Anonymous said,

"has anyone asked you for recs for books with queer protagonists? i've realised that, although i've seen a fair amount of shows and movies with queer main characters, i haven't read many books, beyond fairytale retellings."

i do not thiiiiiiiiiink i have done this yet, which is SHOCKING TO ME, but here are my fave books with queer protagonists! there are not a ton, tragically most books w/ queer the queer is secondary :(

Privilege of the Sword, by Ellen Kushner (coming of age story about a queer white girl in fantastic regency type world, FABULOUUUUUS, also Swordspoint which is about two gay white cismen, but i liked PotS better)

Ash & Huntress, by Malinda Lo (asian fantasy world queer romances lol these are on literally every rec list i’ve ever done, sorry bout it)

Fledgling, by Octavia Butler (yo everything by octavia butler is p much perfect but this is the only one i have read so far with a queer protagonist, a tiny ruthless african american vampire child who is actually a bazillion years old and the greatest)(sorry my capitalization is so erratic what is going on here)

Annie on My Mind, by Nancy Garden (apparently a classic but i only just read it AND IT KILLED ME, so many feelings, such an accurate capture of feelings, contemporary (in the 70s) YA about two white cisgirls in nyc, kinda sad but hopeful, just fyi there will be some bummers, trigger warning for homophobia)

Santa Olivia (also just read this, omfg i love superheroine stories so much and i didn’t know this was queer until i started it, i didn’t know!!! poc cisprotagonist is gr8 at boxing, gr8 at justice, less gr8 at feelings)

Wind on Fire trilogy, by William Nicholson (cisfemale protagonist kestrel of ambiguous ethnicity is 100% ace but homoromantic imho, there are some potentially neg implications w/ assocation of her sexuality with her destiny & self image but she is an incredible character & super admirable & the series is gr8)

Sister Mischief, by Laura Goode (about an all girl suburban hip hop group, lesbian white cis protagonist, love interest is indian cis. i was bummed that there wasn’t more racial diversity, like 3/4 of the main characters are white and the book is all about hip hop and the protagonists’ connections to and theorizing from hip hop artists primarily of color, but also the author is white and does do a lot of conscious theorizing/deconstructing of some of the problems of this, which might be preferable to her attempting to write pocs and failing, i was just sort of disappointed on that front, ymmv! but i really liked the queer applications of hip hop and super empowering forthright feminist discussions + the romance is really hot)(whoops that got away from me)

Anonymous said,

"You have amazing taste - rec me books with good romances that aren't too depressing?"

GOSH ANON ok, HAPPY ROMANCES

Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine (OBVS, by same author also check out the Princesses of Bamarre)

Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanen (squeeee this book is so happy, it is about a fabulous fabulous girl, also a boy, he is a fool but wisens up)

Changeover and Catalogue of the Universe, by Margaret Mahy (sweet gorgeous bildungsromans where everyone turns sexy including you)

Companions of the Night, by Vivian Vande Velde (a vampire boy who lies and plots and a human girl who is FED UP WITH THIS VAMPIRE SHIT, tw: violence)

What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones (afjagafffffff it’s all poetry but not boring instead sexy, also I lost my copy and now I just have to cry forever)

Darkest Powers & Cold Magic/Fire & Leviathan (I am throwing all these together because people (… me) talk about them on tumblr all the time so you may already know them. THE ROMANCES ARE PERFECT, they might kill you but it will not be depressing.)(I feel like I should tell you I wept at the end of Cold Fire because it wasn’t real but I am weird, you will probably be fine.)

Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater (THIS ROMANCE omg, plus there are carnivorous horses, do me on horses, they will eat us but it will be so sexy, tw: violence)

Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones (man, everything by Diana Wynne Jones, if you are having a sad day just Wynne Jones it up and you will be fine)

Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley (also… everything… by… her, but this one first, it’s sort of dreamy and rosesexual and also wordsexual, you will try to make out with it)

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves (I LOVED THIS, it made me so happy, but it is very dark humor, the teenage sister protagonists are serial killers. I found it a funny and uplifting weird coming of age story but you may find it deeply disturbing. tw: murder, violence, torture, child molestation (offscreen, secondary character))

the only books here w/ protagonists of color are Cold Magic and Slice of Cherry, and all of them are heterosexual & cis, so please drop me a line if you have some more diverse HAPPY ROMANCES for me and anon to check out!

