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Saturday, December 5, 2009

The Challenge That Dare Not Speak Its Name!

I am joining another challenge (I’m pitiful I know), the GLBT: The Challenge that Dare Not Speak its Name! I’m hoping a few choice challenges will help me focus in 2010.

The basic idea of this challenge is to read books about GLBT topics and/or by GLBT authors.

The challenge runs year-round, and there will be three levels of participation:
· Lambda Level: Read 4 books.
· Pink Triangle Level: Read 8 books.
· Rainbow Level: Read 12 or more books.
You don't need to choose your books right away, and they can change at any time. Overlaps with other challenges are fine.

Prizes! There will be prizes, both for this main challenge and for various mini-challenges throughout the year. Keep an eye on the blog for details.

I will focus on YA but I have a few adult titles I’d like to read and I will focus on poc and women but not exclusively. My target level is Pink Triangle. Here’s my short list:

A Burst of Light by Audre Lorde
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
Some of Us Did Not Die by June Jordan
Ash by Malinda Lo
Magic or Misery by Peter Marino (YA)
The God Box by Alex Sanchez (YA)
Say The Word by Jeanine Garsee (YA)
Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger (YA)
M+O 4EVR by Tonya Hegamin (YA)
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin
Dramarama by E. Lockhart (YA)

Books I recommend:

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Burn by Black Artemis
The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin (memoir)
Luna by Julie Ann Perters (Transgender; boy to girl) YA
Parrotfish by Ellen Wittenger (Transgender; girl to boy) YA
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson YA (Lesbian)
The House You Pass On The Way By Jacqueline Woodson YA (questioning orientation/Lesbian)
Down To The Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole YA (Lesbian)

What do you think? Interested? Have you read any of these?



8 comments:

Doret said...

I loved M+O 4EVR,
Dramarama was great as well. There aren't many Black guy teen characters in YA. I think Lockhart did a great job of it.

Don't forget Alex Sanchez

Also
Say The Word by Garsee
Magic and Misery by Marino

BTW Susan, I am loving the new look.

susan said...

Thanks, Doret.

Added your suggestions, too.

Zetta said...

this was posted on Child_Lit earlier today by Patricia Sarles, MA, MLS
Jerome Parker Campus Library:

"if anyone is interested, I created a compilation of 88 titles and put them here:

http://booksforkidsingayfamilies.blogspot.com/

I used several web-available lists that people shared and I found a few additional titles

they will be annotated for an article I am writing due in the spring

my area of interest is underserved populations so I am writing about library services to the children of gay parents"

susan said...

Zetta,

You rock. On my way to the site.

Amanda said...

Thanks for joining us!

Aarti said...

Wow, I feel so out of the loop as, er, I don't know probably 95% of those books AT ALL. Yikes! I'll have to let everyone's reviews bring me up to speed on GLBT lit.

MissA said...

I love the new look :) I'm going to participate in this challenge too, I just need to find the chance to post about it!

Jodie said...

The God Box is on my list too! I read Oranges are Not the Only Fruit last year, very enjoyable, but I think if I'd been reading it when it was first published I'd have got a better sense of the true revolutionaryness (not a word I know) of the writing style.