Archive

The Impact of Representation

By Vee|2016-05-24T14:52:10-05:00August 27th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs|Tags: Representation|

I had something else I was going to write on representation. But then I heard about Robin Williams, and I thought of other things. About feeling alone. About depression, that horrendous, hideous beast that traps you and makes you feel like there’s no reason to get out of bed. I thought about my depression, which I still struggle with. What I struggled with during high school, particularly (I hesitate to say because of) my struggles with my sexuality, with not feeling like I belonged anywhere, especially when I was still in the closet. It was lonely. God. I [...]

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We Are Not Just a Diversity Checkbox Part 2

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:41-05:00August 22nd, 2014|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs, Teen Voices|Tags: Representation|

Editors note: Part One of the We Are Not Just a Diversity Checkbox mini-series addressed background MOGII characters in media, and why there is no good excuse to leave out queer characters. In Part Two, Emily K, one of our Teen Voices, goes further into this, looking specifically at speculative fiction. This series updates every Friday, and will be wrapping up the first week of September. It doesn’t stop at just a lack of queer characters. Many YA speculative fiction books take place in worlds where the existence of MOGII people isn’t even considered. The possibilities in world-building for [...]

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Jack by Shannon LC Cate: review by Simren Handa

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:41-05:00August 14th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Review|Tags: PoC, Small Press|

Mama doesn't like boys, but Jack's not like most boys. Born a girl during the Civil War, Jack has been passing as a boy in the slums of Five Points, Manhattan, since running away from an orphans' home at age eight. He makes his living at petty thievery, surviving pocket watch-to-pocket watch until he discovers a talent for gambling. Lucy is a bright girl trapped in a dreary life with her widowed mother. When she meets Jack on the street, her days are happier than they have ever been. But her heart is broken when mother takes her [...]

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We Are Not Just a Diversity Checkbox Part 1

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:41-05:00August 8th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs, Teen Voices|Tags: Minor Queer Characters, Representation|

Editor's note: We are so excited to be hosting this mini-series We Are Not Just a Diversity Checkbox. It will be updated every Friday and wrap up the last week of August. Emily K, one of our Teen Voices will be talking about MOGII (Marginalized Orientation, Gender Identity, and Intersex) representation in YA, specifically minority characters, and others that are included more or less to check us off. When the hype for Disney’s animated feature “Frozen” was at its peak, many people were exuberant over the male store owner having a husband and children who were shown for two [...]

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Review: Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:41-05:00August 6th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Club, Book Review|Tags: Speculative|

First things first, this a beautiful book. You don't even need to read it to realise that it's beautiful: you can tell by the way the dust jacket is all textured and pretty, with the letters jutting out and being bumpy underneath your fingers. It is a gradient turquoise sky, a stormy sea, and a splash of orange that's like the splash of hope this book will provide for the queer teenagers who read it or have read it. Our August 2014 Book of the Month! It's a reimagining of Homer's Odyssey, which is incredible in [...]

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Interview with author Shannon LC Cate

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:41-05:00July 24th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Author Interview|Tags: publishing|

Today we have author Shannon LC Cate talking about race and gender histories, the importance of small-press or self publishing, and of course, her book Jack. Find out more about Jack here! Question: Why did you choose the particular time and setting? (Post Civil War, New York and Arizona?) What about that time and those places interested you, or served the story? SHANNON LC CATE: I studied this period during my graduate work in American literature. When I write historical fiction, I tend to naturally choose the last quarter of the 19th century because of my familiarity with that [...]

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Announcing GayYA’s August 2014 Book of the Month, and Other Updates!

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:41-05:00July 21st, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Club, Updates and Announcements|

Announcing our August 2014 BotM: Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block! Our August 2014 Book of the Month! Her life by the sea in ruins, Pen has lost everything in the Earth Shaker that all but destroyed the city of Los Angeles. She sets out into the wasteland to search for her family, her journey guided by a tattered copy of Homer’s Odyssey. Soon she begins to realize her own abilities and strength as she faces false promises of safety, the cloned giants who feast on humans, and a madman who [...]

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Wait! This novel has GAY people in it!

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:42-05:00July 14th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog, Book Club|Tags: censorship, lesbian|

Molly Beth Griffin I didn’t start writing my first novel assuming that it would actually be read by anyone but me and my graduate school advisor, and maybe the memory of my teenage self. It was an experiment in longer-form fiction taken on by a self-defined picture book writer. But the project took flight, and after years of hard work, *Silhouette of a Sparrow *hit shelves in hardcover in 2012 and then again in paperback in 2013. Which was terrifying. Aside from the usual trepidation of a debut novelist, I had some added fears. Why? Because although the [...]

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REVIEW: Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin

By admin|2020-03-28T13:42:42-05:00July 4th, 2014|Categories: Archive, Book Club, Book Review, Teen Voices|

SILHOUETTE OF A SPARROW is GayYA’s July Book of the Month. We are giving away a signed copy in our monthly raffle, which you can enter HERE! Upon opening Silhouette of a Sparrow, I took its first-person narrative as a tragic misstep, which is the case in many YA novels I have read (or, attempted to read). I was pleasantly mistaken, and by chapter 2, I was hooked. Silhouette of a Sparrow is narrated by 16-year-old Garnet Richardson, a bird-lover with a curious mind and an honest voice, who is sent to stay with relatives, the Harringtons, over the summer while [...]

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Interview With Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Author of BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FOR UGLY CHILDREN

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:42:42-05:00June 23rd, 2014|Categories: Archive, Author Interview, Book Club|

Hey everyone! Today we have Kirstin Cronn-Mills, author of BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FOR UGLY CHILDREN (our June 2014 Book of the Month) talking about music, research, her book, and of course ice cream. Tune in! Victoria: Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is about a guy named Gabe, who is navigating his way through life, romance, family and friendship, the same as any other teen. The only difference is that he was born in a girl's body, as Elizabeth. BMUC tells the story of him coming into himself and leaving Elizabeth behind. How did this story come to you? Kirstin: This story was [...]

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