Over the Rainbow Books

The 2014 Over the Rainbow Project book list, sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) of the American Library Association (ALA), has been decided at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia.

This year’s list includes 71 titles published between July 1, 2012 and December 31, 2013.  The committee’s mission is to create a bibliography of books that exhibit commendable literary quality and significant authentic GLBT content and are recommended for adults over age 18. It is not meant to be all-inclusive but is intended as an annual core list for readers and librarians searching for recommendations for a cross-section of the year’s titles. Although the committee attempts to present titles for a variety of reading tastes and levels, no effort is made to balance this bibliography according to subject, area of interest, age, or genre.

The Over the Rainbow committee includes Robert Graziano, Chair, Chicago, IL; Kelly McElroy, Chair-Elect, Iowa City, IA; David Combe, Ventura, CA; Annaliese Fidgeon, Northridge, CA.; Jessica Louise Jones, Santa Fe, NM; Louis Munoz, Jr., Brooklyn, NY; Robert Ridinger, DeKalb, IL; Nel Ward, Newport, OR.

Our Top Ten Favorites

Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond “Gay” and “Straight”. Ed. by Charles “Zan” Christensen and Carol Queen. Northwest Press. 2013. 216p. $29.99. (978-1938720321). A collection of comics covers the range and nuances of bisexuality, showcasing the discrimination bisexuals face from both the gay and straight communities.

Art and Queer Culture. Ed. by Catherine Lord and Richard Meyer. Phaidon Press. 2013. 412p. $75.00. (978-0714849355). Chronological and comprehensive in scope, the editors document the wide expanse of queer cultural expressions that oppose normative heterosexuality from 1885 through the present.

Body Geographic. By Barrie Jean Borich. University of Nebraska Press. 2013. 272p. $17.95. (978-0803239852). In this creative, non-linear narrative, Borich traces the real, imagined, future, and past “maps” of families, cities, and lovers which intersect in Borich’s life.

Coconut Milk. By Dan Taulapapa McMullin. University of Arizona Press. 2013. 80p. $15.95. (978-0816530526). The culturally-rich poems from a queer, Samoan American bring the Samoan culture to life and point out the dichotomy of Fa’a Fafine, third-gendered life in two cultures.

Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club. By Benjamin Alire Saenz. Cinco Puentos. 2012 (Oct.). 222p. $16.95. (978-1935955320). Seven short stories set in the famous watering hole just south of El Paso on Avenida Juarez reflect the connecting place for Saenz’s characters from different sides of physical and emotional borders.

Gay Press, Gay Power: The Growth of LGBT Community Newspapers in America. By Tracy Baim. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 2012. 468p. $25. (978-1480080522). Comprehensive in scope and content, this history of GLBT print media incorporates interviews and essays by leaders in the field to trace the mainstream’s handling of gay content, the role of advertising in this media, and its future.

The Golden Boy. By Abigail Tarttelin. Atria Books. 2013. 346p. $24.99. (978-1476705804). A family’s carefully constructed facade intended to protect their intersex child falls apart when he is the victim of a violent crime.

Mundo Cruel: Stories. By Luis Negron. Trans. by Suzanne Jill Levine. Seven Stories Press. 2013. 96p. $13.95. (978-1609804183). Luis Negron transcribes Telemundo into print through witty, humorous, satirical stories that capture the Puerto Rican’s view of the world.

Red-Inked Retablos. By Rigoberto Gonzalez. University of Arizona Press. 2012. $19.95. 140p. (978-0816521357). In the tradition of framing devotional images, these 13 essays honor those people who influenced the gay author’s lifework and give hope to a future generation of Latino “mariposa” writers.

This Assignment is so Gay: LGBTIQ Poets on the Art of Teaching. Ed. by Megan Volpert. Sibling Rivalry Press. 2013. 226p. $24.95. (978-1937420420). An anthology of poems on the struggles and connections made in the classroom comes from the intersection of personal identity, teaching, and learning.

