Husky by Justin Sayre; Grosset & Dunlap, $16.99
George by Alex Gino; Scholastic Press, $16.99
As the summer months yield to another school year with kids of all orientations yearning for books to enjoy on their bus rides or their downtime, here are a few recent releases of LGBTQ interest for a younger readership, or for those simply curious to discover what's out there for youth.
Actor and Two Broke Girls screenwriter Justin Sayre's debut novel Husky is a winning novel for young adults that creatively and entertainingly plays with themes of social belonging, sexuality, body image, and acceptance. The story is narrated by Davis, a young Brooklyn boy who lives by the belief that "before you get to high school you get boiled down to only one adjective." He hopes his personal moniker doesn't end up being "husky" ("the nice way for your mom's friend or even your mom to call you fat") even though he has packed on the pounds lately and his clothes have become snug. His two BFFs are firmly ensconced in their own descriptors: Sophie is the pretty one, and Ellen is the scowling mean girl.
In-between retreating to the safety and wonder of opera music, trouble begins brewing after a basketball jock calls Davis a fag when he catches him staring at his armpits. The name-calling startles him and incites anger and a depressive attitude that Davis finds difficult to shake. It's bad enough that the poor youngster is having a rough summer already. His mother is busy dating a new man, and now he discovers that he has not been extended an invitation to Sophie's girls-only make-over party. For a tenderhearted youth like Davis, these things can be downright crushing.
Though the tale has a sluggish start, Sayre's writing is consistently funny and clever, and the story becomes addictively entertaining. The conclusion is warm, endearing, and hopeful. Davis' soul-searching and adorably astute social observations create a unique reading experience for anyone struggling with weight issues or the pressures of societal conformity at any age.
Middle-grade readers will find George , Alex Gino's story of a boy who knows he's a girl but is stymied as to how to reveal the news to everybody, an appealing and influential story. George's challenge, to assist others in seeing her as she sees herself, is momentous for a fourth-grader, but she's resourceful and is more than ready to stand up to the jeering, snickering boys in her class. She tries out for the school production of Charlotte's Web hoping to score the role of Charlotte (definitely not Wilbur, the "dirty pig!") so her mother will finally realize with whom she most identifies.
On the stage, finally victorious and brimming with glee as the curtain rises, George reveals herself in her truest form, and although not everyone enjoys the gender clarity that she is experiencing, support envelopes her as she banishes the demons of fear and trepidation.
The book embodies an effective and quite progressive blend of humor, heart, and self-reflection; it incorporates themes of allying and childhood solidarity and is narrated from a winning third-person perspective. Gino, a San Francisco-based author who identifies as genderqueer (and prefers the pronoun "they"), believes their book helps fill a "hole in children's literature," a failure to address transgenderism in marginalized children and the struggle for identity and acceptance in the very young.
Both of these young-adult books will help crush the taboos surrounding issues of transgenderism, self-image, and personal worth, and should be considered must-have additions to school libraries and parents' bookshelves everywhere.