Over the weekend the finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards (which recognize excellence in the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender literature) were announced. In the LGBT Childrens/Young Adult category, six books made it to the short list:
* Hit the Road, Manny: A Manny Files Novel, Christian Burch, Simon and Schuster
* Out of the Pocket, Bill Konigsberg, Dutton
* How They Met & Other Stories, David Levithan, Knopf Children’s Books
* Mousetraps, Pat Schmatz, Carolrhoda Books
* What They Always Tell Us, Martin Wilson, Random House Children’s Books
* Love & Lies: Marisol’s Story, Ellen Wittlinger, Simon and Schuster
Only one of the novels is about a lesbian main character — Love & Lies — although David Levithan’s book of short stories does include lesbians.
I think it’s a shame that Mayra Lazara Dole’s Down to the Bone was not short-listed. Not only did this book offer up a cast of authentic and unique Latina characters, it brought us into the Cuban-American community in a way that LGBT fiction for young adults has never done before.
I don’t know what went into the decision-making for the Lambda judges. I know that when I first started reading Down to the Bone, I found the dialect and slang a little confusing — it was so different than most other YA fiction I’ve read. But Down to the Bone is one of the few YA books (LGBT or not) I’ve read recently that actually stuck with me after I read it. I could feel the enthusiasm and love that Dole had for her characters and the story, and it gave me a glimpse into a world I never would have experienced otherwise. It’s not for everyone, but I do think it deserves to be honored.
One of the things I’ve noticed as I’ve been educating myself about LGBT YA fiction is that the number of books about gay boys far outnumbers those about lesbian teens. Nobody seems to know why, but I think it does reflect a greater disparity across our culture in general. Gay men have much higher profiles — other than a few exceptions (like Ellen) — in our pop cultural consciousness than lesbians.
Are things changing? I don’t know. I hope so. The winners of this year’s Lambda Book Awards will be announced on May 28.
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