Gay male teen fiction
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gay teen fiction is a subgenre that overlaps with LGBTQ+ literature and
young adult literature Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
. This article covers books about gay and
bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
teenage characters who are male. The genre of
young adult literature Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
is usually considered to begin with
Maureen Daly Maureen Daly (March 15, 1921 – September 25, 2006) was an Irish-born American writer who wrote the 1942 novel '' Seventeenth Summer'' while still in her teens. Originally marketed for adults, it described a contemporary teenage romance and drew ...
's '' Seventeenth Summer'', which was published in 1942. ''Seventeenth Summer'' is often credited with starting
young adult literature Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
because it was one of the first adolescent problem novels. Critics trace the origin of the "new realism" or "problem novel" in teen fiction to the period from 1967 through 1969, during which
S. E. Hinton Susan Eloise Hinton (born July 22, 1948) is an American writer best known for her young-adult novels (YA) set in Oklahoma, especially '' The Outsiders'' (1967), which she wrote during high school. Hinton is credited with introducing the YA genr ...
's '' The Outsiders'',
Paul Zindel Paul Zindel Jr. (May 15, 1936 – March 27, 2003) was an American playwright, young adult novelist, and educator. Early life Zindel was born in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York, to Paul Zindel Sr., a policeman, and Betty Zindel, a nurse; h ...
's ''
The Pigman ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', and other pivotal titles were published. These young adult novels were characterized by candor, unidealized characters and settings, colloquial and realistic language, and plots that portrayed realistic problems faced by contemporary young adults that did not necessarily find resolution in a happy ending. Because gay young adult novels often center on problems that gay teen characters encounter because of their sexuality, these books are often classified as examples of the "problem novel" genre.


History

In 1969, the publication of '' I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip'' by John Donovan announced the arrival of gay and lesbian literature as a new genre within young adult fiction. To date there are still relatively few titles that fit within this genre, but nonetheless, the books that have been written and published constitute a necessary and unique collection of ideas. In the years from 1969 through 1992, approximately sixty young adult novels with gay/lesbian characters or themes appeared in the United States. The rate of production of this body of literature has roughly doubled over the years, with approximately half (thirty-one) of the books published in the sixteen years from 1969 through 1984, and the rest (twenty-nine) published in the following eight years, from 1985 through 1992. From 1998 to 2003, 42 more novels were published with
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
characters.


Publication

Despite the apparent wider acceptance of these novels, publishing them can be difficult. ''
Geography Club ''Geography Club'' is a 2003 young adult novel by American author Brent Hartinger. It is the first book in '' The Russel Middlebrook Series''. The novel follows a group of high school students who feel like outsiders, some because of their se ...
'', about a high school gay support group, was rejected seventeen times before it was published. Author Brent Hartinger said, "Editors told my agent again and again that there was no market for a book like this, and all my agent's agent-friends told her she was wasting her time on a gay teen book." Publishers often seem motivated by the desire to maximize their profits, and librarians are often restricted by limited acquisitions budgets. Neither of these factors work to support, much less create, an environment in which much literature will be produced that explores homosexuality for adolescents in any meaningful way. Although larger publishing houses may reject homosexual fiction because of the smaller market, there are publishing houses available that focus on this specific genre. For almost thirty years, Alyson Books has been publishing LGBT authors, often when no other publisher would dare sign them on. Alyson Books, recently purchased by Regent Media, is the oldest LGBT book-publisher and the first to readily publish gay fiction against the marketing odds. In an interview with ''Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide'' Don Weise talks about the important impact Alyson Books has had in gay and lesbian publishing:Weise, Don. "Whither Gay Literature?". ''Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide.'' 16.3 (2009): 25-29.
When I look at our backlist and see the first LGBT children's books- '' Heather Has Two Mommies'' and ''
Daddy's Roommate ''Daddy's Roommate'' is a children's book written by Michael Willhoite and published by Alyson Books in 1990. One of the first children's books to address the subject of homosexuality, the story follows a young boy whose divorced father now live ...
'', or the first African-American gay anthologies- In the Life and Brother to Brother- or the S/M classics Coming to Power and Leatherfolk, I see a publisher with a wide vision of who we are as LGBT people. Taken together, this sampling of books recognizes that some of us are parents, some of us are people of color, and some of us enjoy sex involving BDSM. Some of us might even be all of the above. To my thinking this inclusive view is an extraordinary achievement unto itself. While I could name any number of books that I'm proud to say Alyson has published, I think the barrier-breaking nature of our past is what excites me most.
Other publishing houses have begun to show an interest in gay fiction.
LPI Media LPI Media (formerly Liberation Publications Inc.)
, also owned by Regent Media, is now the largest gay and lesbian publisher.