ART

Art and Queer Culture. Ed. by Catherine Lord and Richard Meyer. Phaidon Press. 2013. 412p. $75.00. (978-0714849355). Chronological and comprehensive in scope, the editors document the wide expanse of queer cultural expressions that oppose normative heterosexuality from 1885 through the present.

Legendary: Inside the House Ballroom Scene. Photographs by Gerard H. Gaskin. Duke University Press. 2013. 120p. $45. (978-0822355823). Color and b/w photographs flaunt gay and transgender men and women, mostly Latino and black, as they express their electric, effervescent selves.

DRAMA

Tom at the Farm. By Michael Marc Bouchard. Trans. by Linda Gaboriau. Talonbooks. 2013. 80p. $16.95. (978-0889227590). Lust mixes with brutality when urban Tom attends the rural funeral of his lover and finds himself caught in the dysfunctional lives and expectations of the lover’s mother and brother.

FICTION

Cha-Ching! By Ali Liegegott. City Lights. 2013. 248p. $15.95. (978-0872865709). A young woman, Theo, tries to get a new start in New York City where a new relationship starts her on the right path, but old vices quickly reappear.

The Golden Boy. By Abigail Tarttelin. Atria Books. 2013. 346p. $24.99. (978-1476705804). A family’s carefully constructed facade intended to protect their intersex child falls apart when he is the victim of a violent crime.

An Honest Ghost. By Rick Whitaker. Jaded Ibis Press. 2013. 210p. $16.99. (978-1937543389). In a cut-and-paste novel, the author tells about his life, his boyfriend, his son, and his son’s mother through single sentences taken from over 500 other works.

Nevada. By Imogen Binnie. Topside Press. 2013. 242p. $17.95. (978-0983242239). Providing a powerful transgender voice throughout the novel, Maria Griffiths, a trans woman in New York who finds her life unraveling, steals a car and seeks escape via a cross-country road trip to Nevada.

These Things Happen. By Richard Kramer. Unbridled Books. 2012. 272p. $24.95. (978-1609530891). After 15-year-old Theo comes out at a school assembly, he asks his straight friend Wesley who is living with his gay father and lover to help him understand this “gay thing” during 24 hours of mayhem and soul-searching in Wesley’s extended family.

FICTION /MYSTERY

The Killer Wore Leather: A Mystery. By Laura Antoniou. Cleis Press. 2013. 402p. $16.95. (978-1-573449304). Chaos reigns amidst a myriad of characters as dyke Detective Rebecca Feldblum, with the help of her straight sidekick, navigates the kinky world of sex to find the murderer of reigning Mr. Global Leather during the current contest at a New York hotel.

FICTION/SHORT STORIES

Everything Begins & Ends at the Kentucky Club. By Benjamin Alire Saenz. Cinco Puentos. 2012.  222p. $16.95. (978-1935955320). Seven short stories set in the famous watering hole just south of El Paso on Avenida Juarez reflect the connecting place for Saenz’s characters from different sides of physical and emotional borders.

Canary: Stories. By Nancy Jo Cullen. Biblioasis. 2013. 189p. Biblioasis. $15.95.(978-1927428146). This often comic collection of short stories focuses on working class Canadian characters whose sexually is often fluid.

Mundo Cruel: Stories. By Luis Negron. Trans. by Suzanne Jill Levine. Seven Stories Press. 2013. 96p. $13.95. (978-1609804183). Luis Negron transcribes Telemundo into print through witty, humorous, satirical stories that capture the Puerto Rican’s view of the world.

GRAPHIC NARRATIVE

7 Miles A Second.  By David Wojnarowicz, Marguerite Van Cook and James Romberger. Fantagraphics. 2013. 68p. $19.99. (978-1606996140). This classic graphic read includes new material and the powerful, never-before-duplicated, realistic coloring of the artist.

Anything That Loves: Comics Beyond “Gay” and “Straight”. Ed. by Charles “Zan” Christensen and Carol Queen. Northwest Press. 2013. 216p. $29.99. (978-1938720321). A collection of comics covers the range and nuances of bisexuality, showcasing the discrimination bisexuals face from both the gay and straight communities.

