Welcome to Pride 2019!
Christchurch City Libraries is hosting different Pride events at Tūranga this year – check out Zines, Book Speed Dating, and a panel discussion with QTopia, or bring the whānau along for rainbow stories.
In celebration of the season, I’d like to share my top picks for rainbow books for kids and teens that have... ‘come out’... in the past year. (Sorry, that was a pathetic joke... )
This is a book about growing up gay in 1950s America and in the present day, and the power of seeing people like yourself represented in stories. Weaving together two separate stories of teenage girls in love, this book shows that although being LGBT might be more accepted than it was 60 years ago, there is still a long way together. Like the characters in the story, Pulp takes the negative gay tropes and turns them on their head. It’s also a fascinating way to find out more about the lesbian paperback fiction of the 1950s. Why don’t books have titles like Satan was a Lesbian! anymore?!
A range of families are represented in this bright and colourful board book. The lively pictures of everyday activities show that it’s the small things that whānau members do that show they love you. Perfect for reading as a bedtime story to preschoolers, especially if you or anyone you know lives in a rainbow family.
When you get a little sister, you expect them to act in a certain way... which isn’t how Jackie acts. This is a great story about one family realising they’ve got a brother and sister, instead of two sisters. I love that Jack’s family is so open to letting Jack live as himself, and that all the way through the story you know that Jack’s whānau loves him just the way he is.
A brightly-coloured graphic novel telling the story of a love across the ages. Hazel and Mari have lots of people who don’t agree with their relationship (it’s the 1960s, after all), but when they reunite many years later at a Bingo night they decide to give it another go. It’s a super cute story, but be warned – it’s not all smooth sailing, and the ending will tug at your heartstrings.
A Quick & Easy Guide to They/them Pronouns
I love this book. I love it so much I want it to be compusory reading for everybody. If you use ‘they’ or ‘them’ to refer to yourself, give this book to people to help them refer to you correctly. If you don’t know why anyone wouldn’t use ‘he’ or ‘she’ to refer to themself, or feel uncomfortable using ‘them’ to mean one person, read this book so you can make more people feel comfortable. This handy wee pocket guide is written like a comic, and Archie Bongiovanni uses ‘they’ to refer to themself, so you know the info in the book is legit. For a 10-15 minute read, it’s funny, it’s honest, and it will stay with you long past the last page.
Don’t forget to check out our LGBTQIA+ Topic Guide for Teens for more rainbow resources and links to other great reads.
Happy Pride, everybody. Have fun celebrating who you are, take care of yourself and others, and be proud this Pride.
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