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"When I was in school, everyone got to a certain age where they became interested in talking about only one thing: boys, girls and sex. Me though? I was only interested in comics."
Growing up, Rebecca assumes sex is just a scary new thing they will 'grow into' as they gets older, but when they leaves school, starts working, and does grow up, they starts to wonder why they doesn't want to have sex with other people.
In this brave, hilarious and empowering graphic memoir, we follow Rebecca as they navigate a culture obsessed with sex - from being bullied at school and trying to fit in with friends, to forcing themself into relationships and experiencing anxiety and OCD - before coming to understand and embrace their asexual identity.
“I wasn’t depressed because I was gay. I was depressed and gay.”
Shaun David Hutchinson was nineteen. Confused. Struggling to find the vocabulary to understand and accept who he was and how he fit into a community in which he couldn’t see himself. The voice of depression told him that he would never be loved or wanted, while powerful and hurtful messages from society told him that being gay meant love and happiness weren’t for him.
A million moments large and small over the years all came together to convince Shaun that he couldn’t keep going, that he had no future. And so he followed through on trying to make that a reality.
Thankfully Shaun survived, and over time, came to embrace how grateful he is and how to find self-acceptance. In this courageous and deeply honest memoir, Shaun takes readers through the journey of what brought him to the edge, and what has helped him truly believe that it does get better.
Steven is 15 years old, growing up in 1960's Brooklyn. This memoir follows his trajectory from his grandparent's bar and girdle store to, after a failed suicide attempt, a private room in one of the most exclusive psychiatric hospitals in the world. Here Steven meets a brilliant young psychiatrist who promises to cure him of his homosexuality and provide him with the normalcy he longs for. At the hospital he also meets a Broadway producer, the husband of superstar Mary Martin, who opens a new world for him, an editor who claims she was President John F. Kennedy's lover, and other eccentric, wealthy neurotics, who make him feel like "Eliza Doolittle at the psycho country club."
Add your review of "One Of These Things First" in comments!
It's a story that starts on the first day of creation, leaps ahead quickly to Fields’ childhood in Nashville, Tennessee (the Buckle of the Bible Belt), and follows him through his high school years. Along the way, he shares stories of his sexual awakening and awareness, beginning with his first crush — on a comic book hero — when he was age four, and continuing through an adolescence filled with anguished prayers that Jesus would cure him of homosexuality.
The Thousand-Petaled Lotus is a gay coming-of-age narrative that is distinctly Southern in character, yet the story of Fields’ personal and spiritual journey poses universal questions and shares experiences that everyone can appreciate, and does so in a unique way. In the Hindu tradition, the thousand-petaled lotus is another name for the sahasrara chakra, the uppermost energy center in the body, which blossoms at the moment of enlightenment. The Thousand-Petaled Lotus is structured as just that, a lotus of many petals unfolding. Fields’ journey to reconcile his faith with his sexuality is a captivating story that blossoms when he finds what Jesus called “the kingdom of heaven” and discovers that it is nothing more – and nothing less – than the present moment.
Add your review of "The Thousand-Petaled Lotus" in comments!
Seventeen-year-old Arin Andrews shares all the hilarious, painful, and poignant details of undergoing gender reassignment as a high school student in this winning first-of-its-kind memoir. Now with a reading group guide and an all-new afterword from the author
In this revolutionary first-of-its-kind memoir, Arin Andrews details the journey that led him to make the life-transforming decision to undergo gender reassignment as a high school junior. In his captivatingly witty, honest voice, Arin reveals the challenges he faced as a boy in a girl's body, the humiliation and anger he felt after getting kicked out of his private school, and all the changes--both mental and physical--he experienced once his transition began.
"Some Assembly Required" is a true coming-of-age story about knocking down obstacles and embracing family, friendship, and first love. But more than that, it is a reminder that self-acceptance does not come ready-made with a manual and spare parts. Rather, some assembly is always required.
Add your review of "Some Assembly Required" in comments!
