Recommendations for 11-year-old?

[Jo]

Someone I know recently told me she's looking for book recommendations for an 11-year-old girl who recently came out as lesbian. She'd like to find age-appropriate books with lesbian main characters. I can't think of any off-hand; the only books I can think of with lesbian or bisexual female characters are aimed at older teens and would definitely not be okay for a somewhat sheltered preteen. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Serena]

Try the Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy series, it deals with a lot of subjects but sexuality is touched upon.

Further in the series when Jacky/Mary encounters Mam'selle Claudelle de Bour-bon and (2ed book) and Ching Shih (8th book) but she has strong female "sisters" in Amy Trevelyne (2ed book) and Mariad (3ed); she also meets in Higgins (3ed) a subtly gay butler/steward who is with her on most adventures.

It can be read on the surface as just a fun adventure with a never-quite-reached-romance between Jacky/Mary and Jaimy but there are other relationships, and Mary/Jacky frequently cross-dresses.

[Jo]

Thanks, Rena, I'll pass that along to her.

[Kaje]

Maybe Empress of the World - the MC is a gifted 15 year old and I think it stays appropriate - I found this in my library.

[Jo]

Thanks, Kaje, I'll check it out!

[Rainbowheart]

S.P. Likes A.D and Country Girl, City Girl both have lesbian main characters in junior high.

[Tara]

Here are a few more;
Letters in the Attic
From Alice to Zen and Everyone in Between
This is also a decent book with a lesbian mom and a 12 year old protag.
My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer

[Rainbowheart]

Have you read Letters in the Attic, Tara? I keep coming across that one, but I'm not sure if it was originally published for children or ok for kids in junior high.

Also I have a list of gay-inclusive books for kids, elementary school through junior high.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

Let me know if anything's there wrongly. There should not be anything there that would be inappropriate for kids in middle school to read.

[Sam]

There's this list on a LGBTQ YA book review blog: http://www.leewind.org/2009/12/glbtq-...
Of that list, I've read Totally Joe and The Misfits, which were both books with a gay middle school boy that were pretty good. Not on that list but really good is the Circle of Magic series. One of the MCs is a lesbian, but doesn't come out as such until The Will of the Empress.
A few other books that I've enjoyed that aren't necessarily specifically for younger teens, but are appropriate, are Beauty Queens as far as I can remember, Boy Meets Boy, and Empress of the World. (As the title implies, Boy Meets Boy has a gay boy as the main character, but there's secondary characters of various identities.)
I enjoyed the Bloody Jack series, but wouldn't really consider it to be LGBTQ. If she likes that series, the Alanna series and pretty much everything else by Tamora Pierce have strong, often gender nonconforming, girls as their main characters, and some of her newer ones have LGBTQ characters. (Not that lesbian and gender nonconforming are at all necessarily related, but they sometimes intersect, so I thought it was worth mentioning.)
I was a little older when I came out as queer at 13, but I had some of the same problems finding books. Good luck!

[Rainbowheart]

Oh, The Will of the Empress is a new one for me! It's children's fiction with a lesbian MC who comes out? Awesome. I'll add it to my inclusive list.

Since you mentioned The Misfits and Totally Joe, the author has two more books about the same characters, Addie on the Inside and Also Known as Elvis. The kids are all in junior high.

[Rainbowheart]

New for 2014....

When Audrey Met Alice by Rebecca Behrens

This is middle grade. The MC has a gay uncle who lives with his boyfriend, and there's also some focus on LGBT rights in general. Looks cool, I'm excited to read it.

[Rainbowheart]

Mentioned this already, but excited for....

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy

Middle grade novel about 4 boys in a two-dad family.

[Justin]

So Hard to Say is middle school age and nothing inappropriate in it at all, it is gay not lesbian but she still might like it.

[Rainbowheart]

I agree So Hard to Say would be a good book for younger queer kids.

This is not related too much to Jo's request, but this topic might be a good place to recommend middle grade stuff with LGBT themes. I just recently read The Center of Everything by Linda Urban and Keeper by Kathi Appelt and I would suggest those for kids. Both of them have gay male couples and the stories are really matter of fact about it. There's no homophobia or treating it as a big deal at all.

[Rainbowheart]

This sounds really cool! A trans book for middle grade kids....

Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky

[Rainbowheart]

If anyone's looking for younger readers, here's a recent assortment of middle grade books with LGBT themes....

[Kaje]

Thanks for the list <3

[Rainbowheart]

A new assortment of titles for middle grade readers....



Speaking of which, this list could use more voters....

Gay-Inclusive Books for Elementary Age Kids

I'm running out of room to add more on that list.

[Kaje]

I picked up some of yours. A good list.

[Rainbowheart]

Thanks Kaje! :)

[Rainbowheart]

Another crop of middle grade LGBT titles....

[Kaje]

Thank you!!

[Rainbowheart]

Some more middle grade LGBT titles....

[Kaje]

<3 I just had two people ask me on FB for recommendations. Thank you.

[Virginia]

"The Flying Burgowski" by Gretchen Wing is a middle grade fantasy novel about a young teen who discovers she can fly. Her best friend's mom is lesbian, and many of the themes about the "forbidden" ability to fly are pretty broadly parallel to homophobia.

[Kaje]

:) Thanks for posting it. Sounds cool.

[Virginia]

Kaje wrote: ":) Thanks for posting it. Sounds cool."

I should say, I was the copyeditor on this book. But I don't think I'm biased -- copyeditors can really end up disliking a poorly written book by the time they've read it repeatedly! :-)

[Rainbowheart]

Some more middle grade LGBT titles....

[Virginia]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Some more middle grade LGBT titles....

[bookcover:A Storm of ..."

I am not familiar with "The Incredible Magic of Being," but I loved Kathryn Erskine's "Mockingbird." I'll have to check this one out! Thanks!

[Rainbowheart]

More new middle grade LGBT titles....

[Kaje]

I love that we're getting more books for the younger ages. <3 Thanks for the list.

[Rainbowheart]

You're welcome!

I also wanted to mention that this list could use more voters....

Gay-Inclusive Books for Elementary Age Kids

I'm completely out of room to add new books there.

[Kaje]

Picked up of your single votes -
Felix Yz, Cardboard Kingdom, Living in Secret, One True Way, Tell it to the Moon, The Friendship Riddle, Woman Chief, Tumble Turn

[Rainbowheart]

Awesome, thanks Kaje!

[Rainbowheart]

More new middle grade LGBT titles....