Spotlight On

Lillian Faderman

Lillian Faderman, is an award winning historian of LGBT history, culture and literature. Professor Faderman, came out as a lesbian when she was a student at Hollywood High School in the 1950’s.

The Gay Revolution marks decade after decade the inevitable break down of depriving gay, lesbian and everyone else along the gender continuum, their right to exist as equal citizens. An outrageous starting point for me was the retroactive dishonorable discharge of veterans of the Second World War and the cruel entrapment games played by members of law enforcement, the military, academia, and religious organizations. As I read, I thought that much of this devastating harassment of American citizens was condoned and “the closet” aside, everyone knew that human sexuality was much more complex than the dominant culture allowed. Professor Faderman is unflinching when describing the founding of The Mattachine Society and The Daughter of Bilitis, and the relatively short period of time until the riot at the mafia bar, The Stonewall Inn (June 28, 1969-July 3, 1969,) and the founding of The Gay Liberation Front that eventually led to marriage equality and the Pride movement.

Rachel Hope Cleves

An historical take on the 44 year marriage of two women in 1800’s America.

The Stonewall Reader, edited by New York Public Library and Jason Baumann, essential reading.

Harry Woodgate

This picture book has so much heart, showing a special relationship between a young child and grandpa. Grandad regails the young protagonist with stories of his time spent with Gramps, who has since passed away. The beautiful illustrations depict the couple when they were young, and in doing so help honor the history of LGBTQ+ elders. A beautifully-rendered story with a feel-good ending that may help kids from all kinds of families grapple with issues of grief and loss.

Matthew Burgess

I absolutely love this child-friendly biography of Keith Haring. It’s the only one I can find that mentions the prolific artist’s identity as a gay man, which became an integral aspect to his late work. And it does so simply and wonderfully in one page through a simple mention of his partner Juan DuBose and the happy home life they shared. The author’s note addresses this intentional choice of his to include mention of Haring’s sexual orientation and skepticism he faced regarding it – a good reminder for all adults working with children.

Ashley Herring Blake

This is one of my absolute favorite summer reads for middle schoolers. I love the characterization of Sunny and her relationship with the woman who raised her, as well as the quirky island setting. As with the author’s other coming-of-age middle grade novel, Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World, issues of trauma, complex familial relationships, and coming into one’s queer identity are handled with much care and heart.

Kat Leyh

An intriguing, fun graphic novel featuring multiple gender nonconforming characters. It’s a little spooky, lots of fun, and super creative. And the illustrations rule. I absolutely love the bright color palette and vivid setting.

Leah Johnson

Liz Lighty is a super relatable high school senior that any teen who doesn’t quite fit in will be able to relate to. In a super traditional, super white, super prom obsessed midwestern town, Liz is fine with being on the outside as the queer, Black, and brainy musician. Her surprising campaign for the coveted prom queen title is fueled by her desire for the scholarship that comes with it. When winning not only the crown but also the heart of a competitor she has feelings for seem within reach, Liz is super easy to root for (despite not being perfect).

Kacen Callender

While it’s unfortunate that this book heavily features the trope of public outing, I still maintain that it’s a worthwhile read for its inclusion of themes relating to race, class, and shifting identities in a way that not many YA books capture. Readers will appreciate the journey Felix goes on in finding himself – not through his transition but through the life experiences he is facing in the time after. A great story of self-discovery.

Suzanne Ashworth

Seed to Seed is a complete seed-saving guide describing specific techniques for saving the seeds of 160 vegetables. It is regarded as the best guide available for beginning or experienced gardeners to learn effective ways of producing and storing seeds.

Hattie Ellis

Hattie Ellis traversed the globe to tell the story of bees and honey in all their glory. She explores the mysterious ways of bees, such as how they can make up to twenty-four thousand journeys to produce a single pound of honey. This small insect can carry us through past and present to tell us more about ourselves than any other living creature.

Antoinette Portis

In this lovely picture book, the voices from the natural world pose a series of riddles to a curious little girl over the course of a summer day. Author and illustrator, Antoinette Portis, turns the commonplace into the extraordinary.

Paolo Bacigalupi

One of my favorite new authors. Two of the first and most vivid and convincing books set in a post-climate change Earth, unrelated to one another. In Windup Girl, set in Thailand, corporations fight wars using bio-weapons and a girl who may not be just a girl struggles to understand her roots. Hugo and Nebular award winner. Brilliant from its first pages.

Paolo Bacigalupi

The Water Knife is set in a parched Southwest where water rights are more important than ever and national guard helicopter gunships enforce water use. Entirely believable and vivid.

Iain Banks

Banks has developed a great universe where aliens, humans and huge AI ships coexist in the “Culture”. His books are intricate, well-written and addictive. Here, he examines the morality of… the afterlife. A fascinating premise that goes places you don’t expect.

Becky Chambers

Optimistic space opera! Life aboard a starship brimming with colorful characters from a variety of species. One of the new crowd of outside voices who have come to dominate sci-fi lately, I only found out after the fact that this is a LGBT favorite – but I can’t say I noticed since pretty much everything goes in this universe, with everyone cavorting with everyone, regardless of sex or species.

