Today on OOM we’re celebrating National Coming Out Day. Every year this day serves as a celebration of those coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) or as an ally. National Coming Out Day was first observed 28 years ago on the anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. We’re honoring this day by reading some books from Scholastic that feature characters Coming Out, listed below.
The Letter Q: Queer Writers' Letters to their Younger Selves (Ages 12 and up): In this anthology, 63 award-winning authors such as Michael Cunningham, Amy Bloom, Jacqueline Woodson, Gregory Maguire, David Levithan, and Armistead Maupin make imaginative journeys into their pasts, telling their younger selves what they would have liked to know then about their lives as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender people. Through stories, in pictures, with bracing honesty, these are words of love and understanding, reasons to hold on for the better future ahead. They will tell you things about your favorite authors that you never knew before. And they will tell you about yourself.
Absolutely Positively Not (Ages 12 and up) by David LaRochelle: There is one thing Steven knows for sure: He's absolutely, positively NOT gay. Steven's a 16-year-old boy with two obsessions: sex and getting his driving license. The problem is, Steven's not thinking girls when he's thinking sex. Could he be —don't say it—gay? Steven sets out to get in touch with his inner he-man with Healthy Heterosexual Strategies such as "Start Hanging Out with the Guys," and "Begin Intensive Dating." But are Steven's tactics going to straighten him out, or leave him all twisted up? This e-book is absolutely hilarious. Positively sidesplitting. But absolutely, positively NOT GAY!
Anything Could Happen (Ages 12 and up) by Will Walton: Tretch lives in a very small town where everybody's in everybody else's business. Which makes it hard for him to be in love with his straight best friend. For his part, Matt is completely oblivious to the way Tretch feels—and Tretch can’t tell whether that makes it better or worse. Tretch has spent a lot of time dancing alone in his room, but now he’s got to step outside his comfort zone and into the wider world. Because like love, a true self can rarely be contained.
