LGBTQ+ Book Club Fall 2021 Schedule

Please join us for LGBTQ+ Book Club. Click here to register for any of the sessions. $10 per session. All ages welcome.

This group is for transgender, gender-expansive, nonbinary, agender, queer, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, or any other youths who fall under the LGBTQ spectrum to choose and discuss books. During each meeting, youth will discuss a book featuring positive queer representation. All ages and dis/abilities are welcome, and the reading level and interest level of the books will vary.

Book clubs are scheduled for September and October, and there will be more coming. Check out the calendar at the bottom for an easy view of which book is at which date/time.

If interested in future book club sessions, please leave a schedule request on the Outschool listing by clicking "request another time" below the current times. This helps me know what times/days tend to work for families, and I can schedule around that for future groups.

Monday September 27 2021: The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

One teenager in a skirt.

One teenager with a lighter.

One moment that changes both of their lives forever.

If it weren’t for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But one afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment.

The 57 Bus is Dashka Slater's true account of the case that garnered international attention and thrust both teenagers into the spotlight.

Available here on Amazon. Some sensitive topics as outlined in the publisher preview above. Best suited for middle-school or high-school readers. Families should use their own judgment.   

Sunday October 3 2021: The Pants Project by Cat Clarke

A touching, humorous story of strong-willed eleven-year-old Liv, who is determined to challenge his school's terrible dress code and change his life. Inspire empathy and compassion (and a few laughs!) in young readers with this stunning middle-grade novel.

"My name is Liv (Not Olivia)... I'm not technically a girl. I'm transgender. Which is a bit like being a Transformer. Only not quite as cool because I probably won't get to save the world one day."

Liv knows he was always meant to be a boy, but with his new school's terrible dress code, he can't even wear pants. Only skirts.

Operation: Pants Project begins! The only way for Liv to get what he wants is to go after it himself. But to Liv, this isn't just a mission to change the policy—it's a mission to change his life. And that's a pretty big deal.

Available here on Amazon. Also currently available on Hoopla, a free streaming service likely accessible through your local library. Appropriate for all ages; no particularly sensitive subjects.   

Tuesday October 5 2021: Girls Like Me by Nina Packebush

Sixteen-year-old queer-identified Banjo Logan wakes up groggy in a juvenile mental ward. She realizes that the clueless therapist and shiny psychiatrist can’t help her come to terms with her genderqueer boy/girlfriend’s suicide, much less help her decide what to do with the fetus that’s growing inside her or answers the question of why she cuts. She’s befriended by two fellow patients—a strange and slightly manic queer girl and a shy, gay boy disowned by his born-again Christian parents. Girls Like Me is the a powerful coming of age story of a pregnant gay teenager who realizes that friends may make the best medicine.

Available here on Amazon. Also currently available on Hoopla, a free streaming service likely accessible through your local library. Some sensitive topics as outlined in the publisher preview above. Best suited for middle-school or high-school readers. Families should use their own judgment. 

 

Click here to register on Outschool. Please make sure you choose the section(s) that matches the book(s) you wish to read/discuss. 

Also: On October 11/Indigenous Peoples' Day, I will schedule book groups throughout the day based on student request. Please e-mail me (erikaroseoutschool at gmail dot com) with times that work for you along with book suggestions. The Outschool class listing has a list of books we have previously read, which I am happy to repeat. You are also welcome to suggest any other books that feature positive LGBTQ representation, just do it soon so we all have time to read them. And...

Our fabulous group member Onyx had their LGBTQIA+ book recommendation list published by The Horn Book, so check it out as well.