From: tinatfakhrid_at_aol.com
Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 16:32:55 -0400

Hello everyone! I'm new to the list, so please forgive me if I'm being redundant.

I love Mayra Lazara Dole's Down to the Bone! It's about a Cuban girl who is outed by a nun at her Catholic school and subsequently, she's kicked out of her home. To make matters worse, her girlfriend can't take the pressure of being lesbian, so she submits to her parent's will=2 0 to accept a marriage proposal. Although it presents as such, it isn't the same old tortured queer teen story. There's so much diversity, spunk and humor amidst a fun Miami scene that it's hard not to love.

Luna (J. Peters) is wonderful as well as two short selections by Jacqueline Woodson - House You Pass on the Way, a coming of age story about an African-American girl growing up in an interracial family and From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun which doesn't feature a gay protagonist, but his mother is lesbian and in an interracial relationship.

Am I Blue, an anthology, and Annie on my Mind are also oldies, but goodies that I keep in rotation in my independent reading and COLAGE libraries.

Lee Wind also has a fabulous website, "I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?" at www.leewind.org. Tina

Tina Fakhrid-Deen Let's Get This Straight: The Ultimate Handbook for Youth with LGBTQ Parents Seal Press Sept. 2010
Received on Thu 20 May 2010 04:32:55 PM CDT