Blue is the Warmest Color. By Julie Maroh. Trans. by Ivanka Hahnenberger. Arsenal Pulp Press. 2013. 160p. $19.95. (978-1551525143). Clementine, a high school junior, finds an expected love for a young woman, but the relationship is made difficult because of Clem’s homophobic family and new lover’s girlfriend.

Calling Dr. Laura: A Graphic Memoir. By Nicole J. Georges. Houghton Mifflin. 2013. 260p. $16.95. (978-0547615592). Episodic vignettes describe the author’s pain-filled life between the age of two, when her mother told her that her father was dead, to the pursuit of truth when a palm reader tells Georges, 23, that the father is actually alive and Georges’ misery in finding acceptance as a lesbian.

Julio’s Day. By Gilbert Hernandez. Fantagraphics. 2013. 112p. $19.99. (978-1606996065). With minimal text, this graphic novel follows main character Julio from cradle to grave, illustrating how the gay experience has changed drastically over 100 years.

Spit and Passion. By Cristy C. Road. The Feminist Press. 2012. 157p. $15.95. (978-1558618077). The Cuban-American, Catholic-reared author reveals the angst of her youth in her combined text and art memoir that describes failure to fit into her culture, her search for help in punk rock, and her coming to terms with her queer identity.

NON-FICTION

Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution. By Shiri Eisner. Seal Press. 2013. 245p. $16.00. (978-1580054744). This examination of bisexual politics covers issues of biphobia/monosexism, feminism, and transgenderism including the problems of labeling this sexual orientation/gender identity.

Courthouse Democracy and Minority Rights: Same-Sex Marriage in the States. By Robert J. Hume. Oxford University Press. 2013. 217p. $85. (978-0199982172). Although much attention has been paid to marriage equality in the nation’s higher, state courts have been the catalyst that moved same-sex marriage forward, especially because many decisions went against the “tyranny of the majority.”

‘Don’t Be So Gay!’ Queers, Bullying, and Making School Safe. By Donn Short. UBC Press. 2013. 289p. $32.95. (978-0774823272). Conclusions from interviews with queer youth and their allies in the Toronto area show the faults of the Canadian safe-school legislation and recommend effective strategies to change the homophobic culture of schools.

From the Closet to the Altar: Courts, Backlash, and the Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage. By Michael J. Klarman. Oxford University Press. 2012. 276p. $27.95. (978-0199922109). Although LGBT rights suffered reversals during the last half of the 20^th century and the first 11 years of this one, the progress has been amazing, particularly in the area of marriage equality.

Gay Press, Gay Power: The Growth of LGBT Community Newspapers in America. By Tracy Baim. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 2012. 468p. $25. (978-1480080522). Comprehensive in scope and content, this history of GLBT print media incorporates interviews and essays by leaders in the field to trace the mainstream’s handling of gay content, the role of advertising in this media, and its future.

Girlfag: A Life Told in Sex and Musicals. By Janet W. Hardy. Beyond Binary Books. 2012. 175p. $13.95. (978-1938123009). A female-bodied person telling of her identification with gay men and exploring other girlfags in the past addresses the question, “Do you want to be that person, or do you want to have sex with them?”

Israel/Palestine and the Queer International. By Sarah Schulman. Duke University Press. 2012. 193p. $22.95. (978-0822353757). Invited to speak at Tel Aviv University, the activist/novelist discovered and joined the Palestinian academic and cultural boycott of Israel as she explored the reasons with queer Palestinians in both the United States and the West Bank in a perspective of Palestine that has both enraged and enlightened.

Land of 10,000 Loves: A History of Queer Minnesota. By Stewart Van Cleve. University of Minnesota Press. 2012. 323p. (978-0816676453). The rich vignettes about events and people of just one state, “queer … since the very beginning,” tie in people from around the world who visited Minnesota and represent the struggles of queer folk everywhere.

Lawfully Wedded Husband: How My Gay Marriage Will Save the American Family. By Joel Derfner. University of Wisconsin. 2013. 235p. (978-0299294908). With humor and poignant clarity, the author blends the rocky path of deciding marriage plans with his psychiatrist partner, Mike Combs, in 2010 with a pointed viewpoint on same-sex marriage partially based on the attitudes of his civil rights activist family.

