Tag Archives: Robin Stevenson

Fave Five: Books About Pride

Twas the Night Before Pride by Joanna McLintick (text) and Juana Medina (illustration)

Small Town Pride by Phil Stamper (MG)

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan (YA)

When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson (YA)

DC Pride by by Devin Grayson, Ivan Cohen, Tini Howard, Greg Lockard, Alyssa Wong, Stephanie Phillips, Danny Lore, Stephanie Williams, Jadzia Axelrod, Dani Fernandez, Kevin Conroy, Travis Moore, Ted Brandt, Ro Stein, and Nicole Maines (Comic Anthology)

December 2021 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction

Em Liu‘s THE DEATH I GAVE HIM, a queer, locked-room sci-fi mystery pitched as inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet, to David Thomas Moore at Solaris, in a two-book deal, for publication in September 2023, by Penelope Burns at Gelfman Schneider/ICM (world).

Brianna Labuskes‘s THE LIBRARIAN OF BURNED BOOKS, pitched for fans of Kate Quinn and Julia Kelly, about three women who believe in the power of books to triumph over the very darkest moments of war, based on the true story of the Council of Books in Wartime, the World War II organization founded by booksellers, publishers, librarians, and authors to use books as “weapons in the war of ideas,” to Tessa Woodward at William Morrow, in a significant deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Abby Saul at The Lark Group (world).

Author of the forthcoming A BRUSH WITH LOVE Mazey Eddings‘s PINING, a queer holiday rom-com featuring a down-on-her-luck 20-something who wins the lottery and impulsively buys a tree farm to escape her ex, but instead of solitude she finds a grumpy woman claiming she inherited the property, causing sparks to fly as they fight for the disastrously romantic farm, to Eileen Rothschild at St. Martin’s, by Wendy Sherman Associates.

Founder of gal-dem magazine Liv Little‘s ROSEWATER, a coming-of-age story of a young, queer, Black working-class poet in south London, narrating her journey to find a place in the world and discover love where it has always been, to Caolinn Douglas at Get Lifted Books, in a nice deal, for publication in spring 2023, by Kate Hibbert at Little, Brown UK (US).

Bloomsbury Children’s editor Camille Kellogg‘s JUST AS YOU ARE, pitched as PRIDE AND PREJUDICE meets The L Word: Generation Q, an enemies-to-lovers rom-com celebrating queer friendship, identity, coming-of-age, and the unpredictable nature of love, to Katy Nishimoto at Dial Press, in a pre-empt, by Jessica Alvarez at BookEnds (world).

Cohost of the long-running Babylon Salon series Dominic Lim‘s untitled book, pitched as RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE meets Glee, draped in CRAZY RICH ASIANS, in which a nerdy piano prodigy meets his high school crush 20 years later, only now the crush is a famous action movie star and he is still a nerdy pianist; and a second untitled book, pitched as Kinky Boots meets Tootsie, to Alex Logan at Forever, in a very nice deal, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, for publication in June 2023, by Gina Panettieri at Talcott Notch Literary Services (world).

Lambda Literary Award Finalist Selby Wynn Schwartz‘s AFTER SAPPHO, a queer collective biography and poetic reimagining of intertwined circles of feminists, sapphists, writers, and artists at the turn of the 20th century as they fight for liberation and forge new identities, to Gina Iaquinta at Liveright, in a pre-empt, by Sam Jordison at Galley Beggar Press (NA).

Lambda Literary Award-winning author of WRITTEN IN THE STARS Alexandria Bellefleur’s THE FIANCEE FARCE, a queer marriage of convenience rom-com in which a shy bookstore owner claims to be dating the beautiful cover model from her favorite romance novel, but when their paths unexpectedly cross, an awkward situation becomes mutually beneficial—because her fake girlfriend is actually in need of a real wife, to Nicole Fischer at Avon, in a good deal, in a three-book deal, by Sarah Younger at Nancy Yost Literary Agency (world).

Swedish writer and critic Hanna Johansson’s ANTIQUITY, pitched as a queer contemporary LOLITA story, centered on a lonely woman whose feelings for a glamorous older artist are transferred to her 15-year-old daughter when she joins them on holiday in the Greek city of Ermoupoli, and the illicit sexual relationship that follows; a story of desire, power, lust, obsession, observation, and taboo, to Kendall Storey at Catapult, at auction, for publication in 2024, by Linda Altrov Berg at Norstedts (world English).

Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate and Lambda Emerging LGBTQ Voices Fellow Santiago Jose Sanchez’s HOMBRECITO, about a young gay man—an immigrant from Colombia to Miami—grappling with his turbulent sexual coming of age, and his fierce, complicated relationship with his mother and their homeland, to Laura Perciasepe at Riverhead, by Jin Auh at The Wylie Agency.

