LGBTQIA | Lost in a Good Book

The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead

26 Apr 2023 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Junior Fiction, LGBTQIA Tags: four stars, junior fiction, lgbt, LGBTQIA, rebecca stead

Published: 7 April 2020
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Genre: Junior Fiction
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

After her parents’ divorce, Bea’s life became different in many ways. But she can always look back at the list she keeps in her green notebook to remember the things that will stay the same. The first and most important: Mom and Dad will always love Bea, and each other.

When Dad tells Bea that he and his boyfriend, Jesse, are getting married, Bea is thrilled. Bea loves Jesse, and when he and Dad get married, she’ll finally (finally!) have what she’s always wanted–a sister. Even though she’s never met Jesse’s daughter, Sonia, Bea is sure that they’ll be “just like sisters anywhere.”

As the wedding day approaches, Bea will learn that making a new family brings questions, surprises, and joy.

This is a great story that shows family is whoever you want it to be as well as understanding that the list of things that will not change may not always be for the better while sometimes the things that do change are not so bad. Through a lot of different events and time we see Bea’s past and present as she tells us about her friends, her family and how she is guided by the list her parents made her when they divorced.

It’s weird to say this is a wholesome story because there are bad things in here like bullying and homophobia, but Stead tells the story through the characters and each one is full of depth and complexity which feels real and human and I was surprised how deep this story felt.

Bea is a great character because she is complicated, flawed, loving, and her own person. I liked Bea’s passion and her enthusiasm and it was wonderful to see a kid being able to express themselves, even in bad ways, because it is a great example of how kids need to be taught about emotional control and everything is still a steep learning curve for them.

Stead does a great job balancing the story of Bea, her parents, as well as hinting at other family issues and things that happened in the past. The bookend story about her dad and corn is so well done and I thought I was going to be disappointed but Stead makes it work and most of the time you forget there is a reason you’re being told this story about love and family and growing up.

There are secrets, mysteries, and big changes all bundled together and while on the surface this looks like a simple story it’s packed full of so many things that show how messy life can be. Bea’s voice is so innocent and yet understanding it’s a fantastic read for any age.

You can purchase The List of Things That Will Not Change via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Wordery | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope by Jodie Patterson

31 Mar 2023 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, LGBTQIA, The Picture Book Corner Tags: #TransDayOfVisibility, children's picture book, four stars, jodie patterson, lgbt, LGBTQIA, trans, trans day of visibility, transgender

Published: 13 April 2021
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Reader
Illustrator: Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
Pages: 40
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

Penelope knows that he’s a boy. (And a ninja.) The problem is getting everyone else to realize it.
In this exuberant companion to Jodie Patterson’s adult memoir,

The Bold World, Patterson shares her son Penelope’s frustrations and triumphs on his journey to share himself with the world. Penelope’s experiences show children that it always makes you stronger when you are true to yourself and who you really are.

Patterson has written a great story about a young boy called Penelope who tries to tell his family that despite looking like a girl, he feels like a boy on the inside. The story is based on the true story of Patterson’s own son and is a wonderful tale of acceptance and family.

The story is a great example of how kids use their behaviour to be seen and heard by their family when they feel invisible and Patterson captures Penelope’s frustration as well as his love for his family well.

Patterson uses great language to help describe how Penelope is feeling on the inside in a way kids can understand when they have no broader context or understanding for their own feelings and don’t know the right words. This is especially important when kids as young as Penelope are being told the story, it gives them a feeling they can understand even if the experience isn’t the same.

The story shows how different cultures see gender and even some of Penelope’s own family have a different understanding of the transgender community based on their culture which is a great example of how there is no one right way to see people.

There is full support through Penelope’s story, even with a few pushbacks it’s great to show a story where everyone is accepting and there’s no fight to present how your feel on the inside. Not every story has to be a fight, and not every story has to be fraught with conflicts.

It’s a simple straightforward story that shows how easy and accepting people can be when given the chance. Penelope knows what he wants and who he is and it’s great to still see him as a child who likes to be a ninja and go to school. Becoming who he is on the inside is only part of the story but at the same time you can see his family helping setting him up for the future.

