OUT, PROUD AND IN PRINT

Why have a Gay and Lesbian Pride feature in July when June is officially recognized as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month?

(1) We creative types have a hard time following rules and don't respond well to the word "official."

(2) The celebration of one's identity should never be relegated to just one month.

Hence, our Gay/Lesbian Pride feature in July.

On a Friday evening, June 27th, 1969, a New York City police force raided a popular hangout, the Stonewall Inn. Stonewall was a gay bar, and its patrons were gay men, lesbians, drag queens, and neighborhood artists. Raids on gay bars by the police were not unusual in 1969; in fact, they were conducted quite regularly, without much resistance and with the police usually getting paid off by patrons who were not "out" and bar owners who didn't want to lose business.

However, on the night of June 27th, the Stonewall Inn erupted. The bar regulars and their friends fought back. A possible explanation for the resistance is that the bar was especially crowded on this night, as many gay men were memorializing and eulogizing icon Judy Garland, who died several days earlier. Whatever the reason, the backlash against the police and the nights of protest that followed have come to be known as the Stonewall Riots.

Prior to that summer, there was little public expression of the lives and experiences of gays and lesbians. The Stonewall Riots marked the beginning of the gay liberation movement, a movement that has transformed the oppression of gays and lesbians into calls for pride and action. The astonishing flowering of gay culture since 1969 has changed this country and beyond, forever. In 1999, President Bill Clinton officially named June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. Earlier that same year, the National Park Service added the Stonewall Inn as well as the nearby park and neighborhood streets surrounding it to the National Register of Historic Places.

Being a teen is hard, and being a teen who is struggling with your own sexuality can be the most painful and wrenching time of your life. And so, in celebration of all teens who have faced that lifelong struggle for identity, Teenreads.com has compiled a round up of notable titles written by gay and lesbian authors and/or addressing gay and lesbian themes.

One of the best of the recent crop is THE YEAR THEY BURNED THE BOOKS.

THE YEAR THEY BURNED THE BOOKS
by Nancy Garden
Farrar Straus & Giroux
ISBN: 0374386676
256 pages

THE YEAR THEY BURNED THE BOOKS is about both the struggle of a community and the struggle of a girl within the community. The story centers on Jamie Crawford, the editor of the Wilson High Telegraph, the school newspaper. The editorial she writes for the newspaper about the distribution of condoms in the schools starts a controversy in the town, which changes the lives of Jamie and her friends. As Jamie herself is in the process of coming to terms with her own homosexuality, the book also deals with the issue of homosexuality and the misconceptions and prejudices surrounding it.

Although I sometimes found the plot forced and the writing a little stiff, I felt that it dealt with many important subjects that are not often written about for kids my age. Throughout the book, Jamie is called many hurtful names by her classmates, and even worse, an aggressive new school board member, Lisa Beul, tries to convince the community that gay people are immoral, promiscuous, harmful to children, and selfish. She even goes as far to burn the books (hence the title) in the library that she finds objectionable. This book deals openly with often taboo subjects, like the prejudices and hates that people have toward other people, especially gay people. It is honest and, most importantly, it shows that issues are never black and white and that everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

THE YEAR THEY BURNED THE BOOKS tries to cover many controversial subjects, including censorship and the morality concerning health education. Sometimes it feels dense with too many issues, but in the end, it is a fulfilling, engaging, and important book about subjects that need to be talked about and written about for teenagers today.

   --- Reviewed by Sarah Weiss

BABY BE-BOP
by Francesca Lia Block
HarperTrophy
ISBN: 0064471764
112 pages

Dirk, who first appears in Block's novel WEETZIE BAT, has always known that he is gay and has been okay with it. But in this book, he struggles with what it means to be different from the people around him. Lessons are learned both through the love of his family and the cruelty of other teens.

BLUE LAWN
by William Taylor
Consortium Book Sales & Dist
ISBN: 1555834930
128 pages

David and Theo are best friends and rugby teammates. They care so much for each other that Theo's grandmother begins to wonder if there is something more than friendship going on. The boys learn about themselves and love, as they fight to break out of old notions held by their families and others.

THE WORLD OF NORMAL BOYS: A Novel
by K. M. Soehnlein
Kensington Pub Corp
ISBN: 1575665956
292 pages

All the action in this novel takes place over one turbulent year, the freshman year of high school for main character Robin. To start the novel, Robin's brother Jackson has a tragic accident. As Jackson lingers in a coma, the rest of the family spirals out of control, and Robin must confront his attraction to the Normal Boys of the title.