Children’s/Young Adult Fiction

James Sutter‘s DARKHEARTS, a debut contemporary romance pitched as appealing to readers of MORE HAPPY THAN NOT and THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, in which an ordinary Seattle high schooler, having dropped out of a band that then went on to become the hottest teen pop act in America, is thrown back into contact with his former bandmate after the other bandmate dies by suicide, and the newly connected boys soon trade their frenemy status for a confusing, tentative romance, to Sara Goodman at Wednesday Books, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring/summer 2023, by Josh Adams at Adams Literary (NA).

Gen Z essayist and feminist advocate Malavika Kannan’s ALL THE YELLOW SUNS, pitched for fans of ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE, telling the story of a 16-year-old Indian American artist living in a conservative Florida suburb who falls for her white, wealthy, complicated female classmate, when she is asked to join a secret society of vandals and mischief-makers who fight for justice at their school, to Samantha Gentry at Little, Brown Children’s, in a pre-empt, for publication in summer 2023, by Stephanie Kip Rostan at Levine Greenberg Rostan (world). Rights: Janelle DeLuise

Stonewall Honor-winning author Melanie Gillman‘s OTHER EVER AFTERS, asking what if the monsters, mermaids, and witchy old women in fairy tales all found the happily ever afters they deserve?, to Gina Gagliano at Random House Graphic, for publication in fall 2022, by Jen Linnan at Linnan Literary Management (world).

Erica Hollis’s debut HEARTS FORGED IN DRAGON FIRE, a f/f high fantasy, in which a lesbian teen who can speak to dragons must get rid of the dragon that’s terrorizing her missing mother’s hometown, but falls for the girl who’s mysteriously sabotaging her mission, to Jen Bouvier at Entangled Teen, for publication in fall 2022 (world).

Non-Fiction

Author of REFUSE and Cave Canem poetry fellow Julian Randall‘s THE DEAD DON’T NEED REMINDING, an essay collection that intertwines pop culture, from BoJack Horseman and T-Pain to the Dallas Cowboys, with the author’s struggle with depression and the search for his great-grandfather’s grave in small-town Mississippi, to tell a story of Black queer life and what it takes to come back from the edge, to Hillary Brenhouse at Bold Type Books, by Abigail Donoghue and Patrice Caldwell at New Leaf Literary & Media (world).

UC Berkeley professor, author of GENDER TROUBLE, and pioneering scholar of queer theory Judith Butler‘s WHO’S AFRAID OF GENDER?, a defense of the study of gender that spans philosophy, history, law, and reportage to analyze the social fantasy of “gender” as a destructive force that has incited new forms of fascism across the world, and argues that to oppose these reactionary tides, we must to come to a radically new understanding and affirmation of gendered lives in their complexity and diversity, to Eric Chinski and Jackson Howard at Farrar, Straus, by Sarah Chalfant at The Wylie Agency (NA).

Stonewall Honoree Robin Stevenson‘s QUEER HISTORY A–Z, covering key people, places, and events that have shaped queer history in North America over the past century, with a focus on the theme of activism, illustrated by Vivian Rosas, to Katie Scott at Kids Can Press, for publication in spring 2024, by Maria Vicente at P.S. Literary Agency for the author (world).

Editor in chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful‘s A VISIBLE MAN, a memoir of the author’s journey through one of the world’s most exclusive industries, and how as a Black, gay, working-class refugee, he found in fashion not only a home, but the freedom to share with people the world as he saw it, to Christopher Richards at Penguin Press, at auction, for publication in September 2022, by Albert Lee and Meredith Miller at UTA (NA).

Author and historian of medicine Brandy Schillace’s THE INTERMEDIARIES: HOW PIONEERS OF SEXOLOGY BUILT THE FIRST TRANS CLINIC IN THE SHADOW OF THE THIRD REICH, chronicling the stories of the pioneers who founded The Institute for Sexual Science in interwar Berlin, a base of operations for the first LGBTQ rights movement of the 20th century as well as women’s rights, sex education and birth control, offering a history as well as a cautionary tale in the face of today’s oppressive anti-trans legislation, to Jill Bialosky at Norton, at auction, by Jessica Papin at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret (world).

Editor-in-chief of frieze magazine and author of the novels SKYLAND and MACARTHUR PARK Andrew Durbin‘s SPEED OF LIFE, an exploration of three foundational, transgressive, and intimately connected gay artists—Paul Thek, Peter Hujar, and David Wojnarowicz—who defined New York’s storied downtown scene and later the international art world, and who ultimately changed contemporary art forever; a book about friendship and death, queerness and community, and the complicated meanings of “legacy,” to Jackson Howard at Farrar, Straus, in an exclusive submission, by Anna Stein at ICM (NA).

