Federal bill equates trans identity with sexually explicit material

One of the core tenets that I embrace as a librarian serving young people is that readers need stories about people who are both like and who are unlike them. A diverse library collection should ideally encompass many facets: including race, sex, gender identity, differing abilities, who a person is attracted to, and more.

Marley’s Pride (Complete read-aloud for National Day of Reading)

To commemorate the National Day of Reading on Feb. 27, 2026, here is a complete reading of Marley’s Pride by Joëlle Retener with illustrations by DeAnn Wiley. I am reading this book with permission by the publisher, Barefoot Books. Marley is going to their first Pride parade with their grandparent, Zaza, who is being honored for their work supporting the transgender community. Marley has sensory sensitivities and is worried about the noise and large crowds, but wants to go in order to support Zaza.
https://youtu.be/WQyhCqdpAJY

International Non-Binary People’s Day (Reading from Jamie, by L.D. Lapinski)

To commemorate International Non-Binary People’s Day — celebrated each year on July 14 — here is a reading from Jamie by L.D. Lapinski. Jamie Rambeau loves hanging out with their two best friends, Daisy and Ash. But when the trio find out that their local middle schools separate students into a school for boys and a school for girls, their friendship suddenly seems at risk. Where does Jamie, a non-binary student, fit in? Whichever of their friends Jamie chooses to go to school with, the other will have to navigate a new middle school on their own.
https://youtu.be/ysMNkOxQSEk

Authors and librarians are NOT groomers

Amid ever-increasing incidents of book challenges, I’m worried by inflammatory rhetoric that portrays librarians and authors as “groomers” of young people. Speaking as someone who survived an attempt at grooming, I consider this characterization to be vile and obscene.
https://youtu.be/SPMmEs7KdGM

Book haul : Open Books donation to SRCS libraries

Santa Rosa City Schools recently accepted a donation of books from an organization called Open Books: 12 books apiece to each of 10 elementary-school libraries for a total donation of 120 books. Among highlights this week in SRCSA library, I unboxed my site’s new arrivals.
https://youtu.be/BTaCegGw_Eg

Asexuality Visibility Day (Reading from Rick, by Alex Gino)

To commemorate Asexuality Visibility Day — celebrated each year on April 6 — here is a reading from Rick by Alex Gino.

Rick’s never questioned much. He’s gone along with his best friend, Jeff, even when Jeff’s acted like a bully and a jerk. He’s let his father joke with him about which hot girls he might want to date even though that kind of talk always makes him uncomfortable. And he hasn’t given his own identity much thought, because everyone else around him seemed to have figured it out.

But now Rick’s gotten to middle school, and new doors are opening. One of them leads to the school’s Rainbow Spectrum club, where kids of many genders and identities congregate, including Melissa, the girl who sits in front of Rick in class and seems to have her life together. Rick wants his own life to be that . . . understood. Even if it means breaking some old friendships and making some new ones.
https://youtu.be/Idb2BCzSZpI

Neuroqueer Heresies: Critiquing ‘tame autistics’

As an autistic and queer student and an acting librarian for young people, I’m interested in how autistic people are portrayed in children’s and Young Adult literature.

I’m especially interested in the idea of an “Autistic Book Club” that would engage with ways that autistic people are portrayed and the implications that they present for autistic people’s lived experiences. So I was intrigued by a statement by Nick Walker, author of Neuroqueer Heresies, regarding the curriculum for a course on autism.

As part of the “guiding principles” for creating such a course, Walker stated that “At least 80% of the assigned readings should be by autistic authors” (p. 546). Walker went on to add, however, that works by “tame autistics” couldn’t count toward this percentage.

