By: tanita✿davis,
on 11/29/2016
Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader! As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.Enjoy! I'm not too huge a fan of Fated King stories... Read the rest of this post
By: tanita✿davis,
on 11/23/2016
Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader! As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.Enjoy! NB: Author Cat Winters is a go-to for... Read the rest of this post
By: Alexandra Fulton,
on 8/22/2016
The last several years have seen increased visibility of transgender individuals in the media in United States. While this has served to increase attention on some issues related to the transgender population, what often gets overlooked is that the transgender population remains one of the most underserved groups in the country.
The post Obstacles in transgender healthcare appeared first on OUPblog.
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By: Lee Wind, M.Ed.,
on 7/30/2016
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By: LAURIE WALLMARK,
on 7/13/2016
Here are some tips on how to write LGBTQ parents in your middle grade novel.
http://project-middle-grade-mayhem.blogspot.com/2016/05/writing-about-middle-graders-with-lgbtq.html
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By: Cheryl Rainfield,
on 6/13/2016
The LGBTQ massacre at Pulse Orlando yesterday by Omar Mateen was horrifying and devastating – and it made it even more clear how important it is still to work against homophobia and hatred, and toward greater compassion for all. How important it is that lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and queer folk are visible and normalized in every aspect of our society (as well as people of color, people with physical and mental disabilities, people with mental health issues, people who are “fat,” all of us who are “different” in some way from the “normal” or “beautiful” that society sells us). How important it is to have LGBTQIA – and other forms of diversity – books, movies, and media, support centers and crisis lines, and community. Pride Month seems like a celebration to outsiders – but we have fought hard for equality and safety, and we are still fighting against homophobia and hatred. This horrific massacre shows how much we still need LGBTQIA Pride, and greater compassion and awareness for all kinds of diversity.
All day yesterday I kept going back to the news coverage and social network updates. It was wrenching and painful, disturbing and deeply saddening, and brought up so much hopelessness and despair and pain for me. For so many people around the world. As a lesbian torture and rape survivor who has witnessed a lot of murder, violence, hatred, and homophobia, it hit me on so many levels.
Mateen’s father reported that his son had recently been repulsed by seeing two gay men kissing and that he himself believed that “gays should be punished by God”. (Learned homophobia and hatred, anyone?) And Isis followers of the Sharia law, which the shooter said he stood for, believe homosexuality is a crime, and they have killed many queer people. The shooter had also been abusive, and beat up his first wife. Violence and hatred is rarely isolated.
So many people responded with compassion to this tragedy. I was glad to see people from all over – queer and heterosexual – lining up to give blood, attending vigils worldwide and expressing shock and pain, and offering support to LGBTQ people and loved ones.
Banding together after a tragedy, offering support and compassion and working to help others in trauma shows the beauty of the human spirit. Please, let’s not lose that compassion and determination to work towards a better world in a few days or weeks or months, when the shock and devastation fades. Let’s try to prevent something so horrible happening again.
Mateen, although he’d been investigated twice by the FBI and had his cased dropped, and was mentally unstable, had gun permits and used an AR-15 rifle, the same used in Newtown and San Bernardino.
After this horrific massacre, and so many others in recent US history, I desperately hope that US people will work towards greater gun control, and make it harder for violent and mentally unstable people to get a gun. In 2015 alone, there were 352 mass shootings, 64 school shootings, and overall some 13,286 murdered by guns in the USA. “Of all the murders in the US in 2012, 60% were by firearm compared with 31% in Canada, 18.2% in Australia, and just 10% in the UK” (In Canada, Australia, and the UK we have stricter gun laws than the US).
I have witnessed so much murder and abuse, experienced daily/nightly torture and rape and hatred at the hands of my parents and their cult members – and what I know deep in my soul is that compassion and love cut through hate; that hate destroys souls and people and lives; and that every life is important and matters – human and animal – and that we should not allow it to be thrown away. And I have seen that violence and hatred, discrimination and abuse, are all interconnected.
The extreme hatred and violence of Pulse Orlando is not isolated; it is echoed in the homophobia and hatred spewed daily from right-wing Christians; in the many shootings of Black people by white police in the US; by the murders, rapes, and attacks on queer people throughout the world, by the “honor” killings of thousands of girls and women in Pakinstan and India each year; by genital mutilation (and sometimes resulting death) of girls; by frequent rape and sexual harassment of women and girls and boys around the world. We are all in this together.
