For me, more trans representation remains a priority.


There have been excellent books with trans protagonists over the last few years: Lisa Williamson channeled her experiences as an administrator for the Tavistock Centre, a Gender Identity Clinic with a specific service for children and young people, into her book The Art of Being Normal, a witty, charming coming of age novel about a young trans woman coming out at school.


Alice Oseman thanks a long list of trans men who helped her research and write Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, a young trans man, one of two protagonists in her most recent novel, I Was Born for This, an absolute belter of a boyband book. Oseman also features a non- binary character – someone whose gender identity falls outside of traditional, binary notions of ‘man’ or ‘woman’ – in her novel Radio Silence.


Juno Dawson is a fantastic role model for trans young people, and I would love to see more trans writers writing for young adults. The same need for representation is true of young people with intersectional identities. 2019 has already seen the publication of Canadian author Sabina Khan’s book The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali, about a young Muslim girl who is sent to live with her grandparents in Bangladesh after she’s caught kissing her girlfriend and I’m particularly looking forward to The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, whose poem How to Come Out as Gay rounds off the PROUD anthology. The novel in verse, about a mixed-race gay teenager coming to terms with his identity, tells the story of the young protagonist creating his drag persona.


As young people are able to identify themselves as LGBTQI+ earlier and earlier, work for younger readers is going to become increasingly important. Alongside a handful of US titles – including Raina Telgemaier’s Drama and Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle – standouts from UK authors include Keris Stainton’s Starring Kitty, in which a light-hearted lesbian love story plays out against a backdrop of more serious themes of family crisis. WAIN – a collection of queer retellings of Scottish myths and legends (featuring gay giants, a trans boy Selkie and a non-binary Nessie) by Rachel Plummer – is published this month by The Emma Press. The Pants Project, about a young trans boy who has to fight his school dress code, by Scottish author Cat Clarke – who’s also written books with LGBTQI+ protagonists and themes for young adults - has been published in the US, but is yet to find a UK publisher.


The publication last month of Lev Rosen’s Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) – which journalist Alim Kheraj has championed across a number of publications – feels like an exciting sign of things to come; a witty, charming and emotionally-charged story, which deals with sex and sexuality in a way that’s frank and funny (sample line: ‘My first time getting it in the butt was kind of weird’). We’ve come a long way from Davy and Douglas ‘making out’, and books like Jack of Hearts and projects like PROUD feel like a taste of what’s to come if LGBTQI+ writers are given the space to write for the communities we know and the communities we’re a part of – and an exciting time for those of us who love it.


I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip, John Donovan, Golden Hoard Press, 978-0738721347, £7.60


Boy Meets Boy, David Levithan, HarperCollins Children’s Books, 978-0007533039, £7.99 PROUD, Various, Stripes, 978-1788950602, £7.99 pbk Noah Can’t Even, Simon James Green, Scholastic, 978- 1407179940, £7.99 pbk


The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali, Sabina Khan, Egmont, 978-1407194578, £7.99


The Art of Being Normal, Lisa Williamson, David Fickling Books, 978-1910200520, £7.99 pbk


I Was Born for This, Alice Oseman, HarperCollins Children’s Books, 978-0008244095, £7.99 pbk Radio Silence Alice Oseman, HarperCollins Children’s Books, 978-0007559244, £7.99 pbk


Starring Kitty, Keris Stainton, Catnip Publishing, 978- 1846471841, £7.99 pbk


WAIN, Rachel Plummer, the Emma Press, 978-1910139479, £12.00 Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts), L.C. Rosen, Penguin, 978-0241365014, £7.99 pbk


Michael Lee Richardson is a writer and youth worker based in Glasgow.


Books for Keeps No.235 March 2019 7


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32