College Guide For Current and Prospective LGBT Students - a web resource

This College Guide For Current and Prospective LGBT Students seems like a good place to start, with a lot of good links (especially their scholarship section. Besides the Point Foundation, these were all new to me.)

If it seems useful to you, check it out.

The Red Sheet - A Bully Wakes Up One Day A Different Person... With A Crush On The Guy He Used To Bully

The Red Sheet by Mia Kerick

One October morning, high school junior Bryan Dennison wakes up a different person—helpful, generous, and chivalrous—a person whose new admirable qualities he doesn’t recognize. Stranger still is the urge to tie a red sheet around his neck like a cape.

Bryan soon realizes this compulsion to wear a red cape is accompanied by more unusual behavior. He can’t hold back from retrieving kittens from tall trees, helping little old ladies cross busy streets, and defending innocence anywhere he finds it.

Shockingly, at school, he realizes he used to be a bully. He’s attracted to the former victim of his bullying, Scott Beckett, though he has no memory of Scott from before “the change.” Where he’d been lazy in academics, overly aggressive in sports, and socially insecure, he’s a new person. And although he can recall behaving egotistically, he cannot remember his motivations.

Everyone, from his mother to his teachers to his “superjock” former pals, is shocked by his dramatic transformation. However, Scott Beckett is not impressed by Bryan’s newfound virtue. And convincing Scott he’s genuinely changed and improved, hopefully gaining Scott’s trust and maybe even his love, becomes Bryan’s obsession.

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The Kitsune Trilogy - A YA fantasy where the two male leads crush on each other and eventually figure out their feelings are mutual

The Fox's Mask (Book One of the Kitsune Trilogy) by Anna Frost

In feudal Japan, magic is dying. As a demon hunter, Akakiba finds this problematic. The evil he’s been trained to destroy is disappearing and, along with it, the shape-shifting abilities of the clan he left behind. With his only companion, a determined young human named Yuki, Akakiba traverses the country slaying demons and performing odd jobs.

But when an army of demon possessed humans masses to exterminate his clan, Akakiba must put aside old feuds and protect his family–all while hiding an important secret from Yuki. Will they find a way to defeat the demon possessed before it’s too late? With magic dwindling, will it matter either way?

The Fox's Quest (Book Two of the Kitsune Trilogy)

Akakiba’s clan is on the verge of extinction but all hope is not lost. They’ve found a mysterious object that seems to be draining magic from the world. If they can destroy this object, they might recover what has been lost and return strength to the clan.

The problem is, they don’t know who created this object or what those mysterious individuals might do to get it back.

The Fox's God (Book Three of the Kitsune Trilogy)

In the cold north, a cult attempts to wake an old god. Akakiba, Yuki, and their friends form an alliance with the Emperor’s men to stop this cult, but both sides have reasons not to trust the other. There may be betrayal in the end, but of a kind no one had foreseen.

Add your review of any or all of the books in the Kitsune Trilogy in comments!

Undone - Jem's gay best friend's suicide (after being outed by a video that goes viral) drives Jem to find whoever is responsible... and make them pay

Undone by Cat Clarke

Jem Halliday is in love with her gay best friend, Kai, who kills himself after being outed in a highly private moment. All she has left is a series of letters he’s left her: one a month, each encouraging her to come out of her shell. But Jem has a different plan. Sure she’ll be more outgoing—whatever it takes to infiltrate the group of popular teens who released the video that made Kai commit suicide. And then she’ll bring them down.

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Maria Vicente (P.S. Literary): Agent Looking For Diversity

AGENTS AND EDITORS

NEED TO ADVERTISE THEIR INTEREST IN DIVERSITY

That's the idea. And this series is an ongoing effort to do just that.

For now, we're focusing on agents, and today's post features agent Maria Vicente of P.S. Literary Agency.

Agent Maria Vicente

Here's Maria's bio:

Maria Vicente is an associate literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, providing support to her clients through all stages of the writing and publication process. Maria is dedicated to managing authors’ literary brands for the duration of their careers.
Her reading preferences vary across categories and genres, which is reflected in her client list. She is actively looking for literary fiction, young adult, middle grade, illustrated picture books, and nonfiction projects in the pop culture, design, and lifestyle categories. She has affinities for literary prose, strong character development, original storytelling formats, and anything geeky. Maria’s website, MariaVicente.com, includes articles about publishing and writing for current and potential clients. You can find more information about the categories Maria represents, as well as an up-to-date wish list, here.


