*Bigelow, Lisa Jenn.  Starting From Here.  2012.  292p.  Amazon Children’s Publishing, $16.99 (9780761462330).  Grades 9 & Up.

Colby can’t seem to get any love.  Her mom died a few years ago, her trucker dad is always on the road and her girlfriend just dumped her for a guy.  When she rescues a stray dog who has been hit by a car, Colby starts to piece her life together with lots of help from her friends.

*Cronn-Mills, Kirstin.  Beautiful Music for Ugly Children.  2012.  288p.  Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd., $9.99 (9780738732510).  Grades 8 & Up.

Music geek Gabe has just come out to his family as transgender but is still known as Liz at school.  He uses his late night community radio show to try on his male identity and encourage listeners to explore their own “b side.”  Will the show’s growing popularity expose his secret?

*Danforth, Emily M.  The Miseducation of Cameron Post.  2012.  480p.  Balzer + Bray, $17.99 (9780062020567).  Grades 9 & Up.

When Cam’s conservative aunt discovers her niece is a lesbian, she sends Cam to God’s Promise, a church camp that promises to “cure” young people of their homosexuality.  Cam’s engaging voice tells her story with wry humor, intelligence, and a strong sense of place in eastern Montana.

*King, A.S.  Ask the Passengers.  2012.  304p.  Little, Brown, $17.99 (9780316194686).  Grades 9 & Up.

There’s only one thing Astrid Jones can do when a growing attraction to her co-worker Dee becomes too big and too confusing: send her love to airplane passengers flying overhead while she tries to figure out who she is down here on the ground.

*Lo, Malinda.  Adaptation.  2012.  400p.  Little, Brown, $17.99 (9780316197960).  Grades 9 & Up.

Something strange has been going on with Reese Holloway since her car accident and her top secret medical treatment- but will she be allowed to figure it out, or will others take her apart to figure it out first?

*Miller, Madeline.  The Song of Achilles.  2012.  384p.  HarperCollins, $25.99 (9780062060617).  Grades 9 & Up.

Stirring and memorable, this novel is a reimagined retelling of the Homeric story of the love between Achilles and Patrocles.

*Moon, Sarah, editor.  The Letter Q:  Queer Writers’ Notes to Their Younger Selves.  2012.  288p.  Scholastic, $17.99 (9780545399326).  Grades 6 & Up.

Looking back on what they wished they knew when they were younger, 64 of today’s award winning GLBTQ authors write and illustrate letters to their former selves in a way to reach out to those who are in the shoes they once filled.

*Rice-Gonzalez, Charles.  Chulito:  a Novel.  2011.  275p.  Magnus Books, $14.95 (9781936833030).  Grades 10 & Up.

After sharing a secret with his best friend, a Latino teen’s ideas about what it really means to be a man are challenged.  Should he play ‘straight’ and keep his standing among his peers in the neighborhood, or come out and be his true self?

*Saenz, Benjamin Alire.  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.  2012.  368p.  Simon & Schuster, $16.99 (9781442408920).  Grades 9-12.

Dante and Aristotle are opposites in almost every way but, nevertheless, the two boys are best friends, almost like two halves making a whole.  Saenz’ lyrical novel examines the bonds of friendship and the uncertainties and saving graces of love.

*Telgemeier, Raina.  Drama.  2012.  240p.  Scholastic Graphix, $23.99 (9780545326988).  Grades 6 & Up.

Callie is a passionate theater geek who plunges into her middle school’s production of “Moon Over Mississippi” with enthusiasm for all things theater: sets, props, lighting – you name it, she’s on it.  When twins Justin and Jesse join the cast, Callie quickly develops a crush on one, and a friendship with the other, who is gay.


Check out the full list of recommended reads here!

My thanks to the wonderful children's librarian Yapha for the link!

It's the 2013 Comment Challenge Finale!

So, how did it go?

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Commenting is a good habit to get into

it reminds me that I am not the only one who like[s] comments.

-Alex

I found some great new blogs and connected/reconnected with some amazing people. I even joined a conversation on another person's blog that continued back and forth there before it moved over to my blog as we shared similar interests. What fun!

-Michelle

My goal was to change my thinking about comments…

one of the things this challenge reminded me is that one of the best things about blogging is the dialogue.

-Debra

I visited everyone who signed up.
I've got some new boo[k]s to read and found some wonderful posts. A very enjoyable journey.

-Susan

it was a lot easier this year than last year, because after last year, I kept commenting regularly!

-Mrs. Silverstein

It was my first year in the comment challenge, and I had a great time! I loved having new visitors to my blog, and I stretched myself to leave thoughtful, reflective comments on as many blogs as I could visit. (Even when captcha attempted to thwart me!)
Definitely a win - win experience!

-Cathy

While I was nowhere close to 100, I definitely commented more than I ever have and I loved it!

-Stacey

This was my first time participating in the challenge. It led me to some wonderful posts and I discovered blogs that were new to me. Thanks for hosting.

-Jeanette

This was my first time doing some like this and I really enjoyed it! I found so many wonderful blogs and added a lot of books to my reading list. …It's helped get me into the habit of commenting (and not overthinking the comments)!

-Katrina

at it's core the Comment Challenge is a reminder that we're all connected by a love of kid lit that we share across the kidlitosphere, and that's a beautiful thing.

-Lee

***

It's been 21 days, and the goal was to leave 5 comments a day on kid lit blogs.  We gave you one day off, so the numerical goal was 100 comments.  But there were other goals, hidden inside (and besides) those numbers.  Tell us about those, too!

Leave us your responses in comments here (you're so good at that by now!) and I'll update the body of this post with some choice quotes throughout the day and weekend ahead.

Winners will be randomly selected for prizes (kid lit and teen books, naturally) and MotherReader and I will announce those next week.

I'm off to New York for the Winter SCBWI Conference, so the comments will be approved in bunches - please be patient with me (and with my internet connectivity on a travel day!)

I'm still (somewhat unrealistically) aiming for 100 comments, but I figure I have until the end of the last day... today!  So I'll chime in a little later on with how I ultimately did...  stay tuned.

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Lee's final update, at 11:43pm Thursday January 31, 2013:  This year was really challenging.  I got nowhere near 100 comments, clocking in at 35 total.  I know, I know.  But I'm determined to keep going and visit EVERYONE's blog who signed up.  Participating did make me realize that I miss the interactions and discussions and engagement, as I've become so busy that my blog-hopping and commenting has really slowed down... and I did enjoy the blog reading and commenting I managed to do!  I learned something else, too:  It's okay to not be perfect.  Sure, I wanted to get to 100 to be a good example, but perhaps this year I'm an example that there's a lot to be gained from the comment challenge even if you just put more intention into the blog reading you do!  Even if you leave a handful, or even one, comment more than you might usually do.  Because while it's great to cultivate a new habit like 5 comments a day, at it's core the Comment Challenge is a reminder that we're all connected by a love of kid lit that we share across the kidlitosphere, and that's a beautiful thing.
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I'm grateful to all 73 people who signed up for participating, and to everyone reading this for being part of our wonderful kidlitosphere community!

I hope the Comment Challenge fired you up about commenting on blogs and participating in the online discussions more throughout the year ahead.  We'll be back in 2014, and until then...

Comment On!
Lee