YA LGBT Books discussion

This thread is for nominations for the YA LGBT book that you would like to see the group read in June 2014.

Anything we haven't already read is welcome - it need not be a new release. Check our book-of-the-month bookshelf if you are wondering whether a book has already been read by the group.

Please post a link to the book, copy the blurb, and give us a few words about why you think this would be a good choice. If it has edgy or potentially 16+ content please also note that - we'd be happy to have it on the list, but want members to be aware. Remember that books do have to be appropriate for an under-18 readership.

Books that lost a previous vote can to be nominated again, (and authors are allowed to nominate their own books if they feel moved to do so.)

Nominations are NOW CLOSED.

Poll is now posted here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Voting through June 3.

This poll will also be linked in the June newsletter.

Winner is - the discussion thread will be posted soon.

This Is Not a Love Story Suki Fleet

16+
Blurb:

"When fifteen-year-old Romeo's mother leaves one day and doesn't return, he finds himself homeless and trying to survive on the streets. Mute and terrified, his silence makes him vulnerable, and one night he is beaten by a gang of other kids, only to be rescued by a boy who pledges to take care of him.

Julian is barely two years older than Romeo. A runaway from an abusive home, he has had to make some difficult choices and sells himself on the street to survive. Taking care of Romeo changes him, gives him a purpose in life, gives him hope, and he tries to be strong and keep his troubles with drugs behind him. But living as they do is slowly destroying him, and he begins to doubt he can be strong enough.

This is the story of their struggle to find a way off the streets and stay together at all costs. But when events threaten to tear them apart, it is Romeo who must find the strength within himself to help Julian (and not let their love story turn into a Shakespearean tragedy)"

Why should this book be nominated?

This is a love story, despite its title, but it most definitely does not contain any fluff whatsoever. This is a powerful story of survival in the bitterest and most desperate of situations and how two can be stronger than one. The two heroes of this incredible story will touch your heart and their plight will hurt it. They will find a place in your heart and will never leave.

The Home for Wayward Ladies

16+

BLURB: Described as “Sex and the City” meets HBO’s “Looking”, The Home For Wayward Ladies follows Eli, Hunter and Nick, fresh out of Mackinaw Conservatory’s School of Theater and newly relocated to Manhattan’s Upper-Upper West Side. Amid bitchy brunches and failed one-night stands, these friends - as promising as they are promiscuous - are on a quest to have their voices heard over the roar of city. When they get a chance to work in summer stock production, this “family” is forced to find out the hard way what it takes to become the ultimate anything: a somebody. Day jobs pay bills and hand jobs stroke the ego, but handling betrayal with grace is the best way to prove who is a true Lady.

Why Should this book be nominated?

Comedy, drama, Broadway- this book has everything. It's already been called, "laugh-out-loud, read-out-loud-to-your-friends, snort-a-cocktail-out-your-nose, lose-bladder-control kind of funny. A gem of a debut in the effervescent tradition of P.G. Wodehouse, Patrick Dennis and Armistead Maupin" (Marc Acito, How I Paid for College).

It's a must-read for anyone who has ever considered a gay man to be their best friend... or worst enemy.

Would be nice to see a non-gay male book win this time. It seems like most of the selections have been focused on gay teenage boys.

Annie on My Mind hasn't had a lot of luck getting enough votes to win, so this time I'm going to nominate The Difference Between You and Me by Madeleine George.



"Jesse cuts her own hair with a Swiss Army knife. She wears big green fisherman's boots. She's the founding (and only) member of NOLAW, the National Organization to Liberate All Weirdos. Emily wears sweaters with faux pearl buttons. She's vice president of the student council. She has a boyfriend.

These two girls have nothing in common, except the passionate "private time" they share every Tuesday afternoon. Jesse wishes their relationship could be out in the open, but Emily feels she has too much to lose. When they find themselves on opposite sides of a heated school conflict, they each have to decide what's more important: what you believe in, or the one you love?"

It's mostly a lesbian teen story, but it's told from diverse viewpoints and there are multiple queer characters. Jesse is a butch teenage girl (rare in YA!) and Emily is her bisexual femme sort-of-hook-up. Jesse also has a gay male best friend and there's another lesbian character who's important in the story.

Based on the last post, it seems lesbian books haven't had much success in these votes, but what the heck -- I'll make a pitch for my new release...
Freak Camp: Posts From a Previously Normal Girl

This one's strictly PG, told from the POV of a 13-year-old girl with divorced M/F parents, a sister, a new stepmom (married to her mom) and stepbrothers. The main controversy surrounds Celeste's struggle to identify her "source" (more on that below), but she also develops a female love interest along the way.