And our interview:

Lee: Hi Maria!

Maria: Oh, hello!

Lee: Thanks so much for agreeing to talk about your interest in Diversity in Children's and Teen Literature!

Maria: Of course! Thank you for asking me to participate in this series. I’m really looking forward to this discussion.

Lee: There's been growing discussion about how the 5,000 or so traditionally published books a year don't reflect the actual diversity of our world, including the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement and the stunningly low numbers of representation revealed in "Children's Books by and about People of Color Published in the United States," put out by the CCBC (The Cooperative Children's Book Center.

To start us off, of the submissions you get, let's say in the past year, how many of those projects included some kind of diversity of characters or theme?

Maria: Very little, I’m afraid. At least that I’m aware of. Most of the queries I receive don’t specify the backgrounds of the characters. However, the trend is changing, slowly but surely, and I’m sure it’s because of initiatives like #WeNeedDiverseBooks. It’s nice to read that a character in a manuscript is from a diverse background (of any sort), but I understand that sometimes those details don’t fit into the query letter.

As for the amount of diversity in requested material, well, that’s a bit higher than the query inbox. It could be because I gravitate towards the queries that do mention why a story has a diverse perspective, but I’d say approximately half of my requested material feature diverse characters or themes. So diversity is definitely there in the stories, but the query letters aren’t always reflective of that diversity.

Lee: Let's unpack that a bit: Are you seeing many stories featuring protagonists of color?

Maria: Not many that make this information obvious. Mentioning physical characteristics is tricky, especially in queries and opening pages. It’s difficult to discuss a character’s background in a way that doesn’t feel like an information dump. A character’s background is so important in any story, and a lot of times (beginning) writers have trouble getting that information across to the reader in a natural way, so it’s often left out of the story completely.

Lee: How about LGBTQ characters, and please break that down - are you seeing lesbian characters? gay? bi? trans*? questioning? queer or gender non-conforming?

Maria: These are more common, but I’d still like to see more. I read more queries with lesbian characters than anything else. Trans* has been more common lately, as well as gender non-conforming. I’d particularly like to see more bi or queer characters. Many of the queries for LGBTQ characters are “issue” stories, and it would be great to see more children’s manuscripts with these diverse characters that don’t necessarily focus on sexual identity as a main plot point.

Lee: How about characters with disabilities?

Maria: Very, very few. Which is quite unfortunate.

Lee: Are you seeing other types of diversity in the works submitted? And please share any specific categories that spring to mind.

Maria: I’ve seen an increase in diverse settings for children’s books, which is fantastic. Not every story needs to be set in the USA. Younger books featuring characters with autism are also quite common in the slush pile.

Lee: How about the creators? Are you seeing under-represented writers and illustrators submitting to you?

Maria: To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure. When people talk about diverse books, it’s often brought up that agents need to represent more diverse authors. I agree. But it’s also difficult for agents to know if a submission is coming from an under-represented writer.

I don’t ask writers to identify themselves in any way. I don’t know where an author lives, or what an author’s background is like, unless it is included in their bio (either in a query letter or on a website). I usually don’t know what a writer looks like until after I sign them and they send me a professional photo. I am truly making decisions based solely on the query letters and the manuscripts I read. It’s all in the story.

I try to make clear, in as many places as possible, that I am willing and ready to represent diverse creators. I can only hope that they feel welcome to send me fantastic projects!

Lee: There's a lot of discussion about who has the 'right' to tell the story of an under-represented type of character. What's your take?

Maria: I think that all writers are stepping into someone else’s shoes when they write a character. Regardless of the character’s background, it is a make believe person that is composed of many different parts (assuming, of course, that we are talking about fiction). It’s important to be aware of biases, to do a tremendous amount of research, and to have a firm sense of the end goal. Do I think a writer needs to be gay to write a gay character? No, I don’t… but I also don’t think every representation of gay characters should be written by straight writers (for example). We need diverse creators writing diverse stories. We need multiple stories about the same topic, the same race, the same sexuality, the same background. Limiting ourselves and the industry will not improve the quality of books.

Lee: When you're submitting projects to editors, do you think stories with under-represented characters take more 'selling' on your part?

Maria: Not at all. I think most editors are looking for under-represented characters. Those are the submissions that get requested the fastest and receive the most interest.

