Rainbow Final List – 2009
Picture Books
Brannen, Sarah. Uncle Bobby's Wedding. 2008. 32p. Putnam, $15.99. (978-0-39924712-5). PreS-Gr. 2. Chloe’s concerns about her uncle’s upcoming wedding
have nothing to do with the fact that his partner is male; instead, like a typical
preschooler, she worries that she will lose her favorite uncle’s attention.
Ewert, Marcus. 10,000 Dresses. Illus. by Rex Ray. 2008. 32p. Seven Stories Press,
$14.95. (978-1583228500). PreS-Gr. 2. Bailey dreams of wearing beautiful
dresses, but her family disapproves of her understanding of her true self.
Middle/Early Young Adult
Fiction
Bauer, A.C.E. No Castles Here. October 2007. 270p. Random House, , $15.99(Trade);
$18.99 (Lib. Binding) (978-0-375-83921-4; 978-0-375-93921-1). Gr. 5-7. A
book of fairy tales, participation in a school chorus, and a gay Big Brother
combine to give 11-year-old Augie the confidence he needs to become an activist.
Woodson, Jacqueline. After Tupac & D Foster. 2008. 153p. Putnam, $15.99. (978-0399- 24654-8). Gr. 5-8. Eleven-year-old D Foster completes a trio of friends
who share a passion for the music of Tupac Shakur as they deal with
discrimination directed toward the gay brother of one of the trio.
Young Adult
Fiction
Bach, Tamara. Girl from Mars. Trans. by Shelley Tanaka. 2008. 180p. Groundwood
Books, $12.95. (978-0-88899-725-8). Gr. 7-10. At fifteen, Miriam's life in a
small German town lacks excitement and meaning until she meets Laura and
begins to discover how full her life already is.
Brothers, Meagan. Debbie Harry Sings in French. 2008. 240p. Henry Holt, $16.95.
(9780805080803/1-8050-8080-5). Gr. 8-12. Johnny is pretty sure he isn’t gay,
but he’s not quite sure what it means that he wants to be Debbie Harry--to dress
like her, have hair like hers, and to hang out with drag queens.
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Cohn, Rachel, and David Levithan. Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List. August 2007. 230p.
Knopf, $16.99 (Trade); $19.99 (Lib. Binding); $8.99(pbk.). (978-0-375-84440-9;
9780375944406; 9780375844416). Gr. 9-12. Witty, urbane Naomi, age 19,
finally comes to terms with being hopelessly in love with her gay best friend, Ely,
even after she learns he is sleeping with her boyfriend.
Dole, Mayra Lazara. Down to the Bone. 2008. 367p. HarperTeen. $16.99 (Trade); $17.89
(Lib. Binding). (978-0-06-084310-6; 978-0-06-084311-3). Gr. 8-12. After
sixteen-year-old Laura is outed at school, kicked out of her home, and rejected by
her girlfriend, she finds herself and her community in this hilarious debut novel
with an all-Latino cast.
Dunnion, Kristyn. Big Big Sky. 2008. 244p. Red Deer Press, $14.95. (978-0-88995-4045). Gr. 10-12. When a pod of five young well-trained female warrior assassins
starts falling apart, each must show her strength in the outside real world to avoid
being captured and unplugged.
Ford, Michael Thomas. Suicide Notes. 2008. 295p. HarperTeen, $16.99 (Trade);
$17.89 (Lib. Binding). (978-0-06-073755-9; 978-0-06-073756-6). (978-0-06073755-9). Gr. 9-11. After he wakes up in a psychiatric hospital, 15-year-old
Jeff describes the events that led up to his attempted suicide and how his life is
changed during his 45-day stay.
Geerling, Marjetta. Fancy White Trash. 2008. 257p. Viking, $16.99. (978-0-67001082-0). Gr. 9-11. Fifteen-year-old Abby struggles with her highly
dysfunctional family while her best friend Cody deals with the challenges of
coming out to himself and his friends.
Goldman, Steven. Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film about the Grapes of
Wrath. 2008. 272p. Bloomsbury, $16.99. (978-1-59990-271-5). Gr. 8-10.
Eleventh-grader Mitchell’s life suddenly changes when his best friend David
comes out of the closet.
Grant, Stephanie. Map of Ireland. 2008. 197p. Scribner, $22.00. (978-1-4165-5622-0/
1-4165-5622-2). Gr. 10-12. Ann's junior year is complicated by the forced
busing of Black children to her formerly all-white high school, forcing Ann to
deal with her racist environment while coping with being a lesbian in an interracial relationship.
Hardy, Mark. Nothing Pink. 2008. 109p. Front Street/Boyds Mills Press, $16.95. (9781-932425-24-6). Gr. 8-10. Tormented with thoughts about his own
homosexuality, Vincent, son of a Pentacostal preacher, fights his impulses until he
meets Robert, a church friend, who is much more accepting.
Harmon, Michael. Last Exit to Normal. 2008. 275p. Knopf, $15.99. (978-37584-982).
Gr. 9-11. Ben and his two dads move to rural Montana where Ben absolutely
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does not fit in and finds it harder to deal with having two dads than he did in their
previous urban home.
Hegamin, Tonya Cherie. M+O 4EVR. 2008. 165p. Houghton Mifflin, $16.00. (978-0618-49570-2). Gr. 7-10. After the death of Marianne, Opal’s best friend—and
more--Opal deals with her loss through the life of Hannah, a runaway slave who
died in 1842.
Juby, Susan. Another Kind of Cowboy. December 2007. 344p. HarperTeen, $16.99
(Trade); $17.89 (Lib. Binding). (978-0-06-076517-0; 9780060765187). Gr. 8-10.
