It's #LA19SCBWI - The 2019 SCBWI Summer Conference!

Starting today, it's one of my favorite times of the year - The SCBWI Summer Conference here in Los Angeles, California!

I'm only going to be able to attend today, due to a work conflict for my IBPA job (I'll be flying to another conference Saturday) so while I won't be part of SCBWI Team Blog this time round, I'm going to enjoy my one full day here!

Three highlights:

The opening keynote by M.T. Anderson! He's brilliant, and it was his editing notes on my 8th revision of Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill, during a week-long Highlights Foundation workshop, that took my debut novel up to a whole new level.

The Author Panel, "Creating Books That Matter" with Adib Khorram, Lesléa Newman, Elizabeth Partridge, Lilliam Rivera, and Renée Watson, moderated by Linda Sue Park! Lesléa is a legend and pioneer of LGBTQ inclusion in picture books (her "Heather Has Two Mommies" changed so much) and she interviewed me as a bonus track at the end of the Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill audiobook - it was such a fan-boy moment for me!

The Tribe-Within-a-Tribe "LGBTQAI Social" I'm hosting tonight (Friday August 9, 2019 from 7:30pm-9pm in Platinum C) - we gather, we share, we ask questions, we support, and we know we're not alone in wanting to make sure at LGBTQ lives and loves are represented in Children's Literature and Illustration!

There's so much more - the morning and afternoon breakout sessions, the other keynotes, the portfolio showcase - but the thing I'm most excited about is the people. The community. My other—and overlapping—community of people just as passionate about creating wonderful content for children and tweens and teens as I am.

I can't wait!

If you'll be there and you see me, please say hi!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

"Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" Gets a Wonderful Editorial Review in Publishers Weekly!

This review is awesome:

Highlights:

“a smart coming-of-age story... a timely discussion about challenging long-held myths about history… profound and honest.” —Publishers Weekly (BookLife)

Read the full review here.

Getting such a positive editorial review for my debut novel from Publishers Weekly is a wonderful moment. So happy to share it with you.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

2.7 million page loads... and counting!

It's fun to mark these milestones (hundred thousand stones?) with you all!

This blog just blew by 2.7 million page loads (it's at 2,714,043 as I write this.)

Thank you for being my community (from over 100 countries all over the world!), and for finding value in what I'm sharing. I do it from the heart, and to know it resonates means so much.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

P.S. - if you're not yet signed up for my occasional newsletters, you can do so at the top left of this blog. Thanks!

The Pros of Cons - Three Teen Girls (A Fanfic Writer, a Drummer, and an Amateur Taxidermist) Meet at a Convention Center...

The Pros of Cons By Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar, Michelle Schusterman

Drummer Phoebe Byrd prides herself on being one of the guys, and she's ready to prove it by kicking all their butts in the snare solo competition at the Indoor Percussion Association Convention.

Writer Vanessa Montoya-O'Callaghan has been looking forward to the WTFcon for months. Not just because of the panels and fanfiction readings but because WTFcon is where she'll finally meet Soleil, her internet girlfriend, for the first time.

Taxidermy assistant Callie Buchannan might be good at scooping brains out of deer skulls, but that doesn't mean it's her passion. Since her parents' divorce, her taxidermist father only cares about his work, and assisting him at the World Taxidermy and Fish-Carving Championships is the only way Callie knows to connect with him.

When a crazy mix-up in the hotel lobby brings the three girls together, they form an unlikely friendship against a chaotic background of cosplay, competition, and carcasses!

Add your review of "The Pros of Cons" in comments!

Echo After Echo - Two Teen Girls Are Caught Up in a Murder Mystery (and Their Own Love Story)

Echo After Echo by Amy Rose Capetta

Zara Evans has come to the Aurelia Theater, home to the visionary director Leopold Henneman, to play her dream role in Echo and Ariston, the Greek tragedy that taught her everything she knows about love. When the director asks Zara to promise that she will have no outside commitments, no distractions, it’s easy to say yes. But it’s hard not to be distracted when there’s a death at the theater — and then another — especially when Zara doesn’t know if they’re accidents, or murder, or a curse that always comes in threes. It’s hard not to be distracted when assistant lighting director Eli Vasquez, a girl made of tattoos and abrupt laughs and every form of light, looks at Zara. It’s hard not to fall in love.

Add your review of "Echo After Echo" in comments!

Crowdsourcing Amazing LGBTQ History - The Baburnama, Kuan Yin, and...? #QueerHistoryIsEverywhere

As I speak about LGBTQ history, and how it didn't all start with Stonewall, I've had this amazing thing happen again and again.

I'll be talking about how the facade of history, as it is taught in our culture, would have us believe that everyone important in history was a rich, white, able-bodied, cis-gendered, hetero man from Europe—and that's just not true.

How there were poor people, and people of color, and disabled people, and gender non-conforming people, and Queer people from all over the world and as far back as we can go in history, who changed our world!

