Read the rainbow: LGBTQ+ books for all ages, recommended by Kansas City’s librarians
The freedom to read in Kansas City has faced political attacks in recent years — most recently in a new Missouri law threatening librarians who recommend “obscene” books to minors.
Both the active and proposed book bans at libraries and schools around the metro focus on those with LGBTQ+ themes — even if the material in them is deemed by library professionals to be suitable for children and teens.
“The current movement to ban stories that contain LGBTQIA+ characters sends a very clear message that there is something wrong with being queer,” Kansas City Public Library librarian Jamie Mayo told The Star. “Seeing someone else trying to make sense of a feeling that we ourselves are experiencing helps us know we are not alone.”
In honor of Pride Month, we asked librarians at the Kansas City Public Library (KCPL) for their LGBTQ+ book recommendations for readers of all ages. They sent us five LGBTQ+ reading lists — we’ve listed below just a few of the many titles included.
Browse the full lists here:
For even more Pride Month reads, check out the Mid-Continent Public Library’s LGBTQ+ reading lists here:
Books for kids
“Adventures With My Daddies” by Gareth Peter, illustrated by Garry Parsons
This book features a young, adopted narrator describing their life and adventures with their dog and their two dads, an interracial gay couple.
“Julián Is a Mermaid” by Jessica Love
This award-winning story features a young protagonist who spots three elaborately-dressed mermaids on the subway and decides to dress up just like them.
“Maiden & Princess” by Daniel Haack and Isabel Galupo, illustrated by Becca Human
Summary via KCPL: “When a maiden reluctantly attends a ball for her friend, the prince, everyone considers her his perfect match until she surprises them — and herself —by finding true love with someone else.”
“Mr. Watson’s Chickens” by Jarrett Dapier, illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi
Summary via KCPL: “Mr. Watson loves his three chickens, and every morning he and Mr. Nelson count them; but when they start to multiply, his house and tiny yard are soon overrun, and the noise and mess are driving Mr. Nelson crazy — so the couple set out to find a new home for the chickens.”
“I Am Jazz” by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas
Summary via KCPL: “The story of a transgender child who traces her early awareness that she is a girl in spite of male anatomy and the acceptance she finds through a wise doctor who explains her natural transgender status.”
YA / teen titles
“We Deserve Monuments” by Jas Hammonds
Summary via KCPL: “When seventeen-year-old Avery moves to rural Georgia to live with her ailing grandmother, she encounters decade-old family secrets and a mystery surrounding the town’s racist past.”
“In the Lives of Puppets” by T.J. Klune
This queer retelling of the “Tales of Pinocchio” centers on a family of robots with one human member evading persecution in a dystopian future.
“An Unkindness of Ghosts” by Rivers Solomon
A young sharecropper named Aster sows the seeds of civil war aboard a massive space vessel ruled by class divisions as it ferries the last of humanity to a mythical promised land.
“A Queer History of the United States for Young People” by Michael Bronski
Summary via KCPL: “This book explores how LGBTQ people have always been a part of our national identity, contributing to the country and culture for over 400 years.”
“Heartstopper” by Alice Oseman
A teen romance blooms between openly gay Charlie and rugby player Nick at an all-boys high school in England.
Fiction for adult readers
“You Exist Too Much” by Zaina Arafat
Summary via KCPL: “A ‘provocative and seductive debut’ of desire and doubleness that follows the life of a young Palestinian American woman caught between cultural, religious, and sexual identities as she tries to lead an authentic life.”
“All This Could Be Different” by Sarah Thankam Mathews
Summary via KCPL: “A dazzling debut novel about an Indian-American immigrant building a life for herself in the Midwest.”
“Manywhere” by Thomas Morgan
Summary via KCPL: “Stories about genderqueer characters in the American South.”
“Butter Honey Pig Bread” by Francesca Ekwuyasi
Summary via KCPL: “Spanning three continents, Butter Honey Pig Bread tells the interconnected stories of three Nigerian women: Kambirinachi and her twin daughters, Kehinde and Taiye.”
“The Price of Salt” by Patricia Highsmith
Summary via KCPL: “The Price of Salt tells the riveting story of Therese Belivet, a stage designer trapped in a department-store day job, whose salvation arrives one day in the form of Carol Aird, an alluring suburban housewife in the throes of a divorce.”
“This Is How You Lose the Time War” by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Recently the subject of a viral social media post, this story about agents in a time-travel war between rivaling factions was described by one KCPL librarian as “a joy to read.”
Nonfiction LGBTQ+ titles
“A Queer and Pleasant Danger” by Kate Bornstein
This memoir follows the life of a transgender woman who was raised in a conservative Jewish family that then joined the Church of Scientology.
Changing Times: an Almanac and Digest of Kansas City’s LGBTQIA History by David W. Jackson
Summary via KCPL: “This expanded second edition marks the 50th anniversary of Kansas City’s pivotal role in the early struggle for equal rights for LGBTQIA individuals… this volume contains the first-ever, comprehensive census of 175 Kansas City lesbian and gay bars from the 1930s to present.”
“Black on Both Sides: a Racial History of Trans Identity” by C. Riley Snorton
Summary via KCPL: “C. Riley Snorton identifies multiple intersections between blackness and transness from the mid-nineteenth century to present-day anti-black and anti-trans legislation and violence.”
“Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe
This graphic memoir by a genderqueer author and illustrator explores their young adulthood and experiences with gender identity. It was also the most banned book in America last year according to PEN America, a nonprofit supporting freedom of expression through literature.
“Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States” by Samantha Allen
Summary via KCPL: “Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, (Allen) introduces us to scores of extraordinary LGBT people working for change, from the first openly transgender mayor in Texas history to the manager of the only queer night club in Bloomington, Indiana, and many more.”
Do you have more questions about LGBTQ+ resources in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
