Media recommendations for disappointed Byler fans:
I know there are a lot of young queer people saddened by the latest episodes of Stranger Things so I wanted to compile a short list of media recommendations that handle the coming out and queer youth experience
YA queer coming of age experiences:
Chucky (tv series): I’ve only seen the first season but even then the protagonist was a canonically queer preteen.
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeats (tv series): canonic gay character who comes out as a teenager and is eventually in a long term relationship by the end of the series
Everything Sucks! (Tv series): Takes place in the 90s, centered around a young lesbian understanding she’s queer and what that means for her life
I am not okay with this (tv series): similar to “Everything Sucks!” Protagonist is a young lesbian and there are sci-fi elements to the series
Edge of Seventeen (movie, 1999) Coming of age movie about a young adult realizing he’s gay
Paper Girls (tv series) set in the 80s with similar themes to Stranger Things. Canonically queer young characters
But I’m a Cheerleader (movie)- Takes place in a queer conversion camp where the characters learn to accept themselves and their identities
Queer Sci-Fi novels to check out and support:
The Darkness Outside Us by Elliot Schrefer
The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Kline (set in the 90s and includes evil government experiments which is decently similar to ST!)
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Winters Orbit by Everina Maxwell
The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang
+ so many others!!
There are definitely lots that I am missing and would love to increase this list if anyone is interested. I am sorry to see such a wide hurt over Stranger Things and I know it can be hard as a young queer person when you don’t see the romance and representation you want. Your identity is valid and there is a plethora of YA queer media for you to see yourself in
Read Queer in 2024: A Storygraph Reading Challenge!
Looking to queer your bookshelf in 2024? Then join us as we host a low-key, fun reading challenge!
The idea is simple: read even one queer book, and you can win this challenge! Once you’ve done that, you can explore our 39 bonus prompts, encouraging you to read queer books new and old, queer books from different genres, queer non-fiction books, and queer books about identities you are familiar with and those you’re unfamiliar with. We’ve been working on populating the list with suggestions (and would definitely love your help in fleshing them out, there’s so much great queer lit out there – I personally primarily read queer books from East Asia so those stories are rather over-represented in our suggestions right now!) and we’re really excited to see what books people read, what books people suggest, and how many queer books we, collectively, can read in 2024!
So as you plan your reading with an eye toward the new year, why not join us? We’d love to have you!
You can see all 40 of our prompts and join the challenge here!
And, looking for a supportive, friendly community to chat with about all your new reads? Come join our Book Lover’s Discord, too! Joining is absolutely not a requirement, but it is a great way to make some new bookish friends!
In honor of the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots – June 28th, 1969 – Duck Prints Press is thrilled to share with you how we’re celebrating Pride Month: with queer stories, of course!
Introducing our Pride 2023 Bundles: two collections of short stories, one general imprint, one erotica, each priced at a discounted $19.69, with all purchases benefiting two wonderful queer charities selected by the authors of the stories in the bundles: The Ali Forney Center and the Transgender Law Center.
We’ll be donating roughly 35% of the proceeds from these bundles to charity – the Press is donating 10% off the top, and many of the authors chose to donate part of their royalties as well, bringing the totals to approximately 40% of the list price of the erotica collection and approximately 35% of the list price of the general imprint collection.
How This Works
you buy one or both bundles between now and July 28th, 2023.
we tally up all the proceeds earned and do some math-e-magic to figure out how much we’re donating!
we divide the charity share in half right down the middle and, within the first week of August, we donate raised money to the Ali Forney Center and the Transgender Law Center; then, we post the proof we’ve done so.
you get fantastic stories!
we all get that happy, glowy feeling of knowing that money has been well-spent on fantastic causes!
About the Press
Duck Prints Press is a queer-owned indie press, founded to publish original works by fancreators. We’ve been in operation for over 2 years, and in that time we’ve worked with well over 150 creators to publish four anthologies and almost 70 other stories, from shorts to novels, and we’ve got more on the works (our fifth anthology is Kickstarting RIGHT NOW, as a matter of fact!). The vast majority of our creators and their creations are queer/LGTBQIA+ (maybe even all, but we don’t out anyone and we don’t ask demography because, frankly, it’s none of our business).
20 of our authors have chosen to include their short stories in one or both of these short story bundles, and these 20 and others nominated charities, then voted to narrow it down to these two! Participation in these bundles was entirely voluntarily, as was choosing to donate shares of royalties, which about a third of the authors have opted to do.
About the Charities
Note: These charities are not affiliated with the Press, do not know we’re doing this fundraiser, have not endorsed this in anyway and are, as such, utterly uninvolved in this beyond being the beneficiaries of our efforts! Text is from the websites of each charity and is being used under fair use laws.
The Ali Forney Center was founded in 2002. Committed to saving the lives of LGBTQ+ young people, our mission is to protect them from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently. A 24-hour program, The Ali Forney Center never closes its doors. We provide more than just a bed and food for those in need — from initial intake at our drop-in center to transitional housing and job readiness training, we provide homeless LGBTQ+ youth a safe, warm, supportive environment to escape the streets [of New York City].
Transgender Law Center is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Since 2002 we’ve been organizing, assisting, informing and empowering thousands of individual community members towards a long-term, national, trans-led movement for liberation.
About the Bundles
(this is getting long, so read more...)
We’re offering two bundles: one containing 14 stories from our general imprint, the other containing 11 stories from our erotica imprint. For all the deets, you’ll need to visit the page for each story, but here’s an overview…
Titles in the General Imprint Charity Bundle:
A Mutual Interest by Alec J. Marsh
The Problem with Wishes by Annabeth Lynch
Let the Solstice Come by D. V. Morse
Warmer Lights by Era J. M. Couts
An Odd Gathering of Peculiar Cats by J. D. Harlock
Dead Man’s Bells by Nicola Kapron
Widow’s Black by Nina Waters
twin flames by nottesilhouette
A Shield for the People by Puck Malamud
Much Ruckus by R. L. Houck
Bubble, Bubble by Sage Mooreland
Settling Down by Theresa Tanner
Best Friends AND… by Tris Lawrence
To Fill My Cup by Violet J. Hayes
Approximately 35% of the $19.69 list price of this bundle will go to the charities.
Titles in the Erotica Imprint Charity Bundle:
Pas de Deux by Aeryn Jemariel Knox
Study Hall by Alec J. Marsh
A Safe Place to Land by boneturtle
Clerical Error by Dei Walker
In the Moonlight by E. V. Dean
We All Need to Get By by Lyn Weaver
The Fated Prince by Mikki Madison
Lust by Nina Waters
No One Right Way by R. L. Houck
Easier Than Expected by Samantha M. Piper
Urchin Juiced by Xianyu Zhou
Approximately 40% of the $19.69 list price of this bundle will go to the charities.
What are you waiting for? Come get some great stories, support a queer-owned business this Pride, and benefit two fantastic causes. Win-win-win situations don’t get much better than this!
These bundles will only be available for one month, so don’t miss out. Visit our webstore between now and July 28th and get yours!