Arthur C. Clarke

Classic old-school sci fi from one of the original masters. A huge cylindrical alien spaceship is transiting the Solar System and a party of scientific explorers land to investigate the enigmatic contents.

Ernest Cline

Sheer fun, especially if you lived through the 80’s and were an aficionado of the music and video games of the era (me!). The owner of a huge online shared virtual reality offers to give it all away to the winner of a challenge where contestants have to solve puzzles based on ‘80s video games. This isn’t high literature by any means, but its great fun. (And way better than the movie.)

James Corey

The first of a series that was the basis for the Amazon “The Expanse” series (also entirely excellent in its own right) set in a future where Mars and the asteroid belt are all colonized and the politics between Earth, Mars and the “belters” intense. It’s a gritty, hyper-realistic future where physics work as we understand it, and class and political conflict all play major roles.

Omar El Akkad

Dystopic novel set after the next American civil war – low-key, dark, plausible and frighteningly realistic. Not truly science fiction – more like plausible future fiction, and like Cormac McCarthy’s terrifying “The Road”, entirely frightening in an understated way.

Philip José Farmer

A great premise: All those who ever lived on Earth have found themselves resurrected – healthy, young, and naked as newborns – on the grassy banks of a mighty river, in a world unknown. Miraculously provided with food, but with no clues to the meaning of their strange new afterlife. One of my favorites from the early 70s, the first of a trilogy, this Hugo Award winner has never been matched. Still count it as a fave.

William Gibson

A mid-1980’s classic that created the “cyberpunk” genre and gave us the term “cyberspace”. Coders (literally) jack into a shared virtual reality on behalf of their corporate patrons to steal data from one another. Remarkably prescient, this came out before the world wide web as we know it and it still totally rocks. Gibson continues to write thoughtful, increasingly mature fiction: this is his (very) strong debut, though most anything he writes is a good read and worth picking up.

Amal El-Mohtar

Time travel and romance, with two women who race around the timeline trying to alter reality to help their “side” win and eventually develop a relationship via letters they write to one another. An entertaining, beautifully written novella.

N.K. Jemisin

One of the new wave of outside voices who have stormed the ramparts of white male sci fi writers. This Black, female Hugo and Nebula award winning author has created a world where periodic cataclysms define a civilization constantly disrupted. Vivid and with a twist ending.

Ann Leckie

You’re a huge ship-based AI who uses human-like androids as remote robots. You download yourself into one of them and become… a person. Like with the best of science fiction, plays with what it means to be human. A great read, which went on to become a series, all of which are worth reading. Won the Hugo.

Richard Powers

The author of the Pulitzer-winning “Overstory” updates a science fiction classic, set only a few years away. Less science fiction and more a heartbreaking study of a unique boy, you read this for its intimate emotional context. Beautiful and moving.

Mary Robinette Kowal

Another of the outside voices who came along and changed sci fi. An alternate history where a huge comet annihilates the northeast US in the 1950s and precipitates a race to get off-planet, led by a group of smart and committed women. This Hugo and Nebula awarded winner is hard to put down.

Kim Stanley Robinson

KSR has been churning out hard science fiction for decades – and his early big hit is the first of a three-part series about the colonization of Mars. Sharp politics, hard science and engrossing detail.

John Scalzi

Laugh-out-loud funny book set in a Star Trek-like universe. Trekkie fans have always noted that the new cadets on the Enterprise always wear red shirts and are inevitably killed first in any encounter with alien nasties. This is their story and its both funnier and cleverer than you think going in. If you aren’t laughing at the end of the first chapter, put it down and check your pulse. Something might be wrong. The funniest sci fi to win the Hugo.

Dan Simmons

This Hugo and Nebula award winning classic is a completely engrossing update on Boccaccio’s Decameron: pilgrims heading toward the strange Time Tombs (which are slowly marching backwards in time) encounter the guardian Shrike. I avoided this book for decades because of the cover art (I know! Dumb!), but it turns out to be profound and memorable.

Neal Stephenson

Stephenson’s wildly entertaining ‘80s debut novel set in a corporate-run future where the lead character, Hiro Protaganist (I know, give me a break) battles to contain a strange computer virus that has jumped to people. This is where the term “metaverse” was invented, as well as the concept of the “avatar”. More fun that you can reasonably have. Stephenson has gone on to write one classic after another and always plays with great ideas, even if his books have gotten ponderously long.

Martha Wells

A security robot (“murderbot”) has a malfunction and becomes sentient and capable of choice. It is dead set on understanding its own murderous history, as long as that search doesn’t stop it from enjoying the soap operas to which it is addicted. A totally memorable – and human – lead character with a delightful ironic voice makes this long novella a pleasure to read. First in a series, all enjoyable. (The audio version is also classic.)

Ted Chiang

The only anthology here, Chiang churns out brilliant little gems that span the range of science fiction themes. He’s shaken up this format and is leaving an impression. (He wrote the story that became the hit movie “Arrival”.)

Connie Willis

Blackout and All Clear are Hugo and Nebula award winners, with time-traveling professors stuck in London during the Blitz. As much an immersive study of life during that remarkable moment as a time travel study examining whether it is possible to change the future, they carry you along. The two books are both worth reading and if you share my passion for WWII, hard to put down. They build, and then suck you in.