Audience

The audience for such books includes both teens and adults, according to Sharyn November, a senior editor at Viking Children's Books/Puffin, who observes that "young adult used to mean books aimed at readers between the ages 16 and 21," but some of these books are now "reaching the 14 plus crowd and ideally crossing over to the adult market," although gay young adult novels are also aimed at children as young as twelve years old. Gay young adult fiction serves more than just gay teenagers, it offers gay literature to straight adolescents as well. All young adults, defined here as people who are 12 to 18 years old in transition from childhood to adulthood, are struggling with issues of responsible sexual behavior and emergent ideas of self-identity, and all young adults should have access to literature that reflects the reality of their lives, their emotions, their fears and their joys, including gay and lesbian teenagers. Furthermore, as homosexuality becomes more and more acceptable to society at large, or at least more visible, all teenagers are going to know others who are lesbian or gay, whether it is family members, teachers, friends or neighbors. Nancy St. Clair describes the benefits of including homosexual fiction in adolescent classrooms for both the homosexual and straight students: "For the straight students, the course offers the opportunity to study a culture they are curious about, but which the homophobia, so prevalent in student life, prevents them from freely exploring. My course, then, becomes a mandate to explore that which is taboo for many of them. For lesbian students the unit offers both a validation of their experience and an arena where their voices can be heard." Yet, given the status of young adults as minors, many topics of interest to them, such as homosexuality, are controversial. As Nancy St. Clair describes in her article: "Adults have been eager to have the genre moralize, to perform a social service, while the adolescent has been eager for an understanding of society and his/her emerging, if continuing sexuality. Still, the decade beginning with the mid-1970s and running to the mid-1980s saw the publication of a second category of novels, ones in which the representation of adolescent homosexuality became increasingly complex and decreasingly moralistic." Despite the controversy over gay fiction for young adults there is still a need for books dealing with homosexuality for adolescents. Nancy St. Clair argues, "If we as teachers truly believe that literature helps students understand themselves and the issues they face, then we have an obligation to provide our gay students with the same resources as we do other minority students." Public libraries, committed to providing materials to young adults to meet their educational, recreational and social information needs, should collect materials that address these needs.


Themes

''USA Today'' reported that, "No longer do gay young adult novels simply ask, 'Am I gay?' Now they explore how to navigate in the journey for love." Contemporary gay young adult novels typically involve a teenage protagonist, teen issues, and the first-person point of view. These novels have come to deal with a variety of gay-related issues and themes.


Recognition

The annual Rainbow List is created by the Rainbow Round Table (RRT) of the
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
(ALA). This best-of-the-year list is selected by librarians who are members for the RRT. Another indication, some say, that gay young adult novels have gained wider acceptance in recent years is the fact that, since 1999, four gay-themed books, or books with gay secondary characters, have won the Young Adult Library Services Association's
Michael L. Printz Award The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by ''Booklist'' magazine; administered by the ALA's y ...
. This award, named for a
Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Un ...
, Kansas school librarian and sponsored by ''Booklist'', a publication of the ALA, is given in recognition of a work that demonstrates literary excellence in young adult literature. The
Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...
, which is awarded in recognition of works that celebrate or explore LGBT themes, also recognizes children's/young adult literature. Other examples of recognition include the ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" award, whose winners have included ''
Rainbow Boys ''Rainbow Boys'' is the first novel in a trilogy by Alex Sánchez, focusing on the issues gay and questioning youth face as they come of age. This book is followed by '' Rainbow High'' and ''Rainbow Road''. Plot summary The story follows the ...
'' by Alex Sanchez and '' Boy Meets Boy'' by
David Levithan David Levithan (born September 7, 1972) is an American young adult fiction author and editor."David Levithan". October 30, 2008. Gale Database. ''Contemporary Authors Online''. UWM Golda Meir Library, Milwaukee. July 1, 2009. He has written numer ...
.


See also

*
Lesbian literature Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics. Fiction that falls into this category may be of any gen ...
*
List of gay male teen novels This is a list of gay male teen fiction books. Books Series See also *LGBT literature *Young adult fiction References {{ReflistList of gay young adult novels
Children's books with LGBT themes, Gay male teen fiction, Male homos ...
*
Gay literature Gay literature is a collective term for literature produced by or for the gay community which involves characters, plot lines, and/or themes portraying male homosexual behavior. Overview and history Because the social acceptance of homosexual ...


Notes


References


External links


Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table (GLBTRT) of the American Library AssociationList of gay young adult novelsLee Wind's blogsite, "I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I Read?," lists, summarizes, and offers reader reviews of 89 books with Gay Teen Characters and ThemesYA Pride LGBTIQ+characters in Young Adult Literature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gay Male Teen Fiction 1969 introductions