I use to be a member of the American Educational Research Association's Queer Studies Special Interest Group. My partner still is. One can join their email list at AERA-QUEER-STUDIES-SIG@LISTSERV.UA.EDU.
Recently a call went out for LGBT-themed children's books. I am sharing here a compilation of the submissions. My own contribution, besides submitting some of the transgender-themed books, has been to arrange them alphabetically by title. After the list of fiction (and some non-fiction) books, there is a list of anthologies.
A word of caution: some of the books marked "young adult" might better have the word "young" removed. I have not read all these texts and did some guessing after reading synopses.
1 2 3 A Family Counting Book by Bobbie Combs
2nd Time Around by James Earl Hardy (young adult)
10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert
A B C A Family Alphabet Book by Bobbie Combs
Accept the Unexpected by L. Cherelle
Ain't Gonna Be the Same Fool Twice by April Sinclair (young adult)
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
Antonio's Card (La Tarjeta de Antonio) by Rigoberto Gonzalez
Arwen and Her Daddies by Jarko De Witte Van Leeuven
Asha's Mums by Rosamund Elwin and Michele Paulse
Babylon Boyz by Jess Mowry (young adult)
B-Boy Blues by James Earl Hardy (young adult)
Best Best Colors (Los Mejores Colores) by Eric Hoffman
Blackbird by Larry Duplechan
Black Bull, Ancestors and Me: My Life as a Lesbian Sangoma by Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde
The Boy Who Cried Fabulous by Lesléa Newman
The Boys and the Bees by Joe Babcock
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (young adult)
Chaos by Sherry Michelle (young adult)
Cheetah by Missy Jackson (young adult)
Choices by Skyy (young adult)
Coffee Will Make You Black: A Novel by April Sinclair
The Color of Trees by Canaan Parker (young adult)
Covenant by Rashid Darwin (young adult)
Daddy, Papa and Me by Lesléa Newman
Daddy's Roommate (Alyson Wonderland) by Michael Willhoite
The Day Eazy-E Died by James Earl Hardy (young adult)
The Day I Stopped Being Pretty by Rodney Lofton (young adult)
Dear Child by John Farrell
The Dear One by Jacqueline Woodson
Discarded Faces by Betty Cross
Epiphany by Rashid Darwin (young adult)
Families by Susan Kuklin
The Family Book by Todd Parr
Felicia's Favorite Story by Lesléa Newman
Finlater by Shawn Stewart Ruff
A Fire Engine for Ruthie by Lesléa Newman
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson
The Geography Club by Brent Hartinger
The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
The God Box by Alex Sanchez
Got 'Til It's Gone by Larry Duplechan
Grace After Midnight: A Memoir by Felicia Pearson and David Ritz (young adult)
The Harvey Milk Story by Kari Krakow
Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman and Diana Souza
Hello, It's Only Me! The Diary of a Transgendered Kid by Layde Aphrodite
Hello Sailor by Ingrid Gordon
Hiding in Hip Hop: On the Down Low in the Entertainment Industry--from Music to Hollywood by Terrence Dean (young adult)
Holly's Secret by Nancy Garden
The House You Pass On The Way by Jacqueline Woodson
How Would You Feel If Your Dad Was Gay? by Ann Heron and Meredith Maran
I am J by Cris Beam (young adult)
If Only for One Night by James Earl Hardy (young adult)
If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
In Our Mother's House by Patricia Polacco
Inside Out: Portraits of Cross-gender Children by Sarah Wong and Ellen de Visser
Invisible Families: Gay Identities, Relationships, and Motherhood among Black Women by Mignon Moore
Invisible Life: A Novel by E. Lynn Harris (young adult)
James Baldwin by Randall Kenin and Amy Sickels
Jane and the Dragon by Martin Baynton
Keeping You a Secret by Julie Peters
Keesha and Her Two Moms Go Swimming by Monica Bey-Clarke and Cheri N. Clarke
King & King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
King & King & Family by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
Lazarus by Rashid Darwin (young adult)
Like Likes Like by Chris Raschka
Long Live Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole
Love the One You're With by James Earl Hardy (young adult)
Luna by Julie Peters
Man in the Middle by John Amaechi
Manu's Bedtime (Manu se va a la cama) by Lucia Moreno
The Many-Colored Love (El Amor de todos los colores) by Lucia Moreno
Max, the Stubborn Little Wolf by Marie-Odile Judes
Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle by Pija Lindenbaum
Mogul: A Novel by Terrence Dean (young adult)
Molly's Family by Nancy Garden
Mom and Mum Are Getting Married! by Len Setterington
Mommy, Mama and Me by Lesléa Newman and Carol Thompson
My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis
My Two Uncles by Judith Vigna
A Name on the Quilt by Jeannine Atkins
No More Tomorrows: Two Lives, Two Stories, One Love (Zane Presents) by Rodney Lofton (young adult)
Oliver Button is a Sissy by Tomie dePaola
One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads by Johnny Valentine
One More River to Cross: Black and Gay in American by Keith Boykin
Orphea Proud by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch and Michael Martchenko
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Po Man's Child by Marci Blackman
Prince Cinders by Babette Cole
The Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke
Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole
Princess Smartypants Rules by Babette Cole
Pugdog by Andrea U'Ren
Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright
Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
Rainbow High by Alex Sanchez
Rainbow Road by Alex Sanchez
Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein
So Hard to Say by Alex Sanchez
The Straight Line Wonder by Mem Fox
Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse
Sunday You Learn How to Box : A Novel by Bil Wright
Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South by E. Patrick Johnson
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Tomboy Trouble by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
Too Far Away to Touch by Lesléa Newman
Transparent by Don Lemon
Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen
The White Swan Express by Jean Davies Okimoto and Elain M. Aoki
William's Doll by Charlotte Zolotow and William Pene Du Bois
Zack's Story: Growing Up with Same-Sex Parents by Keith Elliot Greenberg
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name - A Biomythography by Audre Lorde (young adult)
Anthologies/collections
Afrekete: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Writing by Catherine E. McKinley
Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence, edited by M. Bauer
Black Like Us: A century of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual African American Fiction, edited by Don Weise, Devon W. Carbado, and Dwight McBride
Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology by E. Patrick Johnson and Mae G. Henderson
The Cross of Redemption by James Baldwin
The Full Spectrum: A new generation of writing about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning and other identities, edited by David Levithan and Billy Merrell
Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance: Selections from the Work of Richard Bruce Nugent, edited by Thomas H. Wirth
Go the Way Your Blood Beats: An Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Fiction by African-American Writers, edited by Shawn Stewart Ruff
In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology, edited by Joseph Beam
Not the Only One: Lesbian & Gay Fiction for Teens
Shade: An Anthology of Fiction by Gay Men of African Descent, edited by Melvin Dixon, James Earl Hardy, A. Cinque Hicks and John Keene Jr
Shaming the Devil: Collected Short Stories by G. Winston James
Two Teenagers in Twenty, edited by Ann Heron
Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute To E. Lynn Harris by Stanley Bennett Clay, Terrance Dean and James Earl Hardy
Additional resources:
GLSEN maintains a list of recommendations.
So does the Safe Schools Coalition. In fact the Coalition maintains a list of lists.
The American Library Association has maintained a yearly Rainbow Book List since 2008.
The ALA GLBT Round Table is also an excellent resource.
Daisy Porter's Queer YA blog reviews fiction for LGBTQ teens.
Lee Wind maintains I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?, a site for "gay teens".
Yes, "Gay Teen" includes Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Queer and Gender Non-Conforming Teens! And of course, allies are welcome!
--Lee Wind