Book-Talk : Homebody, by Theo Parish

This is a graphic memoir of how the author, Theo Parish, came to understand and to comfortably inhabit their nonbinary identity. I really enjoyed this memoir, and I felt grateful for the representation and the visibility it provided me.
https://youtu.be/1OfOFrVTpgA

Book-Talk : Ollie in Between, by Jess Callans

Being nonbinary, I found so many things to appreciate about Ollie in Between, which concerns a nonbinary 13-year-old navigating gender expectations. And as I read, I wondered if the protagonist might also be autistic. Ollie in Between will be published by Feiwel & Friends and April 2025.
https://youtu.be/0YUsvsDspAs

Homebody by Theo Parish (free-writing prompt)

Over the summer I’ve been helping out in a high-school English classroom. Each morning, the teacher assigns her students to work from a writing prompt and I decided to tackle those prompts myself. We had a free-writing prompt for Friday, July 12, so I wrote about a graphic memoir that I had read recently, Homebody by Theo Parish.

Homebody, by Theo Parish

I adored this graphic memoir about a nonbinary person coming into their identity. Like the author, Theo Parish, I had to navigate arbitrary rules of gender, all while feeling like these expectations were inauthentic to me. 

Books like this offer much-needed representation for nonbinary individuals. At whatever age, we need to be able to find ourselves reflected in stories.

And as an autistic reader, I appreciate a note from the author's biography, that Parish is neurodivergent. While not specifically addressed in this memoir, our shared neurodivergence was one more reason for this book to strongly resonate with me.

Book-Talk : Paige Not Found, by Jen Wilde

During Autism Acceptance Month, April 2024, I am reading Paige Not Found by Jen Wilde. It features a protagonist who is autistic and nonbinary, who learns that a chip was planted in her brain without her consent. As a reader and librarian who is autistic and nonbinary, I feel visible through reading a book that features a main character who is so like me.
https://youtu.be/n0fWnuBqZu4

‘Windows and mirrors’ in children’s literature : Issues and challenges

My studies this semester in Children’s and Young Adult Literature included the importance of books that can offer their readers “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors” (Bishop, 1990/2015) into the lives of people who are like, and also unlike, them. “Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience” (Bishop, 1990/2015, p. 1).

Sexuality and reader’s advisory

A question was posed to me as part of my studies in Children’s and Young Adult Literature: How would I provide reader’s advisory for young people who are looking for books related to sexuality?

Readers’ advisory as evolving practice

An idea that stood out for me this week for my studies in librarianship was the evolving practice of readers’ advisory (RA) to focus on the reader.

Book-Talk : The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

In my latest Book-Talk: I found The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, by Andrew Joseph White, to be an intense Young Adult book of suspenseful and gothic horror. As an autistic reader, one of the things that fascinated me about this novel was the way that an autistic character is portrayed in a society in which no such diagnosis exists.
https://youtu.be/q_1jM9deMB0

Book-Talk : Green, by Alex Gino

Green, by Alex Gino, returns readers to the world of Jung Middle School and its Rainbow Spectrum Club, which is inhabited by those titular characters from two of Gino’s previous works, Melissa and Rick. In this latest novel, titular character Green helps advocate for gender-free casting in the school’s production of The Wizard of Oz, experiences physical changes to their maturing body, and navigates romantic feelings toward another student, Ronnie. The book will be published by Scholastic in October 2023.
https://youtu.be/MHNMp8Kke64

Disability ‘Pride’ : Autism and sexual diversity

Disability Pride Flag (from Wikipedia)

Happy Disability Pride Month! As an autistic person, this annual occurrence is deeply relevant to me.

Book-Talk : Just Lizzie, by Karen Wilfrid

Through her scientific exploration of reproduction in plants, 14-year-old Lizzie gains new insights into herself and her place in society. Reading Just Lizzie by Karen Wilfrid, I found so much to appreciate: among them a beautiful expression for the interconnectedness of life. The book also offers much-needed representation for asexuality. As a reader on the autism spectrum, I do have one wishful question. Is it possible that Lizzie is autistic? My appreciation to the publisher and to NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book, which will be published in November 2023.

LGBTQIA+ books for Pride Month

For Pride Month (June 2023), here is a “book-haul” video featuring two books for children and three for adults or teenagers. In this video, I also share my thoughts about the spate of book bans targeting books that center LGBTQIA+ experiences. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you are enjoying my videos.