Lee: I often feel the sense of ‘otherness’ is transferable. That from my own experiences being marginalized (for being Gay, being ill as a teen, being Jewish, being an Atheist, etc…) I feel tremendous empathy for people who are marginalized for other kinds of ‘otherness’ as well.
Can you share what’s driving your desire to see more diversity in Children’s and Teen books?

Maria: I think my drive to see more diversity in children’s literature all goes back to that fear we feel as children, especially (for me) in middle school and high school. So many of us are afraid to be who we are, to stand up for what we believe in. It took me so many years to accept certain aspects of my own identity… and there are still some things that I struggle. I don’t think that fear ever goes away. I don’t think the desire to feel like we belong ever disappears. That’s why it’s so important to let young readers know that they are not alone, that there are other people out there in the world who know what they are going through and understand what it’s like to be labeled as “different” from those who do not understand.

Lee: Tell us about some books that highlighted or included diversity that you loved and that inspired you (maybe even ones you wish you represented).

Maria: When it comes to diversity, I’m often inspired by media outside (and along with) books. Growing up, diverse characters on TV shows were more prevalent than in the books I read (another reason why I think diversifying children’s books is so important). Even now, I’m noticing more diverse representation on television, and even the music industry, than in the books that cross my desk.

That being said, here are some classic and newer books that have had a lasting impact:

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
George by Alex Gino
Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Christina Baldacchino (author) & Isabelle Malenfant (illustrator)
Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson (writer) & Adrian Alphona (artist)
One In Every Crowd by Ivan E. Coyote
Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed
Violet by Tania Duprey Stehlik (author) & Vanja Vuleta Jovanovic (illustrator)

Lee: Okay, here’s your wish list moment. What are you looking for? Put out the call...

Maria: I am mainly looking for debut middle grade and young adult writers. I am interested in every genre under the sun, with a strong love for horror, magical realism, and contemporary. I’m a big fantasy/science fiction fan, but it needs to have a fresh twist that I haven’t read somewhere else before. I am interested in characters with diverse backgrounds, especially when “being diverse” isn’t the focal point of the story. I want diverse characters that are well-developed and have a strong sense of identity paired with a complex, quick-paced plot. As for specific wish list items, I’d like to see more racially diverse characters in any category and more bisexual or asexual characters in YA manuscripts.

Lee: And for writers and/or illustrators reading this who feel a resonance with what you’ve shared and who want to submit to you, how should they go about that?

Maria: You can send me a query by emailing query@psliterary.com. The representation page on my website has a frequently updated wish list, in case you want to read more about what I’m looking for: http://mariavicente.com/representation

Lee: Getting the world of Children’s literature to better reflect the diversity of our world -- the world kids today are growing up in -- is so important. Thank you so much for working to make things better!

Thanks, Maria! Look for another AGENT LOOKING FOR DIVERSITY interview on the first Monday of next month. Until then,

Illustrate and Write On!
Lee

Husky - A middle grade novel about changes and figuring out who you are before anyone else puts a label on you

Husky by Justin Sayre

It's the sticky end of summer and Davis' clothes don't fit him the way they used to, his best girlfriends are hanging out with cool, popular boys, and his mother is dating someone new. Davis is forced to learn some of life's most important lessons from his grandmother and the world around him about love, acceptance, and change. Most importantly, Davis has yet to realize that he is standing in front of a closet door that he will someday come out of.

At once a story about learning how to be your truest self, a love letter to Brooklyn and opera, and the fear and hardship of growing up, HUSKY leaves Davis wondering, can he change the adjective people use to describe him? And can he handle his new adjective?

My husband loved this book. I did, too. It felt true, and painful, and funny,  and most of all important to listen to a voice not often heard in our world... 

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Riding The Rainbow - Two Fifth Grade Girls, One With Two Moms, The Other With Two Dads, Deal With Bullying, A Kidnapping, And A Moment Of Truth

Riding The Rainbow by Genta Sebastian

Plump, clumsy Lily is miserable in fifth grade where bullies torment her on the playground and in class because she has two mothers. Across the room Clara sits still as a statue, never volunteering or raising her hand, answering only in whispers with her head down to avoid curious eyes, keeping her family’s secret that she has two fathers.

One girl with two out-loud-and proud moms, another with two in-the-closet dads. What could go wrong, right?

This book won a 2015 "Goldie" Award in the young adult category from the Golden Crown Literary Society. Add your review of "Riding The Rainbow" in comments!

