As a middle school teacher, I was
always searching for books that touched the lives of all of my students. Now as
a Literacy Coach, I do the same thing, but have just broadened the age groups of
where I look. Finding a connection to
oneself in books can help a student of any age through tough times. There are books about serious topics for
young students as well as older ones, books about loss through divorce or death
or moving, books about conflict, and books about making friends.
Even within a strong community, adolescents
often feel as if they are the only ones experiencing the lives they lead. But books can show them they are not alone,
that there is at least one author who is writing about differences, about
cultures, family conflicts and loss, and peer relationships, including love. That author writes from the heart to a reader's heart.
I recently read a new anthology for older middle-schoolers and high-school-aged adolescents. Sarah Moon as editor is offering a lifeline
to young adults who are questioning their sexuality, feeling so alone,
most often teased and bullied, wondering where to turn for answers. That lifeline is The Letter Q, Queer
Writers’ Notes To Their Younger Selves.
The publisher, Arthur A. Levine books,
an imprint of Scholastic, Inc. is willing
to send one copy of this book to a winner selected by July 5th
from those commenting to this post. If you have a special story to tell of someone who has been helped by a particular book, please share in the comments.
In an opening letter, Levine says, Not every book I publish has the potential to
save someone’s life. But this one
does. As much as things have changed for
LGBT kids since the time when I was growing up, the world can still be a
lonely, frightening, threatening place for them. One has only to read the news
to know that LGBT teens are among the most vulnerable to suicide. They need to know that it gets better in the
future. Sarah Moon, editor, shares that
despite being called names and having her house egged, she was lucky enough to
be surrounded by people who had already been through what she was experiencing
and lived to tell the tale. They told
her stories and wrote her letters, which she says she carried with her to
school to give her strength. When things
became tougher as she got older, she began to fight back, earning her only
more days in the principal’s office, or mornings when one particular kid would
follow her around all morning calling her a dyke. When she struggled with facing the rest of
the day, she would take out a letter.
One said: This is the life of an activist in a small town. It is not permanent but it is difficult. I swear to you, you will not be sixteen
forever.
Sarah thinks it wouldn’t be fair to
be the only teenager to carry around letters that support, so she spoke with
James Lecesne, founder of The Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to preventing LGBTQ
teen suicide, available 24 hours a day.
They began asking those writers they knew, who in turn asked their
friends. And the book began to come
together, letters coming in showing the experiences, the threats, the sometimes surprising support of these writers’ early lives. When I read, I was struck by the clear message
of love that was communicated again and again, to be strong, to like who you
are, to follow your own feelings and ideas, which are great despite what others
tell you.
In the end, sixty-four award-winning writers
and illustrators sent messages of love and support to their younger
selves. They spoke of challenges and how
proud they were to see how beautifully they were handled. They talked of sticking with the friends that
emerge and saying goodbye to those who aren’t accepting, the parents who love
and those who took a while, but who did come through to embrace the child they
knew needed their love more than ever. And these writers wrote of hope, the clinging to
the future times when life would be infinitely better, exciting and
challenging, filled with love and friends and life-long partners. Some of the illustrators drew graphic stories
with the same message of future happy lives.
Here are a few words that show
some of the important messages:
from
Tony Valenzuela: Toto, you’re going to
feel a lot of pressure from kids (and adults) to be normal. But you’ll never feel normal when by “normal”
you know that people mean “like everybody else”.
from
Doug Wright: Yes, the indignities you suffer at the hands of bigots can make you
bitter. But they can also strengthen
your ability to empathize with the oppressed, and in doing so, enlarge the
capacity of your heart.
Live comfortably – and gratefully – in your
own skin.
from
Jacqueline Woodson: Mandy? (an early wish for a different
name) I want to tell you. It gets better. There is a whole world of women like you out
here. They are amazing! They are mothers and doctors and lawyers and
writers and actors and electricians and builders and thinkers and doers. They are funny and thoughtful and caring….
But right now, I want you to just take
one step—away from Madison Street. Off
the block, around the corner, onto the L train, into Manhattan—just go
somewhere! And look into the faces of
other people. The world is big—and there
is so much love in it. I promise you—you
will find it. It is already, as I write
this, moving toward you.
from
Howard Cruse: Marshal that healthy skepticism you’ve been cultivating and ask:
“Where’s the evidence behind all that disapproval?” Does what the “experts” are selling square
with what you’ve experienced in your own life?
Does it square with common sense?
from
Diane DiMassa: Look how much you have already survived. You are coping! I know at your age everything feels like
forever. But the gears will mesh, you’ll
get some traction, and you’ll go. You
will! There is so much waiting there.
You are awaited. So keep going!
The additional authors and
illustrators include Michael Cunningham, Amy Bloom, Terrence McNally, Gregory
Maguire, David Levithan, and Armistead Maupin and others with strong and loving
messages. This anthology is not only for those students who are questioning their sexual identity, but for
all adolescents who are learning about the world and the people in it in addition to those adults who work with children. All of us need to learn how it is to walk in another's shoes, and then another, and another.
Finally, I think adolescents would appreciate
conversation about the following quote from Calvin & Hobbes:
“Calvin: The more
you know, the harder it is to take decisive action.
Once you are informed, you start seeing
complexities and shades of gray. You realize nothing is as clear as it first
appears. Ultimately, knowledge is paralyzing.
Being a man of action, I cannot afford to
take that risk.
Hobbes: You're ignorant,
but at least you act on it.”
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To learn more about this book, check out the
trailer below and the hashtag #TheLetterQ on Twitter. The trailer is lovely and loving. You'll need to watch to see what I mean.
