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Sexual orientation in Middle-Grade Fiction
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From: Allison Bruce <abruce_at_bankstreet.edu>
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 13:37:58 -0400
I have recently been talking with 6th-graders about portrayals (and the relative scarcity thereof) of LGBTQ characters in middle-grade fiction. We bemoaned the fact that they can be hard to find, but celebrated some middle-grade titles that we think handle it very nicely.
We are huge fans of DRAMA by Raina Telgemeier; that was unanimous.
BETTER NATE THAN EVER has also become very popular very quickly in this class. I love this one in particular because Nate is--while not totally unafraid of--in charge of his sexual orientation. He has the fortitude to say "The subject of my sexuality is off the table," or something to that effect (don't have the book available; they're all checked out!), asserting that whether or not he is Gay is his business and nobody else's. I also like that he reserves the right to not know yet, because he is so young.
There is such a broad range of human experiences with sexual orientation; Nate's voice was a contribution that I welcomed.
Another one that came up was THE HOUSE OF HADES. A student had to show me the relevant section, as I had stopped reading the series a few books prior. If anyone is wondering, it's p. 292. I thought Riordan handled this extremely well. A character we've known for a long time comes out, and it's clear that this character has had a terrible struggle acknowledging their own sexuality (trying not to spoil anything). I loved the way the other characters present responded; it was genuinely touching.
I applaud Riordan for weaving this storyline in. He carries a lot of weight and reaches a lot of readers. Thumbs up.
Later, someone showed me this: http://www.leewind.org/2009/12/glbtq-middle-grade-bookshelf.html It's a fantastic middle-grade resource list from "I'm Here, I'm Queer, What the Hell Do I Read?" I highly recommend it.
-Allie
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 13:37:58 -0400
I have recently been talking with 6th-graders about portrayals (and the relative scarcity thereof) of LGBTQ characters in middle-grade fiction. We bemoaned the fact that they can be hard to find, but celebrated some middle-grade titles that we think handle it very nicely.
We are huge fans of DRAMA by Raina Telgemeier; that was unanimous.
BETTER NATE THAN EVER has also become very popular very quickly in this class. I love this one in particular because Nate is--while not totally unafraid of--in charge of his sexual orientation. He has the fortitude to say "The subject of my sexuality is off the table," or something to that effect (don't have the book available; they're all checked out!), asserting that whether or not he is Gay is his business and nobody else's. I also like that he reserves the right to not know yet, because he is so young.
There is such a broad range of human experiences with sexual orientation; Nate's voice was a contribution that I welcomed.
Another one that came up was THE HOUSE OF HADES. A student had to show me the relevant section, as I had stopped reading the series a few books prior. If anyone is wondering, it's p. 292. I thought Riordan handled this extremely well. A character we've known for a long time comes out, and it's clear that this character has had a terrible struggle acknowledging their own sexuality (trying not to spoil anything). I loved the way the other characters present responded; it was genuinely touching.
I applaud Riordan for weaving this storyline in. He carries a lot of weight and reaches a lot of readers. Thumbs up.
Later, someone showed me this: http://www.leewind.org/2009/12/glbtq-middle-grade-bookshelf.html It's a fantastic middle-grade resource list from "I'm Here, I'm Queer, What the Hell Do I Read?" I highly recommend it.
-Allie
-- Allie Jane Bruce Children's Librarian Bank Street College of Education 610 W. 112th St. New York, NY 10025 212-875-4452 (office) 703-795-4097 (cell) <https://twitter.com/alliejanebruce> <https://twitter.com/alliejanebruce> ==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu. To post to the list, send message to... ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to... digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu To unsubscribe, send a blank message to... leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu ==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at... http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp To access the archives, go to... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net ...and enter the following when prompted... username: ccbc-net password: Look4PostsReceived on Fri 14 Mar 2014 12:38:18 PM CDT