Men in Eden: William Drummond Stewart and Same-Sex Desire in the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade. By William Benemann. University of Nebraska Press, 2012. 343p. $29.95.(978-0803237780). During the 19^th century, Scottish nobleman Stewart traveled from Murthly Castle in Perthshire to a wild life with other hunters and explorers living in freedom on the edge of American society.

New Queer Cinema: The Director’s Cut. By B. Ruby Rich. Duke University Press Books. 2013. 360p. $25.95. (978-0822354284). This compilation of intelligent, thought-provoking essays by film essayist and critic place the new queer cinema movement in its cultural/historical context.

Oye Loca: From the Mariel Boatlift to Gay Cuban Miami. By Susana Pena. University of Minnesota Press. 2013. 280p. $25. (978-0816665549). Pena investigates the changes in the Cuban ethnic and sexual community of Miami since the arrival of the male homosexual “undesirables” of the 1980 Mariel boatlift.

Real Man Adventures. By T Cooper. McSweeney’s. 2012. 272p. $23.00. (978-1938073007). A transsexual man uses a variety of forms–letters, stories, interviews–to address different facets of his life.

Robert Duncan in San Francisco. By Michael Rumaker. City Lights Books. 2013. 143p. $12.95. (978-0872865907). Highly closeted during his friendship with the openly out gay poet, Rumaker reflects on the North Beach literary culture after the publication of Howl but before the more liberating post-Stonewall times.

Same-Sex Marriage in the United States: The Road to the Supreme Court. By Jason Pierceson. Rowman and Littlefield. 2013. 253p. (978-1442212046). The path of the legalization of federal marriage equality has been filled with political, legal, and culture issues.

Same-Sex Legal Kit for Dummies. By Carrie Stone and John G. Culhane. Wiley. 2013. 364p. $34.99. (978-1118395219). This highly accessible book with accompanying CD covers just about every legal facet for LGBT people—valuable for everyone in the community.

Same-Sex Marriage in Latin America: Promise and Resistance. Ed. by Jason Pierceson, Adriana Piatti-Crocker, and Shawn Schulenberg. Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield. 2013. 176p. $27.99. (978-0739167038). Nine authors explore the evolving supportive same-sex policies in Latin America through case studies set in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and Central America.

Shanghai Lalas: Female Tongzhi Communities and Politics in Urban China. By Lucetta Hip Lo Kam. Hong Kong University Press. 2013. 213p. $25. (978-9882208452). Lesbians in China struggle between their same-sex desire and the need to conform to traditional family life in a country that restricts women’s rights.

We Do! American Leaders Who Believe in Marriage Equality. Ed. by Jennifer Baumgardner & Madeleine M. Kunin. Akashic. 2013. 204p. $15.95. (978-1617751875). A historical look at the growth of marriage equality acceptance through key speeches from Harvey Milk in 1977 to Bill Clinton’s March 2013 speech includes brief bios of the politicians.

NON-FICTION/ BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

Allen Ginsberg. By Steve Finbow. Reaktion Books. 2013. 235p. $16.95. (978-1780230177). For over a half century, the author of the epic poem Howl fought conformity and capitalization in the world through his contacts with hundreds of the famous and infamous.

Army of Lovers: A Community History of Will Munro. By Sarah Liss. Coach House Books. 2013. 157p. $13.95. (978-1552452776). Various people in Munro’s life describe their relationships with the man who brought together the queer world of Toronto through his career as DJ, activist, impresario, and artist before he died of brain cancer at the age of 35.

The Beauty of Men Never Dies: An Autobiographical Novel. By David Leddick. Terrace Books/University of Wisconsin Press. 2013. 135p. $24.95. (978-0299292706). As a voice from both the past and the present, a man in his 70s shares his gay experiences and insights.

Becoming a Londoner: A Diary. By David Plante. Bloomsbury. 2013. 532p. $30. (978-1620401880). The author’s love affair with his partner Nikos Stangos for over 40 years provides the foundation of Plante’s revelations during the first 20 years as he relishes the many relationships with members of the artistic world.

