Books about LGBT Pride
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month is celebrated each year to honor the Stonewall riots in Manhattan on June 28, 1969, and works to achieve equal justice and opportunity for LGBT Americans. The following books are either about the LGBT experience and/or written by renowned LGBT authors. All these books can be borrowed from the Roslindale Branch Library.
Adult
Improper Bostonians: Lesbian and Gay History From the Puritans to Playland
By The History Project
Drawing on newspaper accounts private archives, advertisements, and other sources, Improper Bostonians introduces us to men and women who flouted conventional gender rules, were unapologetic about their lifestyles, and tried to make sense of their sexuality – sometimes at great cost. As Improper Bostonians delves into its subject through an extraordinary variety of perspectives and periods, subjects and sources, it also explores the impact of historic events and trends – including Prohibition, censorship, World War II, the Kinsey reports on human sexuality, and urban development in the 1960s. Featuring two hundred images, this is a fascinating introduction to the rich gay heritage of the Athens of America.
In One Person
By John Irving
The author’s most political book since The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany, this novel is an intimate and unforgettable portrait of the solitariness of a bisexual man who is dedicated to making himself “worthwhile.”
The Fire Next Time
By James Baldwin
At once a powerful evocation of his childhood in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, The Fire Next Time, which galvanized the nation in the early days of the Civil Rights movement, stands as one of the essential works in American literature.
The Night Watch
By Sarah Waters
Waters trots from Victorian England, the setting of her previous award-winning novel Tipping the Velvet, to 1940s London. Even as the Blitz rages, three women and one man cross paths repeatedly as friends and lovers.
Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man
By Chaz Bono
Chaz Bono has lived this life. We first met him as Chastity, the darling girl on stage with her parents, Sonny and Cher. Then, we knew her as an out lesbian and gay activist. Through all of this, Chaz was plagued by a nagging feeling that he wasn’t living the life meant for him. It wasn’t until he admitted, first to himself, then to his family, and finally to the world, that he was a transgender man, that Chaz Bono fully embraced his true self. In Transition, Chaz shares his deeply moving and ultimately triumphant account of the physical and emotional process that brought him to a place of peace, and finally happiness. With a message to anyone who has ever felt that they couldn’t be who they really are, Transition is as inspirational as it is intimate.
The Doorman
By Reinaldo Arenas
Arenas’ first work set in the United States breaks new ground with the story of a young Cuban refugee who becomes a doorman at a luxury apartment building. Oddly alienated from the tenants, he is seduced by their pets, who are determined to revolt against humans and human society.
God Vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality
By Jay Michaelson
Does the Bible prohibit homosexuality? No, says Bible scholar and activist Jay Michaelson. But not only that: Michaelson also shows that the vast majority of our shared religious traditions support the full equality and dignity of LGBT people. In this accessible, passionate, and provocative book, Michaelson argues for equality, not despite religion but because of it.
Push
By Sapphire
The Academy Award-winning film Precious was adapted from this novel. Precious Jones, a sixteen-year-old girl who is pregnant with her second child by her father, is pushed by her courageous, lesbian teacher to learn to read and discovers the truth about herself and her life.
98 Wounds (eBook)
By Justin Chin
The San Francisco Chronicle has described the protagonist as “a gay, punk-rock Chinese American in the age of AIDS.” 98 Wounds is a series of improbably linked stories that reimagines and reconciles the abject, the outlaw, the ostracized, the misfits, and the cranky contrarians among us.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
By Oscar Wilde
Since its first publication in 1890, Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, has remained the subject of critical controversy. Acclaimed by some as an instructive moral tale, it has been denounced by others for its implicit immorality. After having his portrait painted, Dorian Gray is captivated by his own beauty. Tempted by his world-weary friend, the decadent Lord Henry Wotton, he wished to stay young forever and pledges his very soul to keep his good looks. As Dorian’s slide into crime and cruelty progresses, he stays magically youthful, while his beautiful portrait changes, revealing the hideous corruption of moral decay.
Young Adults/Teens
The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens
By Kathy Belge
Addresses some of the challenges faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens, offering advice on how to come out to family and friends, develop a social life, deal with homophobia, and other topics, and includes personal testimonies.
Swimming in the Monsoon Sea
By Shyam Selvadurai
In 1980 Sri Lanka, fourteen-year-old Amrith’s uneventful summer, filled with typing lessons and hopes of a part in his school’s production of “Othello,” is turned upside down when he falls in love with a boy.
Luna
By Julie Anne Peters
Fifteen-year-old Regan’s life, which has always revolved around keeping her older brother Liam’s transsexuality a secret, changes when Liam decides to start the process of “transitioning” by first telling his family and friends that he is a girl who was born in a boy’s body.
Kindred
By Octavia Butler
Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. With more than 100,000 copies in print, Kindred is a classic time travel novel by an acclaimed African-American science fiction writer.
Better Nate Than Never!
By Tim Fedele
An eighth-grader who dreams of performing in a Broadway musical concocts a plan to run away to New York and audition for the role of Elliot in the musical version of “E.T.”
Getting It
By Alex Sanchez
Fifteen-year-old Carlos secretly hires gay student Sal to give him an image makeover in order to impress a female classmate, and in exchange, Carlos agrees to help Sal form a Gay-Straight Alliance at their Texas high school.
Out Law
By Lisa Keen
Answers a number of questions about the legal rights of young people and students who are openly gay.
If You Could Be Mine
By Sara Farizan
In Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by death, seventeen-year-olds Sahar and Nasrin love each other in secret until Nasrin’s parents announce their daughter’s arranged marriage and Sahar proposes a drastic solution.
When the Black Girl Sings
By Bil Wright
Adopted by white parents and sent to an exclusive Connecticut girls’ school where she is the only black student, fourteen-year-old Lahni Schuler feels like an outcast, particularly when her parents separate, but after attending a local church where she hears gospel music for the first time, she finds her voice.
Children
From the Bellybutton of the Moon and Other Summer Poems
By Francisco X. Alarcon
A bilingual collection of poems in which the renowned Mexican-American poet revisits and celebrates his childhood memories of summers, Mexico, and nature.
A Tale of Two Daddies
By Vanita Oelchlager
A young girl describes how her two daddies help her through her day, including her poppa cooking eggs and toast, her daddy fixing her knee when she is hurt, and both fathers being there for her when she needs love.
Heather Has Two Mommies
By Leslea Newman
When Heather goes to playgroup, at first she feels bad because she has two mothers and no father, but then she learns that there are lots of different kinds of families and the most important thing is that all the people love each other.
I Am Jazz!
By Jessica Herthel
The story of a transgender child based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings, who has become a spokesperson for transkids everywhere. It traces her early awareness that she is a girl in spite of male anatomy and the acceptance she finds through a wise doctor who explains her natural transgender status.
And Tango Makes Three
By Justin Richardson
At New York City’s Central Park Zoo, two male penguins fall in love and start a family by taking turns sitting on an abandoned egg until it hatches.
Families, Families, Families!
By Suzanne Lang
Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers — and even Great Aunt Sue — appear in dozens of combinations, demonstrating all kinds of nontraditional families! Silly animals are cleverly depicted in framed portraits, and offer a warm celebration of family love.
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