New Pride Month Picture Books!

It has been an absolutely fabulous season for picture books that embody Pride, so whether you’ve got a little one to shop for, a library to fill, or you just love beautiful words and artwork, check out these new picture books!

Prince & Knight: Tale of the Shadow King
Text: Daniel Haack
Illustration: Stevie Lewis
Out now from GLAAD and Little Bee Books

Have you heard the thrilling tale
of the prince and his dear knight?
Their love for one another
inspired everyone in sight.

Our brave and dashing heroes, the prince and the knight, are happily married and their kingdom is prospering, but soon, a fog of darkness that blocks the sun spreads across their land. They get word that the cause of this is a dark and mysterious Shadow King, and they rush off to find and stop him, but encounter many obstacles along the way. Will they be able to restore the light to their kingdom?

Buy It: Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound

Grandad’s Camper
Text and Illustration by Harry Woodgate
Out now from Little Bee Books

Gramps and Grandad were adventurers. They would surf, climb mountains, and tour the country in their amazing camper. Gramps just made everything extra special. But after Gramps died, granddad hasn’t felt like traveling anymore. So, their amazing granddaughter comes up with a clever plan to fix up the old camper and get Grandad excited to explore again.

This beautiful picture book honors love and reminds us not only to remember those we have lost, but to celebrate them.

Buy It: Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound

The Pirate Mums
Text: Jodie Lancet-Grant
Illustration: Lydia Corry
Out Now from Oxford University Press

Billy’s family is not what you’d call ordinary. His mums won’t listen to NORMAL music. They love to sing sea shanties and dance jigs in the lounge. Their clothes are highly unusual, they have a rude parrot for a pet, and their taste in house design is, well . . . FISHY. Billy wishes his family could be more like everyone else’s. Until a swashbuckling adventure changes everything!

Buy It: Blackwell’s | Book Depository

Two Grooms on a Cake
Text: Rob Sanders
Illustration: Robbie Cathro
Out now from GLAAD and Little Bee Books

This is the story of Jack Baker and Michael McConnell and their inspiring story becoming the first married gay couple in the US fifty years ago.

Long before marriage equality was the law of the land, two grooms stood on a wedding cake with their feet firmly planted in fluffy white frosting. That cake belonged to Jack Baker and Michael McConnell, who were wed on September 3, 1971, becoming the first same-sex couple in America to be legally married. Their struggle to obtain a marriage license in Minnesota and their subsequent appeals to the Minnesota Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States is an under-told story of LGBT history. This beautiful book celebrates the love story of two pioneers of marriage equality for all through the baking of their wedding cake!

Buy It: Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound

Pride Puppy
Text: Robin Stevenson
Illustration: Julie McLaughlin
Out now from Orca Book Publishers

A young child and their family are having a wonderful time together celebrating Pride Day–meeting up with Grandma, making new friends and eating ice cream. But then something terrible happens: their dog gets lost in the parade! Luckily, there are lots of people around to help reunite the pup with his family.

This rhyming alphabet book tells a lively story, with rich, colorful illustrations that will have readers poring over every detail as they spot items starting with each of the letters of the alphabet. An affirming and inclusive book that offers a joyful glimpse of a Pride parade and the vibrant community that celebrates this day each year.

Buy It: Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound

Daddy & Dada
Text: Ryan Brockington and Isaac Webster
Illustration: Lauren May
Out now from Little Brown

Hi, I’m Rumi.
Some of my friends have one mom and one dad.
Some have one mom or one dad.
I have two dads. Daddy and Dada.

Daddy sings songs with me. Dada reads me stories.
Every family is different.
And that’s pretty cool.

This sweet, open-hearted book began as a love letter from authors Ryan Brockington and Isaac Webster to their daughter—and became a joyous celebration of love, family, and acceptance for all to read and share.

Buy It: Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound

What Are Your Words?: A Book About Pronouns
Text: Katherine Locke
Illustration: Anne Passchier
Out now from Little Brown

Whenever Ari’s Uncle Lior comes to visit, they ask Ari one question: “What are your words?” Some days Ari uses she/her. Other days Ari uses he/him. But on the day of the neighborhood’s big summer bash, Ari doesn’t know what words to use. On the way to the party, Ari and Lior meet lots of neighbors and learn the words each of them use to describe themselves, including pronouns like she/her, he/him, they/them, ey/em, and ze/zir. As Ari tries on different pronouns, they discover that it’s okay to not know your words right away–sometimes you have to wait for your words to find you.

