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January typically seems like a slog to get by, however for readers who love books for kids, tweens, and youths—hereafter merely known as youth literature—the top of January signifies that librarians shall be naming the very best works of literature from the earlier 12 months. The Youth Media Awards cowl all the things from excellent audiobooks to the very best books concerning the Asian American and Pacific Islander expertise, they usually don some main medals to the very best image ebook illustrator (the Caldecott), the very best ebook for youth as much as age 14 (the Newbery), and the very best ebook written for teenagers within the prior 12 months (the Printz).
Along with the awards, librarians work for a 12 months debating which books deserve a spot on extremely curated lists throughout a variety of subjects. For readers trying to decide up extra queer child lit, the Youth Media Awards provide each a chance to see some large awards positioned upon LGBTQ+ literature with the Stonewalls and across the similar time, youth librarians share their Rainbow Record picks of the very best in queer lit for youths.
Let’s check out the very best of the very best in LGBTQ+ youth literature from the final 12 months. We’ll check out the Stonewall Awards, the Rainbow Record, and spotlight a number of the queer youth literature that appeared throughout the awards panorama. Regardless of an surroundings that’s particularly hostile towards queer youth, books highlighting the experiences and tales of LGBTQ+ books are persevering with to be uplifted and championed.
The Stonewall Awards
The Stonewall Awards are the primary and longest-running awards particularly for LGBTQ+ books. It was first given in 1971, and there are three classes of the Stonewall Awards: the Barbara Gittings Literature Award for grownup literature, the Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award for nonfiction, and the Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Kids’s and Younger Grownup Literature Award for youth literature. The award for kids’s and younger grownup literature break up into two distinct awards in 2023, which means that one winner is a kids’s ebook and one is a younger grownup ebook. Since that is particularly about the very best LGBTQ+ youth literature honored by librarians, these are what you’ll discover right here (preserve a watch out for the grownup winners and honors right here).
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The Rainbow Record
Created by members of the Rainbow Spherical Desk, a part of the American Library Affiliation involved with the knowledge wants of LGBTQ+ library staff and library patrons, this listing highlights the very best of the very best in queer lit for younger readers from the earlier 12 months. It’s curated, which means that it’s not merely a group of each LGBTQ+ ebook revealed in a 12 months. It’s designed to spotlight the breadth and depth of queer youth literature as accredited by librarians with information and experience.
This 12 months’s full listing is obtainable right here and options dozens of titles damaged down into age teams. It additionally options two high 10 lists highlighting the very best of the very best in LGBTQ+ books for younger readers and the very best LGBTQ+ books for teenagers. These are as follows.
Prime Ten Titles for Younger Readers
Prime Ten Titles for Teen Readers
The RISE Undertaking
Previously the Amelia Bloomer listing, the feminist literature-focused listing was reimagined because the RISE challenge in 2019. Librarians who put this listing collectively are a part of the American Library Affiliation’s Feminist Job Power and/or the Social Obligations Spherical Desk. These books are the very best feminist reads for youth centered on social justice, intersectionality, and deliberate antiracism. It shouldn’t be in any respect shocking this listing, which has 50+ titles this 12 months, is full of glorious books by and about queer folks. Take a look at the total listing right here. Among the many high 10 better of the very best books on the listing, there may be one very overtly LGBTQ+ ebook: The Race To Be Myself: Younger Readers Version by Caster Semenya. Have a look by the lengthy listing, although, as you’ll see a complete bunch extra.
Extra LGBTQ+ Illustration Throughout the Youth Literature Awards
Listed below are a number of the different books which gained awards or gained honors in non-LGBTQ+ particular awards classes. It’s a pleasant array, y’all! Critically. Do take observe that I’ve carried out the very best I can to trace down illustration, and due to how tough (and typically invasive) that may be with authors, I’ve caught to titles which have opinions indicating queer rep if it’s not apparent and I’ve caught to authors who’re very open about their identities.
Newbery Honor: The Incorrect Method House by Kate O’Shaughnessy encompasses a nonbinary secondary character
Printz Winner: Brownstone by Samuel Teer and Mar Julia encompasses a scene the place a younger man comes out to the principle protagonist—it’s not the middle of the ebook nor the story as a complete, nevertheless it’s a noteworthy second. Mar Julia, the illustrator, makes use of they/them pronouns as properly.
Printz Honor: Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White is a queer Appalachian thriller
Printz Honor: The Deep Darkish by Molly Knox Ostertag is a queer comedian about identification, loss, and magic.
Printz Honor: Street House by Rex Ogle, following Ogle’s true story after he’s kicked out of his dwelling by his conservative father as a result of he was homosexual.
Sydney Taylor Silver Medalist in Image Books (honoring tales concerning the Jewish expertise): Joyful Tune: A Naming Story by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal encompasses a various array of households, together with these with same-sex dad and mom
Sydney Taylor Silver Medalist in Center Grade Books (honoring tales concerning the Jewish expertise): Simply Shy of Strange by A.J. Sass, which encompasses a nonbinary essential character
Sydney Taylor Gold Medalist in Younger Grownup Books (honoring tales concerning the Jewish expertise): Night time Owls by A.R. Vishny, a narrative steeped in Jewish folklore with sapphic illustration
Sydney Taylor Silver Medalist in Younger Grownup Books (honoring tales concerning the Jewish expertise): The Forbidden E book by Sacha Lamb encompasses a genderqueer lesbian, amongst different queer threads
Pura Belpré Younger Grownup Writer Honor (Honoring books concerning the Latine expertise): Libertad by Bessie Flores Zaldívar, a queer coming-of-age story set in the course of the rigged Honduran presidential election of 2017
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Expertise Illustrator Award (honoring the very best in African American literature): Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues: The Extraordinary Lifetime of James Baldwin illustrated by Jamiel Regulation, a nonfiction image ebook concerning the legendary James Baldwin
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Younger Adults Honor: Homebody by Theo Parish, a coming-of-age graphic memoir about coming dwelling to understanding one’s gender and sexuality (it’s nice, y’all).
One other observe of queer illustration: this 12 months’s winner of the Kids’s Literature Legacy Award, Carole Boston Weatherford, has constantly used her nonfiction kids’s books to spotlight points associated to activism and social justice. Amongst her works is A Tune for the Unsung, written with Rob Sanders, about civil rights and queer rights activist Bayard Rustin.