Sixteen, gay, and closeted, Alex has dreamed of riding dressage since childhood,
although his father wants him to be a "real" cowboy.
Kluger, Steve. My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, & Fenway Park.
2008. 403p. Dial, $16.99. (978-0803732278). Gr. 8-10. Three high school
friends, including a fun, proud, and just about out-of-the-closet gay young man,
tell about their 'excellent' ninth-grade year.
Konigsberg, Bill. Out of the Pocket. 2008. 264p. Dutton, $16.99. (9780525479963). Gr.
9-11. Bobby’s skills as a top high-school quarterback also serve him well off the
field when he is outed in the school newspaper and deals with the consequences in
an honest and realistic way.
Levithan, David. How They Met, and Other Stories. 2008. 256p. Knopf, $16.99 (Trade);
$19.99 (Lib. Binding). (978-0375848865; 9780375948862). Gr. 9-11. Find the
answer to "what is love" in this diverse collection of short stories.
Lieberman, Leanne. Gravity. 2008. 245p. Orca, $12.95. (978-1-550469-049-7). Gr. 911. Brought up as a strict Orthodox Jew to believe that homosexuality is an
abomination, 15-year-old Ellie struggles with her sexual feelings for another girl.
McMahon, Jennifer. My Tiki Girl. 2008. 246p. Dutton, $16.99. (978-0-525-47943-7).
Gr. 9-11. After once-popular Maggie, 15, is left with an injured leg after a car
accident that kills her mother, she finds solace with Dahlia, the new girl at school,
and her unconventional family, including a mentally-ill mother.
Penny, Patricia G. Belinda’s Obsession. [Not Just Proms & Parties Series] September
2007. 134p. Lobster Press, $7.95. (978-0-897073-62-9). Gr. 7-10. After she
discovers that her mother is having an affair, Belinda’s obsession with saving her
parents’ marriage damages her growing relationship with her last summer’s fling,
Candace.
Rosen, Selina. Sword Masters. 2008. 313p. Dragon Moon Press, $19.95. (978-1896944-65-4). Gr. 9-12. Determined to avenge her father’s death, Tarius
pretends to be male and non-Katabull to study with the Sword Masters but finds
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more than she bargained for when she falls in love with the headmaster’s
daughter, Jena, who thinks that Tarius is a man.
Rud, Jeff. Crossover. 2008. 170p. Orca, $9.95. (978-1-55143-981-5). Gr. 7-10.
Sixteen-year-old Kyle gets caught in the middle between his basketball team and
drama club when he opts to join both and re-establishes an old friendship with
Luke, who is the frequent target of gay-baiting.
Ruditis, Paul. Entrances and Exits. [Drama series]. 2008. 242p. Simon Pulse, $8.99.
(978-1-4169-5906-9). Gr. 7-10. A first time director and high school junior,
Bryan has to learn to cope with a temperamental playwright, the leading actress's
jealous boyfriend, competition from a new girl on the drama scene, and his
yearnings for Drew, his ex-best friend who kissed him and then ran.
Tamaki, Mariko and Tamaki, Jillian. Skim. 2008. 140p. Groundwood Books, $15.00.
(0888997531/9780888997531). Gr. 9-12. Would-be Wiccan and goth Skim, aka
Kimberly Keiko Cameron, is revealed in this graphic novel as a sometimes target
for the popular students at her all-girls private school in Toronto, where she falls
in love with her English teacher Ms. Archer.
Wilson, Martin. What They Always Tell Us. 2008. 293p. Delacorte, $15.99.
(9780385735070). Gr. 9-11. Isolated and unsure of his place in his family and
at school after an attempted suicide Alex is encouraged to try out for crosscountry by his brother’s friend, Nathen, and discovers more than just a supportive
teammate.
Wittlinger, Ellen. Love & Lies: Marisol's Story. 2008. 256p. Simon & Schuster, $16.00.
(1416916237) (978-1416916239). Gr. 9-11. When Marisol takes a year off
between high school and college to write a novel, she falls in love with her
creative writing teacher, Olivia.
Nonfiction
Alsenas, Linas. Gay America: Struggle for Equality. 2008. 160p. Amulet/Abrams,
$24.95. (978-0-8109-9487-4). Gr. 7-12. The fascinating story of gay people
throughout America’s history is told with clear text and lots of photography.
Leleux, Robert. The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy. 2008. 272p. St. Martin’s Press,
$23.95. (978-0-312-36168-6). Gr. 10-12. Hilarious stories of a comically
dysfunctional family describe growing up gay in Texas.
Passet, Joanne. Sex Variant Woman: The Life of Jeannette Howard Foster. 2008. 448
p. Da Capo Press, $27.50. (0786718226/ 9780786718221). Gr. 10-12. Foster’s
roller-coaster life and studies defined lesbian history in the twentieth century.
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Schofield, Scott Turner. Two Truths and a Lie: A Memoir. 2008. 127p. Homofactus
Press, $15.00. (978-0-9785973-2-0). Gr. 11-12. The fluidity of gender shines in
these three performance scripts by a transgender man from the Deep South who
describes growing up in a world of debutante balls and homecoming proms.
Schrag, Ariel. Awkward and Definition. 2008. Touchstone (Simon & Schuster),
$15.00. (978-1-4165-5231-4). Gr. 10-12. Pen and ink comic drawings about
Schrag’s early high school years illuminate her funny and touching journey
toward a sexual identify amidst concerns about school, sex, drugs, and rock and
roll.
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