You can purchase Born Ready via the following

Booktopia | Book Depository

Wordery | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Every Heart A Doorway (#1) by Seanan McGuire

07 Mar 2023 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy, LGBTQIA, Wayward Children Tags: Audiobook, cynthia hopkins, fantasy, four stars, seanan mcguire, Wayward Children

Published: 5 April 2016 (print)/5 April 2016 (audio)
Publisher: Tor.com/Macmillan Audio
Pages: 169/4 hrs and 45 mins
Narrator: Cynthia Hopkins
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

In a premise that reminded me of Miss Peregrine initially, the story is about a girl who arrives at a boarding school for people who have travelled through portals into different worlds – lands of Nonsense, Logic, Fairy – and returned home changed and unsatisfied. Not that that’s what their families are being told.

The story captivates you from the beginning and I was drawn into this world of pretences and misleadings about Eleanor and this boarding school and what it actually did. As the story goes on you learn more about the worlds and the school, about children who have returned from their travels through doorways and how they are coping with being thrust back into their old lives whether by accident or through no choice of their own.

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and the tone McGuire has used – it’s fun and talks to the reader in conversational tones, not nonsensical or anything but matter of fact and with a mix of logic and nonsense while maintaining the seriousness. It’s hard to describe exactly but I loved it immensely.

The mystery was clever and I loved how there was surprises and shocks that come almost immediately changing any theory you may have even started to develop. Each character’s personality brings something to the story and it was hard not to marvel at McGuire’s imagination at these unique characters and their own histories and experiences.

I loved each of the characters we’re introduced to. I don’t want to spoil each of their journeys because I think discovering them is half the fun but I will say there is great representation, there is celebration of the quirky, the unusual, and while kids will always be kids, seeing a place that tries to promote and encourage unusual hobbies, to keep safe those who were cast out, and to embrace the different, was delightful.

I listened to the audiobook which was an excellent decision because it really heightened that unique writing style, and by the end of the book I was enraptured and was surprised how despite being only a short novella it was the perfect length. McGuire told a wonderfully interesting story and gave us detailed and fleshed out characters, a complicated mystery as well as introducing us to this entire new fantasy reality all while keeping it at 175 pages. It’s hard not to marvel at such a feat and I am definitely excited to explore this series and see what else McGuire has in store.

You can purchase Every Heart A Doorway via the following

Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Hazel’s Theory of Everything by Lisa Jenn Bigelow

18 Oct 2022 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Junior Fiction, LGBTQIA Tags: aroace, aromantic, asexual, asexuality, four stars, junior fiction, lesbian, lgbt, LGBTQIA, lisa jenn bigelow, trans, transgender

Published: 8th October 2019
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Genre: Junior Fiction
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

Hazel knows a lot about the world. That’s because when she’s not hanging with her best friend, taking care of her dog, or helping care for the goats on her family’s farm, she loves reading through dusty encyclopaedias.

But even Hazel doesn’t have answers for the questions awaiting her as she enters eighth grade. What if no one at her new school gets her, and she doesn’t make any friends? What’s going to happen to one of her moms, who’s pregnant again after having two miscarriages? Why does everything have to change when life was already perfectly fine?

As Hazel struggles to cope, she’ll come to realize that sometimes you have to look within yourself–instead of the pages of a book–to find the answer to life’s most important questions.

I’m so glad this was published because I’ve tried to find LGBTQIA books for younger teens or kids in the past and the choices are limited. Now we have Hazel who is questioning aromantic asexual, her friend who is trans, and some great two mums rep. There is a lot of other fantastic representation throughout this book with a diverse set of characters. On top of great LGBTQIA characters there’s proud Jewish and Latin American families as well as a mixed race couple in Hazel’s mums and a character in a wheelchair. All of these characters feel fully fleshed out, had their own stories to tell and their representation never felt token or shallow.

Hazel is a 13 year old who has had everything thrown at her at once: new school, surprise expecting parent, and her old friend making new friends without her. Bigelow captures the awkward time of being a new teen where you’re on the cusp of childhood and not quite adulthood, and emotions are heightened and things are changing around you faster than you can keep up. I loved Hazel’s voice and outlook on the world and I understood her frustrations at the world around her.

There are some brief Lenny’s Book of Everything vibes with the encyclopaedic knowledge, and I enjoyed seeing Hazel fight for the sake of knowledge and demand respect for the forgotten animals who need saving just as much as the cute ones. I also liked how science and knowledge were her passions and she was going to keep trying to learn even if it was hard and people didn’t always understand.

The brother/sister relationship between her and Rowan is great, the age gap is treated realistically but there is also a strong family bond between them and Rowan is a great older brother. I also loved the relationship Hazel had with her two mums, both offering something different for her and could give support in their own ways.