Filled with bright, graphic illustrations, this simple and poignant story about finding yourself is the perfect introduction to gender-inclusive pronouns for readers of all ages.

Buy It: Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound

Llama Glamarama
Text: Simon James Green
Illustration: Garry Parsons
Out now from Orchard Books

Larry lives a slow and quiet life at the barn with all the other llamas, just the way they like it. But at night when everyone has gone to bed, Larry loves to dress up in bright costumes and DANCE! He has to hide this from the others, for fear that they won’t approve of his raucous ways. One day, he stumbles upon the Llama Glamarama, a carnival full of music, laughter, and yes-dancing!

Will this vibrant celebration give Larry the pride he needs to bring his dance back home? A bright and colorful rhyming story with a powerful message about celebrating differences, Llama Glamarama is the perfect Pride picture book for everyone!

Buy It: Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound

My Two Dads and Me
Text: Michael Joosten
Illustration: Izak Zenou
Out now from Random House Children’s Books

Families with same-sex parents are celebrated in this board book that follows busy dads and their kids throughout their day–eating breakfast, getting dressed, heading out to the park, and settling back in at night with a bubble bath and a good-night lullaby. LGBTQ+ parents and their friends and families will welcome this diverse and cheerful book that reflects their own lives and family makeup. It’s an ideal baby-shower and first-birthday gift in a children’s book market where gay parents are still greatly underrepresented.

With artwork by acclaimed and much-followed fashion illustrator Izak Zenou, this is a stylish, smart, humorous, family-focused book that will have babies and their two dads giggling as they enjoy it together.

Buy It: Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound

Small Knight and the Anxiety Monster
Text and Illustration: Manka Kasha
coming August 10th from Feiwel & Friends

The worry kept growing day by day, until… one morning Small Knight woke up to see a huge inky black monster in their room.

When Small Knight feels pressure from their parents to be a perfect princess, an anxiety monster shows up. No one else can see the monster, so Small Knight and their best friend Tiny Bear, decide that it is up to them to save themselves. They set off on a magical quest, only to discover that the answer was inside themselves all along. Turning to face the Anxiety Monster, they learn how to keep it under control.

Personal and whimsical, Manka Kasha’s debut picture book is a beautiful story about understanding your anxiety and finding the courage to face it.

Buy It: Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound

 

 

New Releases: May 4, 2021

Adult

Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace

Like everyone else she knows, Mallory is an orphan of the corporate war. As a child, she lost her parents, her home, and her entire building in an airstrike. As an adult, she lives in a cramped hotel room with eight other people, all of them working multiple jobs to try to afford water and make ends meet. And the job she’s best at is streaming a popular VR war game. The best part of the game isn’t killing enemy combatants, though—it’s catching in-game glimpses of SpecOps operatives, celebrity supersoldiers grown and owned by Stellaxis, the corporation that runs the America she lives in.

Until a chance encounter with a SpecOps operative in the game leads Mal to a horrifying discovery: the real-life operatives weren’t created by Stellaxis. They were kids, just like her, who lost everything in the war, and were stolen and augmented and tortured into becoming supersoldiers. The world worships them, but the world believes a lie.

The company controls every part of their lives, and defying them puts everything at risk—her water ration, her livelihood, her connectivity, her friends, her life—but she can’t just sit on the knowledge. She has to do something—even if doing something will bring the wrath of the most powerful company in the world down upon her.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Vern—seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised—flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world.

But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.

To understand her metamorphosis and to protect her small family, Vern has to face the past, and more troublingly, the future—outside the woods. Finding the truth will mean uncovering the secrets of the compound she fled but also the violent history in America that produced it.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

Young Adult

When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson

As kids, Mark and his cousin Talia spent many happy summers together at the family cottage in Ontario, but a fight between their parents put an end to the annual event. Living on opposite coasts—Mark in Halifax and Talia in Victoria—they haven’t seen each other in years. When their grandfather dies unexpectedly, Mark and Talia find themselves reunited at the cottage once again, cleaning it out while the family decides what to do with it.

Mark and Talia are both queer, but they soon realize that’s about all they have in common, other than the fact that they’d both prefer to be in Toronto. Talia is desperate to see her high school sweetheart Erin, who’s barely been in touch since leaving to spend the summer working at a coffee shop in the Gay Village. Mark, on the other hand, is just looking for some fun, and Toronto Pride seems like the perfect place to find it.

When a series of complications throws everything up in the air, Mark and Talia—with Mark’s little sister Paige in tow—decide to hit the road for Toronto. With a bit of luck, and some help from a series of unexpected new friends, they might just make it to the big city and find what they’re looking for. That is, if they can figure out how to start seeing things through each other’s eyes.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe.