Two Weeks With The Queen - A Middle Grade Story Of An Australian Boy (whose brother is dying of cancer) and His Friendship with a Gay Man (whose partner is dying of AIDS)

Two Weeks With The Queen by Morris Gleitzman

'I need to see the Queen about my sick brother.' Colin Mudford is on a quest. His brother Luke has cancer and the doctors in Australia don't seem to be able to cure him. Sent to London to stay with relatives, Colin is desperate to do something to help Luke. He wants to find the best the doctor in the world. Where better to start than by going to the top? Colin is determined to ask the Queen for her advice.

After he doesn't get far with that, Colin meets Ted, a gay man whose partner is dying of AIDS. That friendship - and the challenges they both face - help Colin grow up.

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Us Three - Three Teen Boys Fall In Love, Each With The Other and All Three Together

Us Three by Mia Kerick

In his junior year at a public high school, sweet, bright Casey Minton’s biggest worry isn’t being gay. Keeping from being too badly bullied by his so-called friends, a group of girls called the Queen Bees, is more pressing. Nate De Marco has no friends, his tough home life having taken its toll on his reputation, but he’s determined to get through high school. Zander Zane’s story is different: he’s popular, a jock. Zander knows he’s gay, but fellow students don’t, and he’d like to keep it that way.

No one expects much when these three are grouped together for a class project, yet in the process the boys discover each other’s talents and traits, and a new bond forms. But what if Nate, Zander, and Casey fall in love—each with the other and all three together? Not only gay but also a threesome, for them high school becomes infinitely more complicated and maybe even dangerous. To survive and keep their love alive, they must find their individual strengths and courage and stand together, honest and united. If they can do that, they might prevail against the Queen Bees and a student body frightened into silence—and even against their own crippling fears.

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Coming Out For Animals – A Fascinating Video About the Overlap Between LGBTQ and Animal Rights

I was vegan for a long time, and now as a (mostly) vegetarian, and as a gay man, I found this under 5 minute video, Coming Out For Animals, especially fascinating.



And maybe, with Thanksgiving coming up in the USA, especially thought- and discussion-sparking!

What do you think?

You can find out more about the organization that put this video together, Our Hen House, here.

These Things Happen - 16-year-old Wesley Moves In With His Dad and His Dad's Partner... And then Wesley's best friend comes out

These Things Happen by Richard Kramer

The story starts when WESLEY BOWMAN, 16, sharp and funny and defiantly individual, moves downtown from his book editor mother’s home on the Upper East Side home to live with his father and his partner for the fall term of school; Wesley, becoming a man, feels the time has come for him to more closely know (his words here) the “man from whom I did, actually, spring.” Kenny, who came out after his marriage to Wesley’s mom ended, is a much-honored gay-rights lawyer, a regular on Rachel Maddow, Charlie Rose, a frequent contributor to the Op-ed page of the New York Times.

But Wesley, when he moves in, finds his father distant and inaccessible; he has much more luck connecting with his father’s partner, George, a former actor/dancer who now runs a theater district restaurant. George is present, genuinely interested, fully at ease with himself; all the things Kenny is not. He and Wesley become like father and son, really, and not because George is in any way trying to supplant Kenny. It’s just that these things happen.

Then everything changes. When Wesley’s closest friend surprises him and everyone else when, after being elected class president, he comes out at the end of his acceptance speech. the two boys find themselves at the center of an act of violent, homophobic bullying (even though Wesley is straight). Within the family, tolerant facades crumble as George, suddenly, becomes suspect. Wesley’s mom values and cares for him, and has worked to have a relationship with him, as she suspects this will assure the presence of Kenny in Wesley’s life. But, now, with Wesley in the hospital being held for observation (“When did I,” she wonders, “turn into someone whose kid is held for observation?”) isn’t it her duty to wonder and worry about what might have been going on when her back was so progressively turned? Did she fail to keep her son safe? Does she, indeed, know him? Does she know George, so delightful and pleasing, an author of agreeable evenings? And, more worryingly, does this accomplished, insightful, deeply curious woman really, in the end, know herself?

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Jacob's New Dress - A picture book about a gender non-conforming little boy that I wish had been read to me when I was a little kid!

Jacob's New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman, illustrated by Chris Case

Jacob loves playing dress-up, when he can be anything he wants to be. And the story starts out with him wearing the pink dress in the dress-up corner, pretending to be a princess.

Some kids at school say he can't wear "girl" clothes, but Jacob really wants to wear a dress to school. He asks his parents, and then asks again, and eventually, he and his mom make him a dress.