Nineteen-year-old Katie Rain Hill shares her personal journey of undergoing gender reassignment. Now with a reading group guide
Katie Rain Hill realized very young that a serious mistake had been made; she was a girl who had been born in the body of a boy. Suffocating under her peers' bullying and the mounting pressure to be "normal," Katie tried to take her life at the age of eight years old. After several other failed attempts, she finally understood that "Katie"--the girl trapped within her--was determined to live.
In this first-person account, Katie reflects on her pain-filled childhood and the events leading up to the life-changing decision to undergo gender reassignment as a teenager. She reveals the unique challenges she faced while unlearning how to be a boy and shares what it was like to navigate the dating world--and experience heartbreak for the first time--in a body that matched her gender identity.
Add your review of "Rethinking Normal" in comments!
Well father what did you want from me,
I did what you said.
But I wish that you would turn around
And see who I am.
Well I Tried to live a lie for you,
I almost fit.
But, I think you’ve known forever now
That I am who I am.
Well I’m thinkin for myself now
And I’m seein another way….Yeah, Yeah
And I’m speakin for myself now
And theres only one thing to say, say, say
Chorus:
See I am who I am
I am the statement I’m makin
No need to hide it or fake it
-I just Am-
Who I am
There’s not a thing I would change
And theres just no need to explain it
-I Am-
Who I am, whoo-oo-oo-oo
Whoo-oo-oo-a-I-am
Who I am, whoo-oo-oo-oo
Whoo-oo-oo-a-I-am
Well It’s all out on the table now,
I said it out loud
And I’ll watch you try to figure out
How to take it all down
But if you can’t love me like I am,
I’m loving myself
Cause my story it won’t be the kind
That stays on the shelf
Well I’m thinkin for myself now
And I’m seein another way….Yeah, Yeah
And I’m speakin for myself now
And theres only one thing to say, say, say
Chorus:
See I am who I am
I am the statement I’m makin
No need to hide it or fake it
-I just Am-
Who I am
There’s not a thing I would change
And theres just no need to explain it
-I Am-
Who I am, whoo-oo-oo-oo
Whoo-oo-oo-a-I-am
Who I am, whoo-oo-oo-oo
Whoo-oo-oo-a-I-am
Don’t ever let somebody tell you that they’re better then you
Whether you’re living on the streets or playin this in your coupe
Whether you fit into the story or you’re writing your own.
I wanna hear about your struggle and where you’re comin from
I wanna celebrate and love you just the way that you are.
Don’t let em tell you that you’re wrong cause baby you are a star
and you are, who you are, who you are.
Chorus:
And I am who I am
I am the statement I’m makin
No need to hide it or fake it
-I just Am-
Who I am
There’s not a thing I would change
And theres just no need to explain it
-I Am-
Who I am, whoo-oo-oo-oo
Whoo-oo-oo-a-I-am
Who I am, whoo-oo-oo-oo
Whoo-oo-oo-a-I-am
Disclosure: As of July 5, 2020, if you click on a book here on this blog and it takes you to bookshop.org, there is an affiliate relationship in place where 10% of that book order will come back to me, Lee Wind. I hope that works for you. And if it doesn't, no worries. I hope you buy your books somewhere that feels good to you. Thanks!
What if you knew a secret from history that could change the world?
“Get Balanced with Dr. Marissa Pei” Talk Radio show - Lee booked as featured guest on September 25
October 2018 - Publish Date of Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill: Oct 2, 2018
Lambda Literary Festival - panel on Crowdfunding Queer Lit and reading - online Oct 1. Register here.
Star Style Radio Show with Cynthia Brian - Lee featured guest on October 3 program. Listen here.
Pasadena Fall Art Night - YA panel on Oct 12 in Pasadena
West Hollywood Library Teen Read Week - 10:30am October 13
San Gabriel Valley Pride - Authors Tent presentation, 1:00 pm on Oct 13 in Pasadena
Launch Party at Highways - 7:00pm in Santa Monica
Models of Pride - present "Discover our LGBTQ History" and give out free copies of Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill from the Camp Brave Trails booth on Oct 20 in Los Angeles
November 2018
Book Baby Independent Authors Conference - lead networking session "How do you measure success?" in Philadelphia, PA
Presentation and Reading at Palm Springs Public Library on Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill on Nov 7
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