July 2022

LGBTQ+ Booklist

Task Force Releases LGBTQ+ Booklist for School Libraries

by Santa cruz county BOARD OF EDUCATION

A task force convened by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education has released a booklist called the “Top 40 LGBTQ+ Books that Every School Library Should Have,” a project undertaken as part of a commitment to safety and inclusiveness for LGBTQ+ students

The final list of 40 books includes fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, anthologies and picture books. Ten titles were selected for each of the gradespans of PreK-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12.

“When students see themselves reflected back in culture, curriculum, and media they are empowered to work harder and dream bigger,” said Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah. “We hope this list serves as useful resource for schools here in Santa Cruz County and beyond, especially during a moment in which some are actively working to censor LGBTQ+ voices from our classrooms.”

The LGBTQ+ Book Selection Task Force was made up of 16 people including public and school librarians, a student, educators, and representatives from Bookshop Santa Cruz who have regularly met since February. Selection criteria included that the main character must be part of the LGBTQ+ community and positively represented; that the book must be well-written and include a complex storyline, represent different genders, ethnicities and sexual orientations; and that the book was published in the past 10 years.

The decision to convene the selection committee emerged from a local student-led project to highlight LGBTQ+ books as well as requests from educators across the state.

In 2020, transgender student Q Licht created the Purple Sticker Project during his freshman year at Scotts Valley High School after noticing the lack of representation at many libraries and bookstores.

“I didn’t see myself reflected in books,” Licht said. “Any books with LGBTQ+ representation were out of the way – they were way at the top of bookshelves out of reach or at the bottom collecting dust.”

Licht worked with the school librarian at Soquel High School to place square purple stickers on LGBTQ+ books and to create an ongoing list of media.
During a similar time frame, Rob Darrow, LGBTQ+ Support Consultant for the Santa Cruz COE and a member of the Santa Cruz Safe School Project (SSP), was hearing from educators around the state about the need for a recommended LGBTQ+ booklist organized by grade level and aligned to state curriculum standards and frameworks. Following an LGBTQ+ Town Hall webinar in October 2021 sponsored by the Santa Cruz COE, Darrow spoke with Q about the idea of extending the Purple Sticker Project to a countywide effort.

“The next phase will be finding the funding to purchase these books for all of the school libraries throughout Santa Cruz County and to notify the authors about their book selections so hopefully we can have these authors visit our area in the future,” Darrow said. In addition, the COE has allocated funds this summer to support teachers to create curriculum guides to incorporate the books into lessons. The curriculum resources are expected to be ready by October, LGBTQ+ history month.

Organizations that have supported the booklist project include the Santa Cruz COE, the Queer Youth Task Force, the Safe Schools Project, and Bookshop Santa Cruz.

The booklist can be viewed online at sccoe.link/lgbtqbooks. A recording of Tuesday’s announcement is available on the Santa Cruz COE YouTube channel.

Grades: PreK-2

A Family is a Family is a Family
O’Leary, Sara (Qin Leng, illust.)
2016

Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy
Named Penelope

Patterson, Jodie
2021

Cuando Amamos Cantamos/When We Love Someone We Sing to Them
Martínez, Ernesto J, Maya C. Gonzalez, and Feliciano J. G. Martínez
2018

Grandad’s Camper
Harry Woodgate
2021

Ho’onani: Hula Warrior
Gale, Heather, and Mika Song
2019

Julían is a Mermaid
Jessica Love
2018

Sewing the Rainbow
Pitman, Gayle E
2018

Stella Brings the Family
Miriam B. Schiffer
2015

When Aidan Became a Brother
Kyle Lukoff (Kaylani Juanita, illus.)
2019

Who’s Your Real Mum?
Green, Bernadette
2020

Grades: 3-5

Ana on the Edge
A.J. Sass
2020

Beetle and the Hollowbones
Aliza Layne
2020

Cattywampus
Ash Van Otterloo
2020

Derby Daredevils #1:
Kenzie Kickstarts a Team
Kit Rosewater & Sophie Escabasse
2020

Goldie Vance: The Hotel
Whodunit Lilliam Rivera
2020

High Five for Glenn Burke
Phil Bildner
2020

Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag
Rob Sanders
2018

Rabbit Chase
Elizabeth Lapensee
2022

Sharice’s Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman
2021

The Moon Within
Aida Salazar
2019

Grades: 6-8

High Five for Glenn Burke
Phil Bildner
2020

Flamer
Mike Curato
2020

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter
to the World
Ashley Blake Herring
2018

King and the Dragonflies
Kacen Callendar
2020

Redwood and Ponytail
Holt, K.A.

The Girl from the Sea
Molly Ostertag
2021

The Magic Fish
Trung Le Nguyen
2020

The Mighty Heart of
Sunny St. James
Ashley Blake Herring
2019

This Is Our Rainbow
Katherine Locke
2021

Too Bright to See
Kyle Lukoff
2021

Grades: 9-12

A Queer History of the
United States for Young People
Michael Bronski
2019

Anger is a Gift
Mark Oshiro
2018

Cemetery Boys
Aiden Thomas
2020

Gender Queer
Maia Kobabe
2019

Heartstopper Series 1-4
Alice Oseman
2019

The Henna Wars
Adiba Jaigirdar
2020

Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Malindo Lo
2021

Pet
Akwaeke Emezi
2019

The Stars and the
Blackness Between Them
Junauda Petrus
2020

Ziggy, Stardust and Me
James Brandon
2019

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