When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

All Kinds of Other by James Sie

Two boys are starting at a new school.

Jules is just figuring out what it means to be gay and hasn’t totally decided whether he wants to be out at his new school. His parents and friends have all kinds of opinions, but for his part, Jules just wants to make the basketball team and keep his head down.

Jack is trying to start over after a best friend break-up. He followed his actor father clear across the country to LA, but he’s also totally ready to leave his past behind. Maybe this new school where no one knows him is exactly what he needs.

When the two boys meet, the sparks are undeniable. But then a video surfaces linking Jack to a pair of popular transgender vloggers, and the revelations about Jack’s past thrust both Jack and Jules into the spotlight they’ve been trying to avoid. Suddenly both boys have a choice to make—between lying low where it’s easier or following their hearts.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

Indivisible by Daniel Aleman (4th)

There is a word Mateo Garcia and his younger sister Sophie have been taught to fear for as long as they can remember: deportation. Over the past few years, however, the fear that their undocumented immigrant parents could be sent back to Mexico has started to fade to the back of their minds. And why wouldn’t it, when their Ma and Pa have been in the United States for so long, they have American-born children, and they’re hard workers and good neighbors?

When two ICE agents come asking for Pa, the Garcia family realizes that the lives they’ve built are about to come crumbling down. And when Mateo returns from school one day to find that his parents have been taken, he must come to terms with the fact that his family’s worst nightmare has become a reality. With his parents’ fate and his own future hanging in the balance, Mateo must figure out who he is and what he is capable of, even as he’s forced to question what it means to be an American teenager in a country that rejects his own mom and dad.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

Any Place But Here by Sarah Van Name (4th)

Seventeen-year-old June is completely wrapped up in her best friend Jess. The two are inseparable and June feels so lucky that they found each other. Even if everyone else around her thinks Jess is a bad influence. Even if June is starting to question if she likes Jess as more than just a friend.

But after June is expelled from school at the end of her first semester of junior year, she’s forced to move to Virginia, to live with her grandmother and attend an all-girls boarding school. She’ll be miles away from her home, from her family, and from Jess.

June is miserable at first and counts down the days until she can come back home for the summer. But when she befriends two new girls and meets a boy named Sam, who she is instantly drawn to, life in Virginia starts to feel more real. Except Jess is always on her mind, and she can’t deny her feelings anymore, even as Jess starts to pull away from her.

June can’t let Jess go–but she needs to figure out how to move forward, and how to find the place she really belongs.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

Authors in Conversation: When You Get the Chance Coauthors Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson

Today on the site, I’m excited to have both brains behind the exciting upcoming Toronto Pride-centric YA, When You Get the Chance, coming May 4th from Running Press! Here’s a little more about the book:

As kids, Mark and his cousin Talia spent many happy summers together at the family cottage in Ontario, but a fight between their parents put an end to the annual event. Living on opposite coasts—Mark in Halifax and Talia in Victoria—they haven’t seen each other in years. When their grandfather dies unexpectedly, Mark and Talia find themselves reunited at the cottage once again, cleaning it out while the family decides what to do with it.

Mark and Talia are both queer, but they soon realize that’s about all they have in common, other than the fact that they’d both prefer to be in Toronto. Talia is desperate to see her high school sweetheart Erin, who’s barely been in touch since leaving to spend the summer working at a coffee shop in the Gay Village. Mark, on the other hand, is just looking for some fun, and Toronto Pride seems like the perfect place to find it.

When a series of complications throws everything up in the air, Mark and Talia—with Mark’s little sister Paige in tow—decide to hit the road for Toronto. With a bit of luck, and some help from a series of unexpected new friends, they might just make it to the big city and find what they’re looking for. That is, if they can figure out how to start seeing things through each other’s eyes.

Preorder: Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound

And here are Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson!

Tom: It’s been almost five years since I woke up to a text from you that said something like “hey Tom, I just had an idea: we should write a big queer Canadian YA novel together!” Obviously I was totally into it, and before long we were brainstorming and sending chapters back and forth. Do you remember what prompted you to reach out in the first place?

Robin: I missed you! You had moved two thousand miles away, and I missed hanging out and talking about writing. Plus I’d just written a non-fiction book about Pride, so I was out in schools and talking with young people, and realizing just how much queer kids and teens wanted to see their lives reflected in the books they were reading. It was really impulsive though- like I had the idea and sent the text about three seconds later!

