The first Pride marches were held in June 1970 to honor the LGBTQ+ community, to mark the landmark Stonewall riots of the year before that pushed for the rights of queer people and to continue to advocate for such rights. From showcasing history to exploring individual expression, these vibrant books offer one way to celebrate Pride Month.
Tots-7 years old
‘Twas the Night Before PRIDE
By Joanna McClintick
Illustrated by Juana Medina
Candlewick, 2022, $17.99
In this lively rhyming tale, a family of four prepares for their city’s Pride march as do those around them, gathering rainbow flags, making signs and polishing musical instruments. Anticipating the floats and glitter of the next day also means looking back at the past, with the two moms and young first-person narrator taking “turns telling the tale of the very first Pride.” Those protests at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in 1969 brought national and then worldwide attention to the need to safeguard LGBTQ+ rights. As the young narrator says, these annual marches show that “we matter” and highlight the need to resist oppression.
Molly’s Tuxedo
By Vicki Johnson
Illustrated by Gillian Reid
Little Bee Books, 2023, $18.99
Picture day at school calls for just-the-right outfit. Molly picks out her brother’s stylish old tux while Mom wants her to wear an uncomfortable dress. This delightful story features an exuberant protagonist who refuses to bow to gender binary norms and advocates for herself, with the help of staunch young allies. Winner of the 2024 Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children, the book was published in partnership with GLAAD to help boost LGBTQ+ inclusivity and acceptance.
Preteens
This Is Our Rainbow
Edited by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby
Knopf, 2021, $16.99
These “16 stories of her, him, them, and us” are nuanced, wide-ranging and joyful, as young queer characters investigate worlds realistic and fantastic. In Alex Gino’s “The Purr-cle of Life,” a nonbinary protagonist gives voice to complex feelings as they mourn the death of a beloved cat while preparing to welcome another. A group of playful, gender-interrogating kids called the Porcupines helps Jes, who is nonbinary, to feel seen and accepted in their new school in comics by Shing Yin Khor. There are dragons, magical paper planes, fan clubs and other great stuff in this inclusive LGBTQ+ middle-grade anthology.
Teens
Venom & Vow
Anna-Marie McLemore
and Elliott McLemore
Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 2023, $19.99
Anna-Marie McLemore, winner of many awards for their compelling YA fiction, teams up with their spouse Elliott McLemore for this action-packed fantasy. The novel features a transgender prince named Cade – who has secretly taken the place of his older, ruling brother – and the princess’s dama (lady-in-waiting), named Valencia, who is also a boy assassin. The two are ostensibly enemies from neighboring kingdoms, and each is unaware of the hidden identity of the other. Tension builds as the two first-person narrators tell their intersecting tales in alternating chapters.