5 BOOKS FOR THE DISSATISFIED HUNGER GAMES READER

• Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi— Brilliant YA futuristic dystopia that actually examines interplay between race/class/power; heterosexual male protagonist and rest of cast all POCs, brings critical lens to current USAmerican —> global institutionalized inequalities with many thrilling action sequences

• Graceling, by Kristin Cashore— action/adventure fantasy novel all about gender and power. Fabulous white, heterosexual female heroine, like Katniss, is bad at feelings, good at killing; unlike Katniss, her entire book is a study of her agency, and she thinks extensively on whether she wants a romance and ultimately makes that decision, too. [ETA: trigger warning for mind control and gaslighting]

• Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents, by Octavia Butler— not YA, but the best dystopia ever??? Yes. Heroine & most of cast are POC, explores race & gender in futuristic unraveling of USAmerican society & one incredible woman who manages to build something new in the rubble; she is, like Katniss, logical & determined, and unlike Katniss, in charge. 

• Octavian Nothing, by MT Anderson— YA historical duology about a heterosexual African American boy during the American revolution. The author explicitly plays on the popularity of YA fantasy dystopias to interrupt the reader’s expectations of a traditional fantasy narrative with the reality of US history— like Hunger Games, grim adventure that doesn’t traditionally conclude, unlike Hunger Games, explicitly about race

• Sisters Red, by Jackson Pearce— white werewolf hunting sisters in contemporary USA; older sister is focused, protective, and genuinely asexual!!! while younger sister has a perspective, agency, and doesn’t die. The entire book is about their difficult changing healthy A+ relationship. 

neverwillstop said,

"Top 10 favorite YA books?"

god help you, you unleashed a monster. (ps these are literally just my favorites, like the ones I love best, the ones that I have reread the most, they are not necessarily the greatest but ps they are)

1. The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner (& sequels, but THE SERIES NAME IS A SPOILER, what a dilemma. Best books, best books by miles, sometimes I dream and my heart beats Eu-gen-i-des, which is alarming health-wise let me tell you.)
2. Harry Potter, by don’t even play (let’s be real, there was no way this ever wasn’t gonna be on this list, game changer, the game is I’m crying.)
3. Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine (I am on my third (THIRD!!!) copy of this book omg)
4. Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanen (Juliana Baker is one of the most singularly influential individuals in my entire life, idk what that says about me besides I am the greatest)
5. The Wind on Fire trilogy, by William Nicholson (ugggh family and country and home, political theory and sexy feelings, yes more)
6. Ash & Huntress, by Malinda Lo (ok not only queer but using queerness to overthrow and remake all the terrible staples and assumptions of fairytales and the hero’s quest respectively, so yes, yes, yes, she cried)
7. His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman (ok I think the author is a douche but I am somewhat interested in retelling theology as you may have surmised, and there is a palace in my heart and Lyra is its queen.)
8. Demon’s Lexicon series, by Sarah Rees Brennan (I don’t think I’ve actually talked about these on tumblr yet, they are fairly recent and fairly the best, they give me such an implausible number of feelings, when I finished them I wept for three hours, I don’t know, I don’t know!!!)
9. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson (I met her once and I cried, I cried all over her, and she said shhh, shhh, I am here, and she signed it “your kindred spirit” so I am the winner basically, also I cry a lot)
10. The Changeover, by Margaret Mahy (omg perfect perfect bildungsroman which is the only literary word I know, but it is growing up and being sexy and powerful and magical and it’s rough but you do it for your baby brother, plus because you are sexy)

HONORABLE MENTION BECAUSE I LITERALLY JUST READ IT TWO MONTHS AGO AND LET’S NOT MOVE TOO FAST BUT PS WE ARE MARRIED: Cold Magic, by Kate Elliott (the night after I read these, I sobbed real human tears not because they were sad but because they weren’t real)