Body Geographic. By Barrie Jean Borich. University of Nebraska Press. 2013. 272p. $17.95. (978-0803239852). In this creative, non-linear narrative, Borich traces the real, imagined, future, and past “maps” of families, cities, and lovers which intersect in Borich’s life.

Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay. By Paul Vitagliano. Quirk Books. 2012. 128p. $14.95 (978-1594745997). Photographs and text offer insight into the “gay” childhood of individuals across the globe.

Coal to Diamonds. By Beth Ditto with Michelle Tea. Spiegel & Grau.  2013. 153p. $22. (978-0385525916). From rural Arkansas to leader of the band Gossip, this feisty, fat, sexually-confused lesbian-to-be nerd fights her way through a mental breakdown with humor and grace.

Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter: Growing Up with a Gay Dad. By Alison Wearing. Knopf. 2013. 292p. $24. (978-0345807571). Two perspectives—one from a teenage girl and the other from her coming-out father—make this a rich view into the lives of gays and their families in the early 1980s.

Dreadful: The Short Life and Gay Times of John Horne Burns. By David Margolick. Other Press. 2013. 343p. $24.95. (978-1590515716). This unflatteringly portrayal of gay American author John Horne Burns (1916–1953) from his early prep school experiences through teaching at a boarding school and military intelligence work in Italy during World War II reads like a novel about a deeply flawed character.

The End of San Francisco. By Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. City Lights Publishing. 2013. 172p. $15.95. (978-0872865723). These memoirs illuminate the generation that came of age in the early 90’s, grew up with AIDS, sought change and created a radical queer community.

Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father. By Alysia Abbott. Norton. 2013. 326p. $25.95. (978-0393082524). After the death of her free-spirited mother, Alysia is brought up by her gay father, poet and activist Steven Abbott.

The Greek House: The Story of a Painter’s Love Affair with the Island of Sifnos. By Christian Brechneff with Tim Lovejoy. FSG. 2013. 284p. $27.00. (978-0374166717). Starting at the age of 21, the author celebrated three decades of summers on an isolated Greek island where he bloomed as an artist and discovered himself as a gay man.

My Almost Certainly Real Imaginary Jesus. By Kelly Barth. Artoi Books. 2012. 228p. $17.95. (978-0980040753). From her childhood in a strict Presbyterian home and her crush on another young girl to her rejection for being a lesbian, Barth searches for Christianity in this sometimes laugh-out-loud memoir.

The Other Man: 21 Writers Speak Candidly about Sex, Love, Infidelity, and Moving On. Ed. by Paul Alan Fahey. JMS Books. 2013. 230p. $14.50. (978-1483970967). As the editor wrote in his introduction, “the other man … comes, he sees, he conquers, and leaves behind something akin to a lingering, twenty-four hour flu or at worst, a really bad case of the Black Death.”

Prairie Silence. By Melanie Hoffert. Beacon Press. 2013. 238p. $24.95. (978-0807044735). Searching for her family roots, the author leaves her city life in Minneapolis during her thirties to return to the family farm in North Dakota where she discovers faith and loyalty among the people and to the land that they serve.

Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous Gender Creative Son. By Lori Duron. Broadway/Crown/Random House. 2013. 261p. $15. (978-0770437725). Blog entries by the author about rearing two sons–the younger gender nonconforming–and maintaining their self-esteem begins with Duron’s discovery that C.J. wants only girl things before the age of three and culminates in her confrontation with school officials to stop the other children bullying the child.

NON-FICTION/ESSAYS

American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics. By Dan Savage. Dutton Adult. 2013. 320p. (987-0525954101). Sex columnist Savage addresses a range of issues including same-sex marriage, monogamy, guns, health care, religion and even death in an often humorous and personal no-hold-barred style.

Among the Bloodpeople: Politics and Flesh. By Thomas Glave. Akashic Books. 2013. 224 p. $15.95. (978-1617751707). Essays on gay love, sex, suicide, writers and writing, the diaspora of Caribbean peoples, and the love of Jamaica (with all of its faults) are pointed and passionate.

