LGBTQ+
The mercies : a novel
Kiran Millwood Hargrave
FICTION Hargrave Kiran
Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+
Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Forty fishermen, including Maren Magnusdatter's brother and father, are drowned and left broken on the rocks below. The women of the tiny Arctic town of Vardø must fend for themselves. Three years later Absalom Cornet comes from Scotland, where he burned witches in the northern isles. His young Norwegian wife, Ursa, sees something she has never seen before: independent women. But Absalom sees only a place untouched by God, and flooded with a mighty evil. Maren and Ursa are drawn to one another in ways that surprise them both, but Absalom's iron rule threatening Vardø's very existence. -- adapted from jacket
How we fight for our lives : a memoir
Saeed Jones
BIOGRAPHY Jones, Saeed
Black Lives Matter, Memoir, Nonfiction, LGBTQ+
Haunted and haunting, Jones's memoir tells the story of a young, black, gay man from the South as he fights to carve out a place for himself, within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears. Through a series of vignettes that chart a course across the American landscape, Jones draws readers into his boyhood and adolescence--into tumultuous relationships with his mother and grandmother, into passing flings with lovers, friends and strangers. Each piece builds into a larger examination of race and queerness, power and vulnerability, love and grief: a portrait of what we all do for one another--and to one another--as we fight to become ourselves.
Added by Melody
Laura dean keeps breaking up with me
Mariko Tamaki
eBOOK
Read Woke, LGBTQ+, Young Adult, Graphic Novels, Diverse Characters
Touching and beautifully rendered in grayscale with occasional splashes of pink, this is a love story for everyone. If you have yet to be kicked to the curb by Laura Dean, it might be time to get dumped. -Casey
Toil & trouble : 15 tales of women & witchcraft
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Toil
Young Adult, Read Woke, Short Story, LGBTQ+, Fantasy
"History is filled with stories of women accused of witchcraft, of fearsome girls with arcane knowledge. Toil & Trouble features fifteen stories of girls embracing their power, reclaiming their destinies and using their magic to create, to curse, to cure--and to kill...This collection reveals a universal truth: there's nothing more powerful than a teenage girl who believes in herself"--Publisher.
This collection of short stories , some by YA superstars, casts a charm firm and good. Look for culturally, and LGBTQIA+ diverse characters, strong women, and some worlds you won't want to leave. -Casey
How to survive a summer
Nick White
FICTION White Nick
Fiction, LGBTQ+
"A debut novel centering around a gay conversion camp in Mississippi, and a man's reckoning with the trauma he faced there as a teen"--
The character of Will reminds me of a few young men I've known, and his journey in this book intrigued me, baffled me, impressed me, and comforted me. There's hints of Southern Gothic, to give you a taste and keep you guessing. Each layer of the story got me more invested, and by the near end I was literally at the edge of my seat, anxious to know what would happen next, and I seemed to feel what the characters were feeling as it all came out. I feel like this is a book and a story that some LGBTQ youth may find engaging enough to help them muddle through complex emotions and their own journeys of self discovery. -Amanda
The queer advantage : Conversations with LGBTQ+ Leaders on the Power of Identity
Andrew Gelwicks
eBOOK
LGBTQ+, Nonfiction, Self Help, Biographies
The people who are creating national public policy, running billion-dollar tech enterprises, and winning Olympic medals. Andrew Gelwicks interviews the leaders who have forged their own paths and changed the world. From Troye Sivan to Margaret Cho, George Takei to Billie Jean King, Shangela to Adam Rippon, each person credits their queer identity with giving them an edge in their paths to success. Their stories brim with the hard-won lessons gained over their careers. Collecting incisive, deeply personal conversations with LGBTQ+ trailblazers about how they leveraged the challenges and insights they had as relative outsiders to succeed in the worlds of business, tech, politics, Hollywood, sports and beyond, The Queer Advantage celebrates the unique, supercharged power of queerness.
Added by Candice
Beyond magenta : transgender teens speak out
Susan Kuklin
eBOOK
LGBTQ+, Nonfiction, Young Adult, Biographies
Shares insights into the teen transgender experience, tracing six individual's emotional and physical journey as it was shaped by family dynamics, living situations, and the transition each teen made during the personal journey.
Added by Candice
She, he, they, me : for the sisters, misters, and binary resisters
Robyn Ryle
305.3 /Ryle
LGBTQ+, Nonfiction
If you've ever questioned the logic of basing an entire identity around what you have between your legs, it's time to embark on a daring escape outside of the binary box... Open your eyes to what it means to be a boy or a girl -- and above and beyond! Within these pages, you get to choose which path to forge. Explore over one hundred different scenarios that embrace nearly every definition across the world, over history, and in the ever-widening realms of our imagination! What if your journey leads you into a world with several genders, or simply one? Do you live in a matriarchal society, or as a sworn virgin in the Balkans? How does gender (or the lack thereof) change the way we approach sex and love, life or death? Jump headfirst into this refreshingly creative exploration of the ways gender colors every shade and shape of our world. Above all, it's more important than ever for us to celebrate the fact that there are infinite gender paths -- and each of them is beautiful.
Added by Candice
The economic case for LGBT equality : why fairness and equality benefit us all
M. V. Lee Badgett
eBOOK
LGBTQ+, Nonfiction
"Badgett offers some new ways of thinking to convert the many people who use their power to hurt LGBT people, whether in passing discriminatory laws, firing them from jobs, harassing them in school, beating them on the streets, failing to protect them from beatings, kicking them out of families, or depriving them of appropriate health care-in short, in excluding them from the core institutions that make it possible to live a good life. Understanding the economic cost of that homophobia and transphobia gives activists, businesses, development agencies, and policymakers a new tool that can help change lives"--
Added by Candice
A quick & easy guide to queer & trans identities
Mady (Mady M. Giuliani) G
306.76 /G
LGBTQ+, Nonfiction
"Covering essential topics like sexuality, gender identity, coming out, and navigating relationships, this guide explains the spectrum of human experience through informative comics, interviews, worksheets, and imaginative examples. A great starting point for anyone curious about queer and trans life, and helpful for those already on their own journeys!"--Back cover.
Added by Candice
“The Mercies” is a stimulating account of life in a small Norwegian fishing village in the early 1600's. Kiran Hargrave cleverly weaves together historical elements of gender roles, religion, and witchcraft with a narrative strongly rooted in its setting and characters. -Becky