BONUS LIST, here are my five favorite children’s books/series

1. Anne of Green Gables (I stopped reading these eventually, I think when Gilbert & Anne got married and there wasn’t a sex scene because RUDENESS, but man the first one was perfect)
2. Someday Angeline, by Louis Sachar (idk what all that nonsense is over Holes, this is Louis Sachar’s best book, Angeline is an actual genius and it’s hard but she loves fish and corny jokes and her dad)
3. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D Taylor (ommigod this family, ommigod this is such a tonally perfect book for talking to children about violence and racism and institutionalized and personal injustice, ommigod the laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand!)
4. Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli (MANIAC, MANIAC, KISSED A BULL. I haven’t read it since I was a teenager and its handling of race might have been fucked up, unclear, will investigate, but Maniac was a goddamn backwards running homeward bound sweetheart ugh)
5. A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket (yo)

ok so here are my 15 favorite written fairy/folk tale retellings

1. The Outlaws of Sherwood, by Robin McKinley (Robin Hood, how it’s done)
2. Tender Morsels, by Margo Lanagan (Snow White & Rose Red, ugh the most beautiful perfect thing anyone ever, trigger warning for rape)
3. Thomas the Rhymer, by Ellen Kushner (Thomas the Rhymer, I once tried to eat this book for dessert)
4. Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley (Beauty & the Beast, everyone is rosesexual)
5. Kissing the Witch, by Emma Donoghue (every fairytale is gay and hungry)
6. Zel, by Donna Jo Napoli (Rapunzel, everyone is fucked up)
7. Mermaid, by Carolyn Turgeon (The Little Mermaid, every woman is the other, and probably a lesbian)
8. The Forestwife, by Theresa Tomlinson (Robin Hood again, but girls run this show)
9. “Glass” from The Rose & the Beast, by Francesca Lia Block (Cinderella, short and sweetly heartbreaking)
10. Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine (Cinderella, I reread this whenever I get sad, don’t lie, you do, too)
11. Ash, by Malinda Lo (Cinderella, queer and soft and lovely, a flawless response to Twilight, but that wasn’t its intent, it just happened)
12. The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Pope (Tam Lin, sassy Elizabethans run amok)
13. Tam Lin, by Pamela Dean (Tam Lin, a liberal arts college where people are too busy quoting old poetry and being absurd to care about curses)
14. The Once and Future King, by TH White (King Arthur, Arthur has a “stupid face” and I want to kiss it)
15. Deathless, by Catherynne Valente (Marya Morevna, I literally just talked about this, go read it already)

tehriz:

so annadella’s post recommending queer fairy tales reminded me of a problem I’ve been having with writing bisexual characters in stories.

as many of you probably know (and if you don’t, TRUTH BOMB) I’m bisexual (at least biromantic, since I’m not sure if I fall on the ace/gray-ace/demi spectrum just yet), and I like writing about characters that are bisexual (since my default is to just assume everyone is bisexual until they tell me otherwise), BUT THERE IS A BIG PROBLEM.

because sometimes lady bisexuals end up with men and then some people feel their queerness has been erased, because it’s ~so hetero now. and sometimes lady bisexuals end up with ladies and then they’re seen as lesbians, not bisexuals.

And if I’m writing a female character and the primary love interest is male, I feel like referencing a romantic past involving women would be seen as exploitative or titillating or just generally not real, because obviously having a male love interest makes this a heteronormative narrative and she’s not REALLY queer, right??? right, clearly, obviously, everyone knows that—

But if the primary love interest is female, then they are lesbians and referencing a romantic past with men wouldn’t be read as bisexual, it would be read as confusion or denial or “before she figured it out” or something. And if there’s a man that she’s also interested in, or God forbid ends up getting together with, then OH NO IT’S THE TIRED OLD STORYLINE OF A LESBIAN BEING SEDUCED BY A MAN, never mind that she’s actually bisexual, that’s how it would be understood.