He's confronted by the boy who says he shouldn't wear dresses, and stands up for himself.

All in all, it's a really sweet story (with charming illustrations) about being authentic, even if that makes other people uncomfortable. I really like how Jacob doesn't waver – he knows what he wants, and he's consistent. It's really Jacob's parents who have the journey of coming around from hesitantly supportive to encouragingly supportive, enabling Jacob to have his moment (and, we expect, future) of authenticity. He's a boy in a dress, a gender non-conforming kid, and that's just fine...

I do wish this had been read to me when I was a little kid. That message of authenticity would have resonated then, as it does now.

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The Reappearing Act: Coming Out As Gay On a College Basketball Team Led By Born-Again Christians – A Memoir By Kate Fagan

The Reappearing Act: Coming Out As Gay On A College Basketball Team Led By Born-Again Christians by Kate Fagan

It's hard enough coming out, but playing basketball for a nationally ranked school and trying to figure out your sexual identity in the closeted and paranoid world of big-time college sports--that's a challenge.

Kate Fagan's love for basketball and for her religious teammates at the University of Colorado was tested by the gut-wrenching realization that she could no longer ignore the feelings of otherness inside her. In trying to blend in, Kate had created a hilariously incongruous world for herself in Boulder. Her best friends were part of Colorado's Fellowship of Christian Athletes, where they ran weekly Bible studies and attended an Evangelical Free Church. For nearly a year, Kate joined them and learned all she could about Christianity--even holding their hands as they prayed for others "living a sinful lifestyle." Each time the issue of homosexuality arose, she felt as if a neon sign appeared over her head, with a giant arrow pointed downward. During these prayer sessions, she would often keep her eyes open, looking around the circle at the closed eyelids of her friends, listening to the earnestness of their words.

Kate didn't have a vocabulary for discussing who she really was and what she felt when she was younger; all she knew was that she had a secret. In "The Reappearing Act," she brings the reader along for the ride as she slowly accepts her new reality and takes the first steps toward embracing her true self.

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The Screaming Divas - An All-Grrl Rock Band in 1980s California with estranged friends, lesbian crushes and big dreams

The Screaming Divas by Suzanne Kamata

At sixteen, Trudy Baxter is tired of her debutante mom, her deadbeat dad, and her standing reservation at the juvenile detention center. Changing her name to Trudy Sin, she cranks up her major chops as a singer and starts a band, gathering around other girls ill at ease in their own lives. Cassie Haywood, would-have-been beauty queen, was scarred in an accident in which her alcoholic mom was killed. But she can still sing and play her guitar, even though she seeks way too much relief from the pain in her body and her heart through drugs, and way too much relief from loneliness through casual sex. Still, it's Cassie who hears former child prodigy Harumi Yokoyama playing in a punk band at a party, and enlists her, outraging Harumi's overbearing first-generation Japanese parents. The fourth member is Esther Shealy, who joins as a drummer in order to be close to Cassie--the long-time object of her unrequited love--and Harumi, her estranged childhood friend. Together, they are Screaming Divas, and they're quickly swept up as a local sensation. Then, just as they are about to achieve their rock-girl dreams, a tragedy strikes.

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Wollstone - A Gay Boarding School Story That's Also A Contemporary Fairy Tale Fantasy

Wollstone by Hayden Thorne

The moment Emil Gogean sets foot inside Wollstone Academy’s fairy tale-like campus, he realizes his freshman year in high school is bound to be a very strange one. The school itself, a uniquely romanticized boarding school for boys, boasts remarkable elements that appear to be deliberate -- as though a hidden power has chosen woodland details, a chapel ruin, and school masters who seem to hearken back to a long-gone age, with a clear purpose in mind.

When strange things begin to happen to Emil, an unnerving warning from his late grandmother returns to haunt him. A warning about Emil attracting the attention of the king of the dead.

Strange faces in wood patterns and mullioned windows. The apparition of a boy among the trees. The unfathomable feeling of sadness permeating the idyllic environment. Emil gradually learns that Wollstone is more than just a school, that the answers to a three-hundred-year-old mystery surrounding a tragic romance lie in the ruined stones of a small chapel and in Nature itself. And that Emil, whose appearance in school has set certain wheels in motion, will have to place himself at the mercy of three mysterious students if he wishes to learn the truth about Wollstone, the boy lost in the woods, and himself.

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