6 books to start the Pride Fanfare!

June is one of the most colorful months of every year. Not only because of spring and the blooming of the flowers and the buzzing of the bees, but also for the rainbows that this rain, at least in my country, are bringing up at the mountain’s side. These apparitions seem like a reminder that a rainbow is stubborn enough to show up after the rain and the storm.

However, these are not the only rainbows that have been showing up after the storm and in June they will be showing massively around the world! Since the Stonewall riots back in 1969, the LGBTQI+ community has been fighting back! The community has been in the constant lookup for basic rights and equality, we have been marching and growing strong! And one of the things that we should be proud of is how many books are now depicting the pains and the struggles of this community and its members.

Today to celebrate equality and acknowledge the power of diversity, we bring to you several titles that are illustrating different experiences of those who are out of the heteronormative spectrum!

Drinking the Ocean

On April 24, 2019, O.E.B. or Olivia Evelyn Bond published the story of Lenore, a teenager that is struggling to find her rightful spot on the world! As she finds her way through her final years of secondary school, she encounters different people that makes her question who she thinks she is and finds the answers in the most unpredictable places.

Located in a small town next to Cambridge, London, Olivia gives us an incredible story that leaves you gasping for more.

One Man Guy

In May 2014, Michael Brakiva published his first, incredible and underrated coming of age and LGBTQ+ novel of Alek, an Armenian American boy, and Ethan, a skater boy who knows his way around New York City. Dealing with the typical issues of bullying and prejudice, Brakiva puts Alek through different scenarios that forced him to define, forcefully, who he is and what he wants in his live. As Alek deals with his strict, eccentric, and overprotective family, the reader gets a first-hand experience of the exquisite struggle that being Armenian means. Full with drama and comedy, One Man Guy is a book that we should all read. (Review here)

Hold My Hand

Michael Barakiva published in May 21, 2019 a devastating sequel of “One Man Guy“. This story is about the live and relationship of Alek, the Armenian American boy, and Ethan, a skater and experimented boy. As “One Man Guy” finishes with the promises of happily ever after, “Hold My Hand” comes to bring down and crush your dreams. Honest to his first novel, Michael keeps the friendly and comical tone of the first novel, and also brings to the table a buffet of breaking the normative and rejection of the church, and brings hope to the small ones who are still discovering themselves. (Review here)

The Fourth Courier

Moving away from the young adult and coming of age novels, Timothy Jay Smith published at the beginning of April, a crime and espionage story based on Poland 1992. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the smuggling of atomic materials was at its best.

With personal knowledge of Poland and inspired in a real event, Smith takes a dynamic FBI agent and an imposing gay CIA agent to work together against those who intend to start a nuclear war. (Review here)

When Everything is Blue

Published on March 6th, 2019, Laura Lascarso narrates the story of two boys who have been best friends since there were kids. Theo, a scrawny second-generation Latin American teenager, and Chris, the blonde and stereotypical star boy, who has it all and does not mind sharing.

As their bodies start to change and Chris returns from his summer vacations, Theo realizes that he has feelings for his best friend, but does Chris has the same feelings? Or is he just playing mind games?

Note: I would have appreciated someone telling me this, but this book has explicit sex scenes between teenagers.

Hero

Finally but not less important, we bring “Hero”, this book was published back in 2010 but until know it has crossed our radar. Thom has two major problems in his life and house. One of those is that he is… well… gay and his father has shown great rejection about this part of society, and the last one… he has super powers. As his father seems to be highly prejudicial and seems to hate all people with superpowers, Thom finds himself trying to understand who his mom was, who he is, and what he wants to be.

I hope you find this list good enough to be tempted to force yourself into reading some of these novels. New or old, we should be embracing and celebrating our diversity and sharing the love for books.