Review from This Month’s School Library Journal: Summer Love: An LGBTQ Collection

When I’m reviewing books for professional publications, I stay quiet about them on social media. I’m always really excited once a review comes out to be able to talk about the book, finally! Here’s one of my most recent reviews, which originally appeared in the June 2015 issue of School Library Journal.

Gr 10 Up—This anthology of love stories is the perfect summer read—it’s fast, fun, and will leave readers smiling. The nine entries present characters that identify in a variety of ways. Stand-out stories include “Surface Tension” by Ella J. Ash. Logan is part of the swim staff at a summer arts camp and never imagines he could find love there—or while a teenager at all. Meeting outgoing Dave changes his mind. In “What the Heart Wants,” by Naomi Tajedler, Noam discovers her attraction to an art class model, Amber, and isn’t sure if that makes her a lesbian, bisexual, or just Amber-sexual. Meanwhile, her best friend begins dating an asexual boy. Other stories feature a revelation at a gay pride parade, a romance set at the beginning of World War II, a traveling fire-eater, a letter to a best friend, a transgender boy finding love on the Cape, an unexpected crush, and a broken-hearted girl seeking solace but instead finding just the company she needs. All of the stories have happy endings and most feature extremely supportive and loving families. In many cases, the main characters come out to someone at some point, but that’s not the focus of the stories. These are the first published stories for most of the authors in this collection, and it often shows. VERDICT The writing is somewhat unpolished, but the focus on LGBTQ teens finding love, hope, and happiness makes this a solid addition to all collections.

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