Blood, Marriage, Wine and Glitter: Essays. By S. Bear Bergman. Arsenal Pulp. 2013. 232p. $18.95. (978-1551525112). A polyamorous transman married to another transman who delivered their love child writes about the fluidity of gender and relationships.

The Martin Duberman Reader: The Essential Historical, Biographical, and Autobiographical Writings. By Martin Duberman. New Press. 2013. 374p. $21.95. (978-1595586797). A half-century of writings showing the historian’s perspectives on the intersection of gender, sexuality, race, and economics includes part of his 1993 book, Stonewall.

Red-Inked Retablos. By Rigoberto Gonzalez. University of Arizona Press. 2012. $19.95. 140p. (978-0816521357). In the tradition of framing devotional images, these 13 essays honor those people who influenced the gay author’s lifework and give hope to a future generation of Latino “mariposa” writers.

POETRY

After This We Go Dark. By Theresa Davis. Sibling Rivalry Press. 2013. 112p. $14.95. (978-1937420383). Narrative and observational poems use a strong lesbian/feminist voice to dissect love and loss, relationships, race, religion, motherhood, gender, history, and everyday occurrences.

Appetite. By Aaron Smith. University of Pittsburgh Press. 2012. 72p. $15.95. (978-0810129153). Angry, witty, humorous poems use a gay voice to speak of everyday actions.

Autogeography: Poems. By Reginald Harris. Northwestern University Press. 2013. 84p. $16.95. (978-1937402488). Poetry highlights personal and revealing experiences of a gay man of color.

Begging for It. By Alex Dimitrov. Four Way. 2013. 96p. (978-1935536260). Sensual without being erotic, these works are youthful, fresh, and filled with a sense of place.

Coconut Milk. By Dan Taulapapa McMullin. University of Arizona Press. 2013. 80p. $15.95. (978-0816530526). The culturally-rich poems from a queer, Samoan American bring the Samoan culture to life and point out the dichotomy of Fa’a Fafine, third-gendered life in two cultures.

Deleted Names. By Lawrence Schimel. A Midsummer Night’s Press. 2013. 40p. $10.95. (978-1938334030). Young, smart poetry that begs to be spoken rather than read, shines a spotlight on everyday gay insecurities, desires, situations, pets, and sickness.

Fortunate Light. By David Bergman. A Midsummer Night’s Press. 2013. 40p. $10.95. (978-1938334023). A mature voice speaks to memory of the past loves, present feelings, and hopeful desires.

How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler’s Memoir. By Amber Dawn. Arsenal Pulp. 2013. 156p. $15.95. (978-1551525006). Feminist, survivor, queer identity, sex-worker—these are the pieces of Dawn’s life that guide her experiences on the streets of Vancouver and provide a lifeline that she describes through autobiographical poetry and prose.

Obscenely Yours. By Angelo Nikolopoulos. Alice James Books. 2013. 75p. $15.95. (978-1882295999). Poems celebrate the heart of gay sex in all its forms.

Render. By Collin Kelley. Sibling Rivalry Press. 2013. 78p. $14.95. (978-1937420345). This collection of poems takes the reader through the author’s experience as a gay child,  adolescent, and adult in the southern United States.

Running for Trap Doors. By Joanna Hoffman. Sibling Rivalry. 2013. 80. $14.95. (978-1937420475). Youth, angst, lesbian bars, emoticons, and lost girlfriends—these are a few of the issues that the poet navigates in this slim volume.

This Assignment is so Gay: LGBTIQ Poets on the Art of Teaching. Ed. by Megan Volpert. Sibling Rivalry Press. 2013. 226p. $24.95. (978-1937420420). An anthology of poems on the struggles and connections made in the classroom comes from the intersection of personal identity, teaching, and learning.

Viral. By Suzanne Parker. Alice James Books. 2013. 80p. $15.95. (978-1938584015). Inspired by and dedicated to Tyler Clementi, this poetry tells of LGBT bullying and suicide.