Yearly Archives:: 2017

I received this book for free from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This first-ever LGBTQ history book for young adults will appeal to fans of fun, empowering pop-culture books like  Rad American Women A-Z and Notorious RBG.

World history has been made by countless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals—and you’ve never heard of many of them. Queer author and activist Sarah Prager delves deep into the lives of 22 people who fought, created, and loved on their own terms. From high-profile figures like Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt to the trailblazing gender-ambiguous Queen of Sweden and a bisexual blues singer who didn’t make it into your history books, these astonishing true stories uncover a rich queer heritage that encompasses every culture, in every era.

By turns hilarious and inspiring, the beautifully illustrated Queer, There, and Everywhere is for anyone who wants the real story of the queer rights movement.

I feel like somewhat of a black sheep because I didn’t absolutely love this book but *insert shrug emoji*. I love that we get to learn about so many amazing individuals, I love the detail each section goes into and how easy it is to read and yet, when I look back at the people who are represented in this book, it seems like there isn’t as much rep as their could be. Queer, There and Everywhere is essentially trying to present readers with the stories of amazing queer people across time and remind people that queer people have always been here. For a book trying to achieve that though, it primarily draws on queer people from the western world and those closely tied with the historical movements in the western world. The book at least seems aware that queer people also exist in places that aren’t the western world but it saddened me that this book didn’t give a platform to their lives and stories.

There also wasn’t queer rep across the spectrum, which to me is a problem. Not many books like this currently exist that will allow young teens to see themselves reflected in history and it sucks that not all teens who identify as queer will be able to see themselves reflected within the pages of this book. There isn’t as much intersectionality as I would have liked. The majority of individuals talked about are white which is a tragedy.

All that said, Queer, There and Everywhere is an important book and one I hope will get into the hands of the teens who need it. I also hope it’ll be on the YA non-fic shelves in libraries as useful resources for people and just other general good vibes. Mostly though, I hope we’ll get another book like this that will do an even better job representing a diverse array of people instead of just focusing on primarily white and western queer individuals.

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