#rainbow booklist

[teenslib]

Tired: sitting on an American Library Association awards committee

Wired: professional competitive reader

[teenslib]

I just got accepted to be on the American Library Association’s Rainbow Booklist Committee! It’s a two-year appointment that requires me to read hundreds of queer children’s and YA books each year in order to decide which are worth recommending. Honestly, I’m terrified. I’m planning to add kids to my family in the next couple years, and taking on both commitments at the same time feels like too much.

But I’m gonna do it anyway, because taking on more than I think I can handle is how I grow and learn and develop new skills. I’ve got a supportive spouse, and our kids are gonna listen to a TON of queer lit in their first couple years. Full steam ahead!

[teenslib]

I’ve read more than 60 books so far this year

I’m not sure if that’s meant to be a brag or not. I mean, I’m impressed by myself - I’ve read 56 books for the Rainbow Booklist Committee since we started in February, and I’ve still managed to fit in a few additional books for personal reading along the way. A lot of my reading is by digital audiobooks, which helps a lot; my podcast habit has largely been supplanted by audiobooks, and if the narrator is on the slow side, I listen at 125% speed. I try to have three books going at one time: one I read at home, one I keep at work to read over lunch breaks, and a third one on audio. So that’s the technical specs of how I’ve read so much. But I don’t mean it as a brag because my ability to read this much is circumstantial (mostly, those circumstances are “not having children”), and a high volume of reading doesn’t mean I’m better at reading or enjoy it any more than I did before.

But I am proud of how much I’ve been able to read, and to set aside time from other things for reading. Actually, it’s been really great to be able to say, “I have to prioritize reading because it’s my job.” Having that excuse reason lets me indulge in something I enjoy without feeling self-indulgent. I was worried that reading so much might make it a chore, but instead it’s freed me from guilt I didn’t even realize I felt over reading instead of doing something more “productive.”

But more than quantity, I’m proud of how I’ve been reading and responding to what I read. It’s relatively easy for me to enjoy a book and not notice its flaws, but being on a committee like this is all about reading critically and being able to back up your opinion of a book’s quality (or lack thereof). The book reviews I’ve written here have helped, but a surprisingly large part of how I prepared for this work was listening to podcasts about bad books--shoutout to The Worst Bestsellers and I Don’t Even Own a Television--and in addition to being very entertaining, they’ve helped me hone my skills as a critic. I still sometimes miss things, but I have a better sense of what to pay attention to, and that’s given me a lot more confidence in my opinions. I used to think that if someone disagreed with me on something, especially if they were more critical of it than I was, it probably meant that they were right. Sometimes they are, but I’ve surprised myself with my willingness to disagree and to (respectfully) argue against someone else’s opinion.

Another thing I was worried about coming into this was that my personal feelings would get in the way of my ability to judge a book’s quality, but I’ve found myself recommending against books I liked and in favor of books I didn’t care for. I’ve also overcome my completism and left seven--seven whole books!--unfinished, either because they weren’t very good or because if there isn’t any queer rep in your book by the time I’m 60% of the way through, there isn’t going to be enough to make it on this list. 

Anyway, this post was mostly just a brain-dump that’s been building up for the last few months. If you’ve read this far, thanks for listening to me ramble.

[queeryabloglog]

Review: The ALA Rainbow Booklist

American Library Association. (2015). Rainbow books - GLBTQ Books for children & teens. Retrieved from http://glbtrt.ala.org/rainbowbooks/

Intended age group: All ages (though it may be more appealing to librarians and parents than teens)

This list, released every January, provides a full list of books published within a calendar year with LGBTQA themes for youth. With years from 2008-onward available, the site provides a thorough runthrough of LGBTQA fiction for teens and children. Each list includes a full citation (including ISBN) and a brief recap of the plot, as well as a suggested age bracket.

While the Rainbow List is certainly a helpful resource for teens looking for LGBTQA literature, its online incarnation has not been designed with teens in mind. The layout is basic and very dark, and the whole site has a very unpolished, I-just-got-a-LiveJournal look to it that doesn’t appeal to the eye. Nevertheless, teens looking for new fiction will likely find this site helpful, and may even use it as a jumping-off point for lists and guides of their own, ones with more teen appeal.

Rating: ***