How every example we find of men who loved men, and women who loved women, and people who lived outside gender boundaries cracks that false facade and lets some rainbow light through.

And afterwards, while signing my Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill novel for them, or in an excited conversation, or in an email, they'll tell me about a piece of hidden LGBTQ history that they know.

Have I heard about Babur, the Prince and Emperor, who wrote in his autobiography (the first autobiography ever in Islamic literature) about his teenage love for another boy?

I hadn't, and I got the Baburnama from the library - it's amazing and true and romantic... and that story is going to be in my upcoming book, coming out from Zest/Lerner publishing, The Queer History Project: No Way, They Were Gay? LGBTQ People Across Time and Around Our World.

Have I heard about Kuan Yin, the Chinese bodhisattva (someone who delays their own ascension to be a Buddah to work to relieve the suffering of others), who is a Trans icon?

I hadn't, but I'm reading up on them now!

In short, I'm collecting these stories - about people, and cultures, and legends - and I'd love to hear from you. Whether you think I've heard of them or not, please reach out and tell me about the LGBTQAI+ history you know. About the men who loved men, women who loved women, people who lived outside gender boundaries, cultures that saw—and see—gender differently than we do today, and myths and legends and gods and goddesses that are part of our Queer heritage.

So let me know - in comments, via email, or on social media - and if you have a source to share, that's even better! I'll share it all, and if it ends up in a book, I will of course thank you!

You can also use the hashtag #QueerHistoryIsEverywhere
Because it is.

And together, we can tear down that wall - that false facade of history - and let all the amazing rainbow light of history shine through!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Social Intercourse - A Gay Teen and a Jock With Two Moms (Who Are Now Separated) Plot to Break Up Their Parents' New Romance

Social Intercourse by Greg Howard

Beck: The Golden Girls-loving, out-and-proud choir nerd growing up in the “ass-crack of the Bible belt.”

Jax: The Golden Boy, star quarterback with a slick veneer facing uncomfortable truths about himself and his past.

When Beck’s emotionally fragile dad starts dating the recently single (and supposedly lesbian) mom of former bully, Jaxon Parker, Beck is not having it. Jax isn’t happy about the situation either, holding out hope that his moms will reunite and restore the only stable home he’s ever known. Putting aside past differences, the boys plot to derail the budding romance between their parents at their conservative hometown’s first-ever Rainbow Prom. Hearts will be broken, new romance will bloom, but nothing will go down the way Beck and Jax have planned.

Add your review of "Social Intercourse" in comments!

Love and Other Carnivorous Plants - Freshman Year at Harvard, Bulimia, and a Crush on Another Girl

Love and Other Carnivorous Plants by Florence Gonsalves

Freshman year at Harvard was the most anticlimactic year of Danny's life. She's failing pre-med and drifting apart from her best friend. One by one, Danny is losing all the underpinnings of her identity. When she finds herself attracted to an older, edgy girl who she met in rehab for an eating disorder, she finally feels like she might be finding a new sense of self. But when tragedy strikes, her self-destructive tendencies come back to haunt her as she struggles to discover who that self really is.

Here's a piece where the author talks about writing this book.

Add your review of "Love and Other Carnivorous Plants" in comments!

Dactyl Hill Squad - Dinosaurs and Race in a reimagined 1863 New York (with a Trans Hero!)

Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older

It's 1863 and dinosaurs roam the streets of New York as the Civil War rages between raptor-mounted armies down South. Magdalys Roca and her friends from the Colored Orphan Asylum are on a field trip when the Draft Riots break out, and a number of their fellow orphans are kidnapped by an evil magistrate, Richard Riker.

Magdalys and her friends flee to Brooklyn and settle in the Dactyl Hill neighborhood, where black and brown New Yorkers have set up an independent community--a safe haven from the threats of Manhattan. Together with the Vigilance Committee, they train to fly on dactylback, discover new friends and amazing dinosaurs, and plot to take down Riker. Can Magdalys and the squad rescue the rest of their friends before it's too late?

What's Queer about it? One of the heroes of this story is the pirate Redd, a trans man.

This Middle Grade title has won a LOT of praise, including being named A New York Times Notable Book, An NPR Best Book of the Year, A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year, A Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. 

Add your review of "Dactyl Hill Squad" in comments!

If I Was Your Girl - A Trans Teen Starts Her New Life, But Struggles With Keeping Her Past A Secret

If I Was Your Girl By Meredith Russo

Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret, and she’s determined not to get too close to anyone.

But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can’t help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past. But Amanda’s terrified that once she tells him the truth, he won't be able to see past it.

Because the secret that Amanda’s been keeping? It's that at her old school, she used to be Andrew. Will the truth cost Amanda her new life, and her new love?

Add your review of "If I Was Your Girl" in comments!