I guess what I’m getting at is, how do you present bisexual characters as being irrevocably bisexual, and not just as “straight with experimental past” or “gay”?

The only solution I have found is “multigendered polyamorous threesome”, but that only works for two of the people in said threesome, assuming one party is not genderqueer or agendered.

[It’s easier for me to consider this just part of our general cultural erasure of bisexuality as a valid sexual orientation than as a failing on my skills as a writer, but still.]

No, this is totally society’s fault; that is one of the terrible side effects of how grossly biphobic our society is right now— and it’s something I’m totally guilty of, even though I’m also fluid/queer!— because I just realized that in that post you mentioned I said “she marries a man, but it’s still good,” and  how rude of me, so I’m sorry. But yeah, there’s this stigma about bisexuals settling down with one person and therefore settling down to one identity, even though obvs you’re ALWAYS bi/pansexual no matter whom you’re currently dating, and even though even if your sexuality changes, it doesn’t make your past experiences/identity any less valid. 

But it is hard to do it in books— especially, I think, for stories about bisexual women or men who ~end up with~ someone with the opposite gender. It’s also kind of potentially dangerous, because we also live in a culture that loves rhetoric of demeaning or dismissing queer identities as fleeting, and which loves turning people straight, so I think that trying to avoid perpetuating that sort of thing sometimes accidentally erases other marginalized stories and makes queer people feel like they’re not real queers if they fall in love with someone of the opposite gender.

Which isn’t to say that narratives trying to explore ~fluid~ sexuality can’t be really, really harmful— e.g. Irene Adler in Sherlock. But if you want to read a book that does it really well, The Privilege of the Sword, by Ellen Kushner, is about a bisexual woman whose long term romance in that book is with a man! And Ash, by Malinda Lo, is about a bisexual woman who falls in love with a woman, but the relationship she has with a man is really toxic, so I don’t know if I’d read it for that purpose. Fire, by Kristin Cashore, is about a bisexual woman who falls in love with a man, but her past relationship with a woman is kind of vague, and it doesn’t really discuss her sexuality that much (but it is flawless as a book that uses fantasy to deconstruct rape culture). 

I think the difference comes in how you tell the story— how the protagonist thinks about herself and her identity, and how her desires and self are celebrated or negated by the narrative. 

moon-set:

Aight tumblr! My mom, a librarian, has asked me for help. She is putting together a two-case book display of great children’s/YA books which adults would love if they gave them a chance. Just about everything I’ve recommended is fantasy or sci-fi, because that’s what I read as a kid, but I’d love more suggestions.

I’ve already got stuff by Robin McKinley, Diana Wynne Jones, Patricia C. Wrede, Shaun Tan, Orson Scott Card, Megan Whalen Turner, Patrick Ness, and whoever it was that wrote “The King’s Shadow” and left me with an undying hatred for William the Conquerer.

What else would you recommend? Non-fantasy recs especially appreciated!

Hooray, adults reading children’s books! A well written book is a well written book is The Thief series, which you already have. Here are my sort of like, getting-your-feet-wet recs? At any rate, these are the books that have the best success rate with grown ups I know. 

Non-fantasy/sci-fi:

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
The Catalogue of the Universe and The Tricksters, by Margaret Mahy 
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson (trigger warning for rape)
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (also EVERYTHING by Melina Marchetta, which is not a book but rather my recommendation of her complete works, some of which is fantasy) 
Octavian Nothing, by MT Anderson 
What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones 
Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanen 

(And that’s all I have on hand, I rarely read non-fantasy, sorry!)

Fantasy:

The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Pope
Madeleine L’Engle books (but grown ups have probably read these?)
Lloyd Alexander books (ditto, but most people haven’t read the Westmark books, so maybe those?)
The Wind on Fire trilogy, by William Nicholson
the Bartimaeus Trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud 
Fire, by Kristin Cashore
The Secret Country series by Pamela Dean
Bleeding Violet, by Dia Reeves (trigger warning for mental health issues & suicide)
Cold Magic trilogy by Kate Elliot
Sabriel trilogy by Garth Nix