Tom: One of the things I love most about When You Get the Chance is that the premise of the story grew from the situation we were in when we wrote it. I was on the east coast, you were on the west coast, and we both wished we could meet up somewhere in the middle to hang out. It was basically a no-brainer to echo that in the plot, bringing cousins Talia (your character, from B.C.) and Mark (my character, from Nova Scotia) together for a family funeral in Toronto. Once we had that framework established, I really felt like the rest of the story came together quite naturally – did you feel the same way?

Robin: Yeah, very much so. I think part of that came from the fact that we both think and care deeply about some of the same things: family, friendship, queer community and history, connections and sharing of ideas between older and younger people, the way our communities and language and identities continue to evolve. Once the characters came to life and the story started taking shape, it became clear that those themes were all woven into the book. I know we both have had opportunities to meet with lots of LGBTQ+ youth because of our previous books… Do you feel like those experiences and conversations influenced this story?

Tom: Absolutely. Like you, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to speak with LGBTQ+ youth groups, GSA’s, etc… and one of the things that I’ve been most struck by is how queer and gender non-conforming teens are able to hang out together in big groups, which would have been completely unimaginable when I was in high school. There’s a long – and proud! – tradition of coming out narratives in LGBTQ+ YA, and I will dig in my heels to defend those stories, because they’re really important, but the reality is that more and more they don’t reflect queer teens’ broader experiences. I will never forget visiting a large group of queer teens in Vancouver during Canadian Children’s Book Week, and during the Q&A one teen made a comment about how much they wanted to see more books that show lots of queer kids hanging out together, because that reflected their reality a lot more than a solitary queer teen in a world full of straight people. I described WYGTC and explained that it was on sub, and hopefully someone would pick it up. The group was so excited about it, and in the cab on my way back to my hotel, Eric called to say we had an offer! That was a definite high point in my career.

Robin: I remember that! I was actually at a cabin in the woods when I got the call…in the middle of a week of school visits as part of a book festival. In fact, the way we celebrated the news over the phone, from different parts of the country, fit right in with the way we wrote the book. And now, because of the pandemic, that will also be the way we’re launching it. We had originally hoped to be at Pride events together, in person, this summer- but it seems like those will have to be virtual events. Still, while parades can be canceled, pride itself cannot! Since Pride is a big part of our book, do you want to share something about your experiences at Pride?

Tom: I’ve lived in several different cities across Canada, which means I’ve been lucky enough to experience a bunch of different iterations of Pride. Each of them has developed its own traditions over time, but some aspects of Pride are universal, like the way the culture of a city or town transforms for just a short while into something much more vibrant and queer. At its heart, Pride is about community, and getting caught up in the energy created by so many people who are joyfully celebrating the right to be their truest selves is magical, every single time. What about you, Robin? Any particular Pride moments stand out?

Robin: I’ve been to Pride events in lots of different places too- from the Chicago Dyke March to the small and super friendly Pride celebrations on Salt Spring Island. Toronto Pride will always be special to me, because that is where my very first Pride events were, when I was still in my teens. And of course, I love going to Pride here in Victoria, with my family and community. My kid was just a month old at his first Pride march!  In the last few years, I have been really lucky to celebrate with people who are attending their first Pride events, and that has brought me a whole new appreciation for how beautiful and brave and necessary it is. And of course, I love some of the other Pride events in my town as well- especially the Big Gay Dog Walk, which is exactly what it sounds like- lots of queer people meeting up to walk our dogs together!

Tom: I’ve really enjoyed doing this interview, because it played out exactly the same way the book did! I kicked it off and sent it over to you, and we went back and forth until we reached a natural end. On that note, I’m going to pass it back to you for the final word, but first I want to say that everything about this process has been a total pleasure. I value your friendship so much, and getting an opportunity to share this experience together has been a total treat! I can’t wait until we can finally meet again in person – at a Pride event obviously – and share a long overdue hug to celebrate WYGTC!

Robin: Oh, I CANNOT WAIT to celebrate this book with you in person! You are absolutely one of my favorite people and while I wish we lived closer, I am so grateful that we haven’t let the distance come between us. And I was thinking the same thing about this interview—it’s been so much like writing the book together! Condensed and sped up, and with less plot twists– but really fun! I’d write something with you anytime. Just saying…

When You Get the Chance releases May 4th, 2021 from Running Press Kids!

Fave Five: Coauthored Novels

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Once & Future by A.R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy

What if it’s Us? by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

Miss Meteor by Anna-Marie McLemore and Tehlor Key Mejia

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan

Bonus: Coming in 2021, If This Gets Out by Cale Dietrich and Sophie Gonzales and When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson!