"HELLO," I LIED
by M. E. Kerr
HarperCollins Children's Books
ISBN: 0060275294
192 pages

Kerr strikes a chord in this charming and engaging book about the vagaries of love. Lang is a happy, well adjusted gay teen in a relationship with a caring older lover. That is, until he finds himself inexplicably drawn to a French woman. Kerr dares the reader to challenge their ideas of sex and sexuality in this must-read novel.

DARE TRUTH OR PROMISE
by Paula Boock
Houghton Mifflin Co (Juv)
ISBN: 0395971179
208 pages

Louie is an outstanding student and a prefect at her New Zealand high school; Willa lives above a pub and just wants to get through her exams so she can become a chef. But opposites attract, and the two are immediately and completely drawn to one another at first sight. The story of what Willa and Louie must go through with their families and friends. How they learn to love is at the center of this engrossing and moving novel.

GIRL WALKING BACKWARDS
by Bett Williams
Griffin Trade Paperback
ISBN: 0312194560
256 pages

Skye, a high school senior in Santa Barbara, is the Holden Caulfield for the young lesbian set. She is dealing with a new school, her nutty New Age mother, and her own sexuality. Author Williams juggles these issues along with the typical teenage traumas of parties, a controlling parent, an absent parent, and an out-of-control friend. A must-read coming of age story for grrrls.

DELIVER US FROM EVIE
by M. E. Kerr
HarperTrophy
ISBN: 0064471284

Author Kerr, herself a lesbian, movingly dramatizes the life of 18-year-old Evie Burrman and her Missouri farm family. Evie has to deal with discrimination everyday: she looks butch and is in love with the daughter of a local banker. Evie's parents tell her that "it's just a phase" and that she'll snap out of it. This story questions all definitions of normal and is a must-read.

NAME ME NOBODY
by Lois-Ann Yamanaka
Hyperion Press
ISBN: 0786814667
240 pages

Emi-Lou knows she isn't like the rest of the girls in her high school; for one thing, her mother abandoned her, she has never known her dad, and the popular girls in her Hawaiian town are all thin and Japanese and prone to calling her nasty names. Emi-Lou's best friend Yvonne is her savior, helping her with makeovers and tough talk. But when Yvonne gets crushed out on a girl, Emi-Lou freaks. This compelling novel explores issues around gender, sexuality, and racism, all the while delivering a powerful story about being a teen.

OUT OF THE SHADOWS
by Sue Hines
Avon Tempest
ISBN: 0380811928
153 pages

This book features very real characterizations, even if the plot twists get a little soap opera-ish. Rowanna is 16 and living with her deceased mother's girlfriend. While dealing with her feelings in regard to her mother's sexuality, Rowanna must also deal with her own love interests and all the drama of high school life. OUT OF THE SHADOWS is an engaging and sensitive first novel on topics that should never be ignored.

AM I BLUE?: Coming Out from the Silence
Edited by Marion Dane Bauer
HarperTrophy
ISBN: 0064405877

AM I BLUE? compiles sixteen short stories by an all star group of YA writers --- some gay, some not. They all have something to say about gay awareness and want to present readers with positive role models. The stories cut across color and class lines to incorporate everything from a contemporary story about a girl's coming out and a tale written with a nod to the Vietnam War to a fantasy in an Amazonian kingdom and a story set in a Catholic girls' school.  

IF IT DOESN'T KILL YOU
by Margaret Bechard
Viking Childrens Books
ISBN: 0670885479
156 pages

Ben is totally ashamed and confused when his former football hero dad leaves him and his mom. To make matters worse, his dad takes up with "some guy named Keith." IF IT DOESN'T KILL YOU tells how Ben struggles with conflicted feelings about his dad and the homophobic messages he gets from his meat-headed, high school athlete male friends. Ben is real and articulate, and his struggle to be accepted and to accept his dad is one all teenagers can relate to.

FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF MELANIN SUN
by Jacqueline Woodson
Point
ISBN: 0590458817
160 pages

The summer Melanin Sun turns 13 his mother tells him not only that she is a lesbian, but also that her girlfriend is a young white lawyer. Melanin is unable to deal with his feelings and is confused about the many questions of race, class, and sexuality. He emotionally distances himself from his mother and his friends, retreating into his own head and spending all his time writing in his journal. This novel is a moving account of one boy's emotional journey to adulthood.

TWO TEENAGERS IN TWENTY: Writings by Gay and Lesbian Youth
Edited by Ann Heron
Alyson Pubns
ISBN: 1555832822

Young people between the ages of 12 and 24 describe how they came to realize that they were gay, how they explained their sexual orientation to their families and friends, and how their lives have been affected by their sexuality.

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