Here's the blurb:
Thirteen-year-old Celeste Jardine has one priority for the summer: to identify her source - earth, air, water, or fire. Only then can she register for one of the four public source schools and avoid being sent to Fluidity, the local private school for unidentified teens. Things explode the last day of school when Celeste learns that her perfect best friend, May, is going away to earth camp for eight weeks. To add insult to injury, Celeste's mom has decided to send her to summer camp at the very place she has been trying so hard to avoid ... Fluidity. Celeste resolves to try anything under the sun-or on the Internet-to get into source school in the fall. But, after rekindling a friendship with her estranged neighbor, Rainie, Celeste must confront startling new truths about who she is, who she loves, and where she wants to be when fall classes start.

F.Y.I., the Suki Fleet title link isn't leading to the right book.

I'd like to nominate An Unstill Life.

Things at home are rough for fifteen-year-old Livvie Quinn. Jules, her beloved older sister is sick again after being cancer free for almost ten years. Her mom becomes more frantic and unapproachable every day. School isn't much better. Just when she needs them most, her closest friends get boyfriends and have little time for Livvie –- except to set her up on a series of disastrous blind dates.

Livvie seeks refuge in the art room and finds Bianca, the school "freak." Free-spirited and confident, Bianca is everything Livvie isn't. Shaken by her mom's desperation, her sister's deteriorating condition, and abandoned by her friends, Livvie finds comfort and an attraction she never felt before with Bianca.

When their relationship is discovered, Livvie and Bianca become victims of persecution and bullying. School authorities won't help and even forbid the pair to attend the Winter Formal as a couple. If Livvie defies them and goes, she risks expulsion and further ridicule from her classmates. At home, her mother's behavior escalates to new levels of crazy and Jules is begging for help to end the pain once and for all.

While searching for the strength to make her life her own, Livvie must decide how far she's willing to go for the people she loves.

I haven't yet read the book, but it sounds like a relevant story that explores multiple facets of the central character's life.

I'd like to nominate Pukawiss the Outcast, published by Harmony Ink Press.

Pukawiss The Outcasthttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I wrote the book to illustrate the sharp contrast between Christianity and Native American cultures when it comes to the issue of homosexuality. It is both educational and inspirational.

Blurb: When family complications take Joshua away from his fundamentalist Christian mother and leave him with his grandfather, he finds himself immersed in a mysterious and magical world. Joshua’s grandfather is a Wisconsin Ojibwe Indian who, along with an array of quirky characters, runs a recreated sixteenth-century village for the tourists who visit the reservation. Joshua’s mother kept him from his Ojibwe heritage, so living on the reservation is liberating for him. The more he learns about Ojibwe traditions, the more he feels at home.

One Ojibwe legend in particular captivates him. Pukawiss was a powerful manitou known for introducing dance to his people, and his nontraditional lifestyle inspires Joshua to embrace both his burgeoning sexuality and his status as an outcast. Ultimately, Joshua summons the courage necessary to reject his strict upbringing and to accept the mysterious path set before him.

Kim wrote: "F.Y.I., the Suki Fleet title link isn't leading to the right book.

Thanks so much for that. It's fixed now. It was working when I tested it. It was obviously a glitch :S

"One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, May 27): A gay love story featuring an Armenian main character, some Rufus Wainwright, and a load of humor."

http://bookriot.com/2014/05/22/30-div...

One Man Guy looks super cute! I didn't know it was coming out so soon, but looks like it will be out tomorrow. If my nomination doesn't get picked, I wouldn't mind this one winning.

"Take Michael Barakiva’s One Man Guy. Not only do we get to see the self-realization and -actualization of a young teen who finds himself with a crush on a guy, who stands by his principles even in the face of his loving but overbearing family, and who finds himself in summer school for the smartest dumb reason, but we get to discover the rich traditions, histories, prejudices, and even the delicious foods of an Armenian-American family. Written by an Armenian/Israeli, the story rings clearer than it could have if it had been written from the point of view of the white character in the same relationship. For that character, it might just be about young love; for Alek, it’s about so much more."

http://bookriot.com/2014/05/27/highli...

Thanks for giving us a bit more detail.

Poll is now posted here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Voting through June 3.

This poll will also be linked in the June newsletter.

Too many good choices. The good news is that which ever one is chosen it will be a good one to read.

Winner is - the discussion thread will be posted soon.