 

Fave Five: Collaborative YA Novels

You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green

What if it’s Us? by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

I Hate Everyone But You by Gaby Dunn and Alison Raskin

Bonus: Coming in 2019, Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy and Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst and Paula Garner

Double Bonus: Coming in 2020, Meet Me Halfway by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson

Better Know an Author: Robin Stevenson

Today on the site I’m psyched to have the incredibly prolific and wonderful Robin Stevenson! As it happens, I wasn’t the only one with the idea to shine a light on her this time of year; right after I asked Robin if I could interview her for August, a great interview with her went up on Gay YA, so make sure you check that out too! 

You’re such an impressively prolific author, with over 20 books to your name now. How long have you been writing, and can you give us a little rundown on your books with LGBTQ narrators?

I started writing on maternity leave, soon after my son was born— which was thirteen years ago. My first book came out a couple of years later, in 2007. It began as a short story that grew and grew, and ended up as a YA novel called Out of Order. The main character, Sophie, is a sixteen year old girl who dealing with a history of being bullied, struggling with an undiagnosed eating disorder, and caught up in the orbit of a charismatic but troubled new friend. She is bisexual but not yet using this word… she is just beginning to realize she is attracted to girls.

26586455My novel Big Guy came out the next year, and also has a queer narrator—-this time a teenage boy who is in an online relationship with another guy. It was my first hi-lo novel in the Orca Soundings series. (My most recent book in the series came out in 2016, and also has a queer narrator: It’s called Under Threat, and deals with anti-abortion violence. I wanted to write an unambiguously pro-choice novel that shows the cost of anti-abortion fanaticism. The main character, Franny, has a girlfriend called Leah and they are together throughout the novel—the book was an ALA Rainbow list selection.)

In 2009, my YA novel Inferno came out— this one was also an ALA Rainbow list selection, which I was delighted about. The narrator is a queer teenage girl who has recently broken up with a girl with whom she was in a very closeted relationship. When the book begins, she has just cut off all her hair and changed her name from Emily to Dante, and she is about to meet a new group of friends who are going to complicate her life in interesting and challenging ways. Dante seemed to provoke strong reactions; readers either adored her and really related to her, or disliked her intensely! Personally, I adore her.

My newest book also has a queer narrator: It is a mystery/thriller called Blood on the Beach. I co-wrote it with Sarah N. Harvey, who is a senior editor at Orca, and was in fact my editor for a number of my novels and my non-fiction book Pride. Blood on the Beach is told in the alternating voices of two first person narrators: Sarah wrote from Caleb’s point of view, and I wrote from the point of view of Alice, who is bisexual.

Your most recent book, Pride, has received all sorts of award nominations, including a 2017 Stonewall Honor. What was the research experience for that book like?

26586443Pride was my first non-fiction book, and the research and writing process was entirely new to me—so different from fiction. I read a lot, and watched documentaries, and sifted through archival photographs, but I also spoke with so many people about their experiences of Pride. And from activists in Russia and Uganda to 12 year old kids here on the west coast, everyone was so helpful and interested and enthusiastic. People shared their opinions and stories and personal photographs, and read drafts, and gave feedback. It felt like a very collaborative process and one that strengthened my own sense of connection to the LGBTQ community.

Do you have your own personal favorite Pride memory?

I’ve been going to Pride for 30 years so I have accumulated a lot of really great memories; I can’t pick just one! Here are a few that stand out: Going to my first-ever Dyke March with friends in Toronto, back in 1991. Seeing my parents walking in the Pride Parade with PFLAG a few years later. Taking my son to his first Pride when he was only a month old. Speaking about the history of Pride to teens at youth-organized events. Reading at Pride in the Word, which is my favorite literary Pride event ever. And this year, taking my spaniel puppy to Pride Victoria’s Big Gay Dog Walk!

You do the very cool work of writing Hi-Lo books for Orca, which, for those unfamiliar, are “high interest, low reading level” books. How did you specifically get into Hi-Lo, and how does the writing process differ for you from your other books?

2697919I got into it entirely by accident. I’d written a short story for adults, which got way too long—novella length, really, around 15,000 words. It was about a gay teenager who lied his way into a job working as a caregiver in a residence for adults with disabilities, and I had no idea what to do with it. I’d just published by first YA novel with Orca, and I knew they had this series called Soundings that were about that length…and so I thought I’d tweak it a bit and try submitting it for that series. That story became my first hi-lo novel, Big Guy. I have written five books in that series now—they are fun to write, and they are a great writing exercise for me: because the word count is so tight, they force me to consider every word to make sure it is absolutely necessary and to work hard to make each scene serve multiple purposes (eg. developing character, building tension, furthering the plot). My writing process is a bit different for hi-lo…I’m not usually much of an outliner, but– with the exception of that first accidental hi-lo novel, of course– I outline all my hi-lo novels in a fair bit of detail before I begin.