We need to make changes to our world to prevent murder, violence, abuse, torture, and heartbreak.
We need to:
“No one is free until we are all free.”
– Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
I will do my part. I will never stop being who I am – a lesbian feminist torture survivor – and being open about it. I will always stand up against homophobia, sexism, racism, and other forms of hatred and inequality when I see it. I will always write about LGBTQ characters who love each other and who heal, as well as survivors of abuse and trauma, and other diverse people. I will always have rainbow flags, buttons, t-shirts, and celebrate pride. And I will try to always approach others with compassion, empathy, and love. I will not put hatred or unhappiness in this world.
There is so much hatred and cruelty in the world. But there is also so much hope, and compassion and beauty and love. Let’s take some of that goodness inside us–and act.
We need to stand up against hatred and violence. I hope that you will–whether you’re part of the LGBTQ community or an ally, whether you’re of color or white, whether you’re able or differently abled … stand up against hatred when you see it. Say something when you hear a homophobic, racist, sexist joke or comment. Stand up against bullying, sexual harassment, rape. Work towards better gun laws in the US and every country that needs it. Work towards better laws against homophobia and rape and murder. Sign petitions against horrific things. Spread the word about companies that hurt people or animals or the earth. Do whatever you can in whatever way you can. I know that together we can make a healing difference in this world. I’ve seen it already – a greater awareness of child abuse, of homophobia, of sexual harassment and rape, of sexism (think the right for women to vote), and greater rights won. Let’s keep working together for a kinder world.
– Cheryl Rainfield, author of SCARS, STAINED, HUNTED, and Parallel Visions.
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| 1st graders explore the cover before reading. Photo by S. Chapman |
By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 4/19/2016
Title: I Am J Written by: Cris Beam Published by: Little Brown, 2011 Themes/Topics: Diversity, LGBTQIA, transgender teens, coming of age, New York, cutting, friendship, emotional problems Suitable for ages: 14+ Opening: J could smell the hostility, the pretense, the utter fake-ness of it all before they even climbed the … Continue reading
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By: Caroline Ariail,
on 4/10/2016
Pope Francis is boldly liberalizing Catholic teaching on sexual matters. Or so it is commonly believed. In earlier ages of the Christian Church, both East and West, its canons and its teachings always understood human sexuality as having a very powerful effect upon the human soul.
The post Note to Pope Francis: sex is more than just sex appeared first on OUPblog.
By: tanita✿davis,
on 3/1/2016
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages! Synopsis: This book was my Valentine's gift to myself. upon a time in Hans Christian Andersonland, an evil troll creates a mirror which reflects things as they are not. Facing beauty, it regardless shows... Read the rest of this post
By: tanita✿davis,
on 2/16/2016
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages! Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Jules Verity - whose last name does indeed mean "truth" can't stop herself from blurting the truth. All of it. All the time. The weird thing is, though, that she can't exactly... Read the rest of this post
By: tanita✿davis,
on 1/29/2016
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!Synopsis: Cassandra Leung is a Reckoner trainer-in-training, which means she knows her place -- as far less important than the giant beasts she trains, and apt to get benched in disgrace if she screws... Read the rest of this post
By: tanita✿davis,
on 1/19/2016
Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!Synopsis: SERPENTINE begins with a familiar feel -- a mistress and a handmaiden, brought up as close friends, often playing games and once spying on the monastery - and a cute monk - which was utterly... Read the rest of this post
You get two for the price of one today–Layla has a review of The Scorpion Rules for you, and Wendy has a giveaway + recap of the Erin Bow event she attended awhile back! Review: I enjoyed the hell out of this book. I have been in the middle of a fairly severe reading slump (and am also reading nonstop for my dissertation, so you know, take that into account, too) and The Scorpion Rules is one of the few books that have successfully broken through the haze of grumpiness I’ve been in for the last few months. But The Scorpion Rules really worked for me. From what I can tell, though, it seems like it’s been a fairly divisive read – you’ll either love it or you’ll hate it. Luckily for me, I am firmly on Team Scorpion Rules (and Team Talis!). If you like dark humor, morally ambiguous AIs,... Read more »
The post The Scorpion Rules: Review + Erin Bow dinner + giveaway appeared first on The Midnight Garden.
