LGBTQIA+ Books for Children and Teens

Librarians, teachers, and other professionals who work with children and teens will discover a range of LGBTQIA+ titles in this resource, alongside guidance on fostering spaces that are safe, warm, and welcoming for all young readers.

Books for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, asexual, and intersex readers and their allies continue to thrive and evolve in reflection of the variety of families and individual identities today. Deemed "an essential purchase" in a starred review by School Library Journal, this matchless guide returns in an updated edition. The authors highlight the best in LGBTQIA+ lit for young people while also addressing urgent topics such as the rise in book challenges. Offering library workers and teachers the information and tools they need to build a diverse, inclusive collection and confidently share it with the patrons they support, this resource

• provides hundreds of annotated book entries, complete with author and illustrator, publisher, date of publication, descriptions of each book's LGBTQIA+ representation, and helpful prompts to foster discussion;
• surveys the current censorship push against books with LGBTQIA+ topics, themes, and characters, discussing its effect on young people and how to deal with objections and book challenges head on;
• includes interviews with noted authors that explain not only why they write for children, but what they feel librarians and teachers should understand when working with queer children and their classmates;
• spotlights picture books for young children that depict kids, parents, and families with a variety of gender and sexual dynamics;
• introduces books for middle-grade readers, focusing on titles with young people who are questioning and finding themselves while searching for where they belong;
• shares books for teens that range from stories touching on mental health and other issues that develop as youth start high school to others that explore housing insecurity and other concerns that impact older teens; and
• shares ideas for programming and marketing, advice on outreach to stakeholders, and best practices for supporting LGBTQIA+ students.

Author: Kathleen Breitenbach, Liz Deskins
Publisher: ALA Editions
Published: 05/29/2023
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.83w x 0.39d
ISBN13: 9780838938577
ISBN10: 0838938574
BISAC Categories:
- Literary Criticism | Books & Reading
- Language Arts & Disciplines | Library & Information Science | General

About the Author
Kathleen Breitenbach (they/them) is Teen Librarian at Hamilton Township Free Public Library in New Jersey.

Liz Deskins was a school librarian for thirty years, teaching at the elementary, high school, and college levels. Now retired, she is an adjunct professor for Kent State University. A past president of Buckeye Children and Teens Book Awards as well as past president of OELMA (Ohio Educational Library Media Association), Liz has also served on committees and task forces for the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Library Service to Children. A requested presenter at conferences, Liz speaks on many topics, thanks to her lifelong passion for learning new things and sharing them with others. Her publications include Linking Picture Book Biographies to National Content Standards: 200+ Lives to Explore (Libraries Unlimited 2015) and Content-Area Collaborations for Secondary Grades.