I think hi-lo books reach a lot of kids, for a lot of reasons, and some of my favorite reader emails have come from kids who have read these books. They meet a real need, helping kids to gain confidence and to see themselves as readers—plus they are just fun, quick reads. I also edited hi-lo books for Orca for three years: the Limelights series, which are books about teens in the performing arts. It was very enjoyable work and I learned about everything from stand-up comedy to aerial silks!

I saw on Twitter you’re working on a book now about reproductive justice. Is that your next publication, and what can you tell us about that?

Yes! I am so excited about this. It’s scheduled to be published in spring 2019, in Canada and the US, and it’s aimed at older kids and teens. To be honest, after Pride came out, I wasn’t planning to write another non-fiction book—but the ongoing attack on abortion rights and access in the US is so disturbing, and the current threats to reproductive choice under the current administration are so serious, and there is so much propaganda and misinformation being taught to young people about abortion. And even in Canada, where the landscape with respect to abortion looks quite different than in the US, most kids have no idea of the long battle that was fought to legalize abortion and make it accessible. It seemed like such an important topic for kids to be aware of, and yet there aren’t a lot of kids’ books on the subject. So I proposed this book idea to Orca, and—being awesome—they agreed!

You’re a Canadian author, and I think we in the U.S. often miss a lot of the great titles that come out of Canada, the UK, and Australia that aren’t published here. What are some titles that haven’t crossed the border that you think should be getting way more attention on this side?

One Canadian book that I recently read and was very impressed by was a debut novel by a young author, Arushi Raina. It is called When Morning Comes and it is published by Tradewind Books. The story is set in South Africa and follows the lives of four young people during the student uprisings of 1976; it is well-researched, beautifully written, and very powerful. It was published in Canada in 2016 and has just been published in the US this year—I highly recommend it.

In terms of LGBTQ books more specifically, some Canadian authors whose books I love include Carrie Mac, Ivan Coyote, Tom Ryan, Mariko Tamaki, and M.E. Girard. And author Heather Smith has a new YA novel coming out this spring which includes queer characters… I just read an ARC and absolutely fell in love with it. It is called The Agony of Bun O’Keefe, and I’m very much hoping it will get all the attention it deserves on both sides of the border.

In your interview with Gay YA, you talked about writing the complexities of queer theory to a younger (Middle Grade) audience, and reminding yourself “this isn’t a university text.” What are your favorite texts on it for older audiences, and could you ever see yourself writing one that is a university text?

I love reading about queer history, and have devoured just about everything that’s crossed my path. When it comes to writing, though, my first love is fiction—and I am really looking forward to getting back to working on my middle grade novel, to a YA novel I am co-writing with a friend, and possibly also working on some short fiction for grown-up readers. No university texts in my plans!

According to your bio, you are quite well-traveled! Does that play into any of your books now, and will we see it playing into any in the future?

My partner Cheryl and I have been together 20 years, and we’ve travelled a lot together. One of the most amazing trips we have taken was the year that we spent living aboard a small sailboat and travelling from Lake Ontario, through the barge canals to New York, then down the waterways and offshore to Florida and the Bahamas. Ten years after our journey, I read over all our logbooks and used my memories of the winter we spent sailing in the Bahamas as the basis for my YA novel, A Thousand Shades of Blue. The characters and their story (and all the angst) is fictional, but the route they travel and all of the places they stay are entirely real—as is much of the scene where their boat runs aground on the rocks near Joe Sound on Long Island. It’s probably my favorite of my YA novels because it is so closely connected to so many wonderful memories for me and Cheryl.

I am working on a teen novel now that is mostly set in Australia, a country where I lived for a year as a teen and another year as a young adult– I actually came out as queer while I was living in Australia, aged 21. But most of my novels are set in BC, as this is the place I know and love best.

Please drop your thanks to Robin for dropping by, and make sure you check out
her books!

SushiRiceStudios-1socialmedia-300x300Robin Stevenson is the author of twenty books for kids and teens. Her novels include The World Without Us and The Summer We Saved the Bees, as well as the Silver Birch Award-winner Record Breaker, and the Governor General’s Award finalist, A Thousand Shades of Blue. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia. For more information, visit http://www.robinstevenson.com.

Fave Five: YAs in Which the Lesbian MC is Already Out

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

Under Threat by Robin Stevenson

Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan

Winning by Lara Deloza

Bonus: Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown and Without Annette by Jane B. Mason both feature lesbian MCs who are out but then have to go back in for their new schools

Rainbow heart