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By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 11/16/2015
Title: What We Left Behind Author: Robin Talley Publisher: Harlequin Teen, 2015 Themes: Gender, binary identity, lesbianism, transgender, genderqueer, pronouns, starting college, relationships, romance Genre: Contemporary YA/NA Ages: 14+ Source: ARC received from publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. (Quotes from the ARC therefor subject to change.) Opening: October … Continue reading
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It finally happened. A book was special enough, funny enough, heartfelt enough, and just downright good enough to break the spell. My awful slump might be officially over; and it’s all thanks to Patrick Ness’ sly, hilarious, wry, and absolutely on point observations on growing up and what it means to move on. What is this book even about? It’s hard to pigeonhole this one into a genre! It’s sort of fantasy, sort of paranormal, sort of sci-fi…but it’s not really any of those things. There are definite supernatural happenings going on in the background. But this is very purposefully a book that is not about those happenings. The point is that there are regular, ordinary (well,for the most part) citizens who are just trying to continue going about their lives, even in the midst of very obvious supernatural turmoil. This book is about the ordinary people who just keep... Read more »
The post The Rest of Us Just Live Here: Review appeared first on The Midnight Garden.
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By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 10/26/2015
Title: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda Written by: Becky Albertalli Published by: Balzar & Bray, April, 2015 Themes/Topics: Coming out, homosexuality, blackmail, change, friendships Suitable for ages: 12-18 Opening: It’s a weirdly subtle conversation. I almost don’t notice I’m being blackmailed. … Continue reading
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What We Left Behind was one of my most anticipated reads of 2015. Ever since I heard more about Robin Talley’s latest book back at BEA in May, I’d been incredibly excited to get my hands on it. I thought Talley’s debut novel – about an interracial teen couple during the Civil Rights Movement – was beautifully written, even if I had some issues with the way the relationship between the two women played out. What We Left Behind – about how the relationship between a self-identified lesbian and her genderqueer partner changes once they both make the shift from high school to college – sounded great to me. Books with queer characters! Relationship feels! A protagonist who IDs as genderqueer! I love all of it; bring it on. But … now that I’ve finished? If there were more novels (young adult and adult alike) that dealt amazingly with non-binary gender identities, I think I’d... Read more »
The post What We Left Behind: Review appeared first on The Midnight Garden.
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By: Sarah Stevenson,
on 10/5/2015
Summary: While you can certainly characterize all of Erin Bow's books so far as speculative fiction, they aren't easily categorized within that, nor are they similar to one another in any way—and I like that. Her first book Plain Kate (reviewed... Read the rest of this post
By: tanita✿davis,
on 9/30/2015
I remember M.E. Kerr. My sister had a book called DINKEY HOCKER SHOOTS SMACK, and I was in grade school and thought the title sounded awful. Who'd name their kid Dinky? With books, though, curiosity traps me every time, and the fact that Dinky was a... Read the rest of this post
Do you want to read a dystopian novel with a genderqueer protagonist who may or may not be part lizard? If this sounds like something you didn’t know you wanted, Lizard Radio is the book for you. It’s a hard book to describe. Our protagonist, Kivali – familiarly known as Lizard, was abandoned as a baby (wrapped in a lizard t-shirt!). Lizard is adopted by Sheila, a human woman who becomes her foster mom and sends her, at the opening of the novel, to CropCamp. The novel takes off from there – CropCamp is all about teaching teenagers how to be good citizens of an oppressive totalitarian government; teens have to attend CropCamp or one of the many other strictly regimented government-run camps and, if they fail, risk being sent to Blight. At CropCamp, a camp focused on developing agricultural workers, group conformity is prized; state-sanctioned heterosexual relationships are supposed to emerge... Read more »
The post Lizard Radio: Review appeared first on The Midnight Garden.
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By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 9/7/2015
I am back with my Diversity Reading Challenge on Mondays and hope to introduce you to a range of texts that you might not automatically select, but which I hope you will read and pass on. Title: George Written by: Alex Gino … Continue reading
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By: KatherineS,
on 9/4/2015
On his recent visit to Kenya, President Obama addressed the subject of sexual liberty. At a press conference with the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, he spoke affectingly about the cause of gay rights, likening the plight of homosexuals to the anti-slavery and anti-segregation struggles in the United States.
The post Compassionate law: Are gay rights ever really a ‘non-issue’? appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 8/25/2015
2016 Flame Con will be held for TWO days this time. And that's not all: they're moving to a bigger location too
By: Lee Wind, M.Ed.,
on 8/1/2015
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| We started out in a circle |
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| And spent time meeting and greeting each other |
One word, and the word is SQUEE!