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - A 1700s Gay Teen Romp Through Europe

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Add your review of "The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue" in comments!

The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out In The Streets - A Nonfiction History Told In Objects That I'm Really Excited About

The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out In The Streets by Gayle E. Pitman

The Stonewall Riots was a series of spontaneous, often violent demonstrations by members of the gay (LGBTQ+) community in reaction to a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The Riots are attributed as the spark that ignited the LGBTQ+ movement. The author describes American gay history leading up to the Riots, the Riots themselves, and the aftermath, and includes her interviews of people involved or witnesses, including a woman who was ten at the time. Profusely illustrated, the book includes contemporary photos, newspaper clippings, and other period objects.

In this interview over at the Children's Book Council Diversity Site, Gayle shares the research challenge and how she approached it:

“Researching Stonewall was incredibly difficult, because it’s hard to find accurate and credible information about it unless you know where to look. Fred Sargeant was so helpful in this endeavor. He pointed me towards the Craig Rodwell papers at the New York Public Library and the Foster Gunnison papers at the University of Connecticut library, and even went so far as to advise me on which folders in the collection held specific items. I also combed through archival materials at the New York LGBT Center, the ONE Archives at USC, the Museum of the City of New York, and other places. I interviewed people like Margot Avery, who was ten years old when the riots occurred, and watched them from her apartment building’s fire escape. I read books and watched documentaries. I visited New York City and went to the Stonewall Inn. I explored various sites, including where the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, the Village Voice offices, STAR House were originally located. I even walked the route of the first Christopher Street Liberation Day March. In order for me to share history authentically, it helps if I can get as close as I can to the experience.” —Gayle E. Pitman

Read the full interview here.

And add your review of "The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out In The Streets" in comments!

Today: Be a Light For Liberty and Speak Out Against the Mistreatment of Migrants and Asylum Seekers at America's Borders

We must speak up. We must not be bystanders. We must be upstanders.

Stand up with me.

On Friday July 12th, 2019, Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Concentration Camps, will bring thousands of people to locations worldwide as well as to concentration camps across the country, into the streets and into their own front yards, to protest the inhumane conditions faced by migrants.

Raise your voice. #lights4liberty #dontlookaway #endusconcentrationcamps

If you can't attend a protest in person, consider doing this:

At 9pm, please hold a candle and share a moment of silence. Together we will light up the world (and social media) to demand an end to human detention camps.

Find out more at LightsforLiberty.org

Me Myself & Him - A Gay Teen Lives Two Separate Futures

Me Myself & Him by Chris Tebbetts

When Chris Schweitzer takes a hit of whippets and passes out face first on the cement, his nose isn’t the only thing that changes forever. Instead of staying home with his friends for the last summer after high school, he’s shipped off to live with his famous physicist but royal jerk of a father to prove he can “play by the rules” before Dad will pay for college.

Or… not.

In an alternate time line, Chris’s parents remain blissfully ignorant about the accident, and life at home goes back to normal—until it doesn’t. A new spark between his two best (straight) friends quickly turns Chris into a (gay) third wheel, and even worse, the truth about the whippets incident starts to unravel. As his summer explodes into a million messy pieces, Chris wonders how else things might have gone. Is it possible to be jealous of another version of yourself in an alternate reality that doesn’t even exist?

With musings on fate, religion, parallel universes, and the best way to eat a cinnamon roll, Me Myself & Him examines how what we consider to be true is really just one part of the much (much) bigger picture.

What's queer about it?

Author Chris Tebbetts explains that the main character (also named Chris) is gay, ”and while the inciting incident of the book is autobiographical, the rest of the book splits into two parallel and fictional outcomes from that same incident (parallel realities, a la “Sliding Doors”).” Author Chris shared further that the story isn't about the main character being gay, but that fictional Chris ”does confront a somewhat autobiographical issue for me—becoming the gay third wheel to his two straight best friends who hook up in their last summer before college.” Author Chris also let us know that fictional Chris does get a romance of his own.

Add your review of "Me Myself & Him" in comments!

Sam and Ilsa’s Last Hurrah - Twin Teens Throw a High School Graduation Party (With LGBTQ Characters!)

Sam and Ilsa’s Last Hurrah by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Siblings Sam and Ilsa Kehlmann have spent most of their high school years throwing parties for their friends--and now they've prepared their final blowout, just before graduation.

The rules are simple: each twin gets to invite three guests, and the other twin doesn't know who's coming until the partiers show up at the door. With Sam and Ilsa, the sibling revelry is always tempered with a large dose of sibling rivalry, and tonight is no exception.

One night. One apartment. Eight people. What could possibly go wrong? Oh, we all know the answer is plenty. But plenty also goes right, as well...in rather surprising ways.

In the book, Sam is gay, and there's more LGBTQ goings-on, too.

Add your review of "Sam and Ilsa’s Last Hurrah" in comments!