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So far Maria has created 81 blog entries.

Industry Week Guest Blog: Anna Mickelsen

By |2020-03-28T13:42:44-05:00June 12th, 2013|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs|

I’m not a young adult librarian, but I’m a longtime reader of young adult fiction, particularly stories that feature lesbian characters. As a reader, I can confirm that we’ve come a long way since the days of having to (as recently described by Mary at Queer Books Please) scour mainstream books for some hint of queer content. My coming of age and coming out was largely done in pre-internet days, when often the best you could do was manufacture your own subtext. Although it’s still inconsistent and problematic, YA fiction is increasingly diverse. According to the book Serving [...]

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Industry Week Guest Blog: Erin Daly

By |2020-03-28T13:42:44-05:00June 11th, 2013|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs|

Being a teen is painful. You’re no longer a kid, you’re not yet an adult, and no matter who you are, you’re not quite sure it’s okay to be yourself.  In library school we learned about the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets for Teens, which tells us that an extra caring adult in the community, someone who is not a parent, can make a difference for teens by helping to bolster them during this difficult time. I thought back to my own teen years, which were painful, and I thought about those few teachers who were there when I [...]

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Industry Week Guest Blog: Amy Stern

By |2020-03-28T13:42:46-05:00June 10th, 2013|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs|

One of my favorite ways to discuss diverse literature is with the concept of "mirrors and windows"- which is to say, some books will reflect one's experience, while others will open the reader to a new perspective.  Mitali Perkins describes it well here. A lot of times, I see people misusing it as a dichotomy; either this book will be a mirror of your own life, or a window into someone else's. That ignores what I think are the best books, which- as Mitali mentions- are the ones that manage to do both. Seeing aspects of yourself in [...]

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Guest Blog by E.M. Kokie

By |2020-03-28T13:42:47-05:00June 9th, 2013|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|

By the time this post goes up we will know who won the Lambda Literary Award in all twenty-three categories in which it is given, including the winner for Children’s/YA LGBT Fiction.  In announcing the finalists for this year’s award, the Lambda Literary Foundation explained that for the fourth year in a row there was a record number of books nominated and a record number of publishers represented in those nominations.  For the first time this year, the judges were encouraged to choose more finalists in categories that drew a large number of submissions. I am absolutely thrilled [...]

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Guest Blog: James from Book Chic Club

By |2020-03-28T13:42:47-05:00June 8th, 2013|Categories: Archive, Guest Blogs|

I was absolutely thrilled when Gay YA asked me to write a guest blog for their fantastic site (though baffled as to why they asked me- I’m just a regular blogger), and then even more thrilled that they gave me a second chance after I completely spaced on the deadline. Sorry about that, guys! So they asked me to talk about reviewing in general as well as spotlighting GLBT books on my blog. I’ve been doing this for almost 6 years now; I started June 23, 2007 and have been going ever since, moving from Myspace (yes, remember [...]

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Marriage Equality is Only One Step

By |2020-03-28T13:42:47-05:00June 6th, 2013|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|

Author Guest Blog: Catherine Ryan Hyde I’m not sure how many people are aware of the fact that I just published an ebook sequel to my 2006 LGBT YA novel Becoming Chloe. It’s called Always Chloe and Other Stories. This time Jordy gets to have a boyfriend. Actually, a husband. Jordy reunites with his old flame Kevin, and they decide to marry. While I was writing the first draft of the novel, the California Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Good timing! Well, it would have been good timing whenever [...]

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Author Guest Blog: Zoe Marriott

By |2020-03-28T13:42:47-05:00June 4th, 2013|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|

In summer 2010 I had the best idea. It was one of those times when it feels as if the universe has just lobbed a gift directly into your brain, and within minutes I was madly scribbling down notes. The notes, which can still be found on a page in one of my notebooks, look something like this: Ancient warrior (soul? spirit?) trapped in blade for centuries. Heroine accidentally releases? Sets magic/curse in train... Blade belongs to... heroine? Heroine's FAMILY. Warrior heroine - sword-fighter, like a manga heroine. OMG JAPANESE! British born Japanese heroine. Ancestral katana! Forbidden! Kitsune, [...]

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The Grey of Gender: Intersex and Gender Variant/Non-Binary Characters in YA

By |2020-03-28T13:42:47-05:00June 3rd, 2013|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|

Author Guest Blog: Laura Lam Caveat: What I reveal about characters in Pantomime does somewhat “spoil” a “twist” that is revealed 20% into Pantomime. Some people have enjoyed being surprised, but if you’d prefer to read the book without knowing, please skip this post! I will say that I don’t think knowing this going in unduly colours the reading experience, but then again it’s impossible for me to know, as I can never read the book I’ve written for the first time. Another note on gender pronouns: I use the pronoun the character identifies as at the point [...]

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AWAKE: A YA Anthology for the Trevor Project

By |2016-05-24T14:52:15-05:00May 17th, 2013|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|

When I approached Mark Probst, owner of Cheyenne Publishing, about releasing a young adult book for charity, I did so with no clear idea of what to expect—only a vision of the end result as my guide. To my delight, Mark was enthusiastic: if I could organize the authors, he would take on the book at Cheyenne. Just the one snag. Organize the authors. If you work in the arts, you’ve heard it before: “Will you donate your time/talent for … ?” Now it was my turn to ask, with nothing but a pretty-please and assurance that they [...]

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Guest Blog: Shaun Hutchinson

By |2016-05-24T14:52:15-05:00May 16th, 2013|Categories: Archive, Author Guest Blog|

I was having a conversation with an author whose first book comes out next year, and he was worried that his book, written from a female point of view, wouldn't be well received because he's a man.  We got onto the topic of writing gay characters and having gay protagonists, and he said something that echoed exactly how I felt before my debut in 2010.  He didn't want to be labeled a "gay author." I didn't write Oliver Travers, my horny, teenage narrator from The Deathday Letter as heterosexual because I was worried about being a gay author, [...]

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