There are some content warnings for this book including suicidal thoughts and miscarriage, but Bigelow writes about them in ways that are brief or are discussed in important but dominating ways. The realities of Mimi’s failed pregnancies is a key point of the story and Hazel’s emotional stress and I think Bigelow has addressed it brilliantly, especially through Hazel’s eyes, to give it importance and make people understand the impact it can have on a family. The exploration of the emotional toll was fantastic, and Bigelow puts into words Hazel’s fears, passions, and hopes in heartbreaking ways and it captures beautifully the pains of being a teen. This is a truly beautiful book full of emotions and growth and no doubt will have a bit impact on people’s lives.

You can purchase Hazel’s Theory of Evolution via the following

Booktopia | Book Depository

Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

02 Mar 2022 Leave a comment

by Amy in 1 Star, LGBTQIA, Young Adult Tags: asexual, bisexual, claire kann, lgbt, LGBTQIA, young adult

Published: 4th June 2019
Publisher: Square Fish
Pages: 281
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult
★ – 1 Star

Alice had her whole summer planned. Nonstop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting–working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she’s asexual). Alice is done with dating–no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.

But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).

When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated–or understood.

I picked this up after the praise it got for being a good asexual book but it’s not great on a lot of other fronts. I know I am probably disliking a book based on character behaviours which are valid and not every character is perfect or likeable, but there are also structural and plot issues too.

I stopped and started a lot, there was a lot of eye rolling, and general confusion about the story. I don’t know what I thought this was going in, but it’s not what I expected.

In terms of the rest of the writing, it’s jarring – too many side comments in brackets, which obviously I do myself so I’m not faulting them, but there were a lot to the point of disruption. Plus a lot were less for commentary and more for things that either could have been explained better in narrative or were obvious and didn’t need additional clarification. I’ve seen a few comments that it might be the third person writing when it should be first which might have helped it flow a bit better, especially if Kann wants to include so many of Alice’s thoughts and opinions.

The repetition and overuse of “cute” makes Alice appear naïve almost childlike, and her dialogue is annoying in other ways as well. Whether it was because she was questioning her sexuality or lack thereof she couldn’t be mature, she needed to be regressed in some way and naïve I don’t know; even if it was unintentional that is how it came across.

I didn’t really care about any of the characters, except maybe Ryan and Feenie but they are side characters to Alice and the little bits we get are nice but only liking side characters isn’t really a wining feature of a book.

Alice is from a rich family but wants to make it on her own. Her family is overbearing and her mum uses her siblings to manipulate her into doing things she doesn’t want to do which is terrible but brings a nice complexity to the characters when there is little substance elsewhere.

Takumi is super sweet, perfect looking, and health conscious bordering on annoying if Kann hadn’t restrained herself. I took it as a character choice and judged Takumi A LOT but I accepted his unconventional behaviour. But as the story went on there were a few scenes that became so incredulous I felt Kann took Takumi’s philosophies too far in unrealistic and absurd directions. I am unreasonably including his disrespect of Winnie the Pooh in my otherwise reasonable dislike of this book.

Far from the weird asexual rep, let’s discuss the bad library rep. Alice mentions the library she works at is better than the industrial boring academic library because it has wonderful nooks and colours and feels cosy. And then not long after Head Librarian Essie and her discuss how it’s boring and nothing is happening and she hates having a boring job. Can I say, no matter what level you’re at, there is always something to do in a library. Stop perpetuating these bad myths I beg you. Yay for librarian characters that aren’t old women with glasses and cardigans but stop saying the job is boring.

My second issue is having a head librarian who seems to dismiss any form of communication that is not library related because they’ve “clocked on” (I mean having to remember to clock on and off each day even at lunch sounds nightmarish let alone the ban on normal conversations during worktime). Plus watching a staff member do storytime and be chastised for it seems unfair.

Frustrated librarian opinions aside, it’s possible a lot of this is my early dislike of this book and I kept finding fault everywhere that no one else has even noticed. I struggled to get into this book from the start and essentially skimmed the last 100 pages. It clearly wasn’t meant to be with this story which is a genuine shame. It’s been listed on so many book lists for good Ace representation it must be deemed enjoyable to those who read it and find it good representation. However, this is the eighth book I’ve read that has asexual characters in it and even those that don’t have their asexuality as a focal point portray a better asexual person than Kann has with this.

You can purchase Let’s Talk About Love via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Wordery | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust