A few years ago, I came out to my mom the morning after my senior prom. She was surprised, then quiet, then asked what my real orientation was. I said, “I have no idea, but I like this one girl.” She was a little confused, but she kissed me and said, “As long as she makes you happy.” For the next few weeks, she asked a lot of questions: when did I realize? What was my new girlfriend’s orientation? What was the word for this or that? I WAS happy, right?
Fast forward about two years. My mom sits me down and tells me that she needs my help with her next book. She’s been writing middle-grade girls’ books (like, 9-14 range) since I was eight, and she says she has an idea that she really, really wants to get right. It follows the plot of Romeo and Juliet, she says, and the main character is a twelve-year-old girl realizing she has a crush on another girl when they put on the play for English class.
Fast forward another year to now. STAR-CROSSED is about to come out, and it is absolutely amazing.
My mom has poured her heart and soul into making sure this is a positive thing for kids to read.
I’ve been reading and editing and helping with this book since its first draft and I’ve been, metaphorically and sometimes literally bouncing up and down on my heels, waiting to be able to tell people about it. It’s beyond sweet, and there’s a ton of Shakespeare and humor and goofy preteen drama and twelve-year-old girls flirting and Star Wars jokes and a glossary of Shakespearean insults in the back (yes, really), and it’s just so fun and positive and smart and I want to show it to every kid I know.
This book is for LGBT kids, written by a mom who has asked questions and done her research and tried as hard as she possibly could to make her own queer kid feel safe and loved and valid, and it REALLY shows. Mattie (the cutie on the left) and Gemma (the cutie on the right) are given space to learn about themselves, and ultimately they don’t have to figure themselves out right away or come out to everyone at once or choose a label. They’re kids. It’s okay to still be figuring things out. It’s okay.
Fun facts:
My mom said from the beginning she wanted both girls on the cover to make it clear what the book was about; then when they got the final artwork and Mattie’s hair was short, my mom wrote back and asked the artist to do the hair over to make it as obvious as possible that Mattie is a girl.
When a few people started buzzing about Mattie being the youngest bisexual protagonist they’ve seen, she went back and changed passages to confirm that Mattie likes boys and girls.
When I asked for a happier and less ambiguous ending scene, she set Mattie and Gemma up on a frigging date.
It comes out on March 14, 2017. Please join me in GETTING HYPE FOR STAR-CROSSED ❤
SO EXCITED FOR THIS YOU HAVE NO IDEA
The is only ONE other middle grade (ages 8-12) fiction book I know of with a bisexual protagonist and that is Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan. The field of bi characters in childrens lit will DOUBLE with this book.
I don’t often see abuse posts about the opposite spectrum of post-abuse behavior, and it’s. Kind of a bummer bc those are still things people experience.
So shout out to :
people who feel like they have to aggressively defend the things that are important to them because they’re so used to it being torn down and taken from them – even if a friend was just kidding, it’s so hard to see it as just kidding.
People who are constantly on high alert for a fight and had to learn to treat everything like a debate because it was the only way they could stand up for themselves. People who have a hard time rationalizing not everything is an attack because everything used to be an attack.
People who are mad and furious over what happened and get completely consumed by rage no matter how hard they try to let it go. And who have to deal with people telling them they’re making it bigger than it was.
People who have to constantly front as being a badass or aloof because they can’t be seen as vulnerable in any way.
People who constantly fear they’re just like their abuser because they lash out at a moment’s notice to defend themselves
There’s a ton more things but I’m on my break and these are just things I experience that I know a lot more people relate to omg. It’s hard to unlearn aggressive means of self preservation and it hurts to hurt people after you’ve had to experience that hurt and it seems impossible to get over or unlearn those things but you’ll do alright it just needs time and patience and there’s nothing wrong with being angry.
The popularity of “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” is just so weird to me. I mean, it’s not bad as deliberately grotesque novelty songs go – catchier than most, even – but the fact that it’s considered part of the standard canon of Christmas carols in many places is just bizarre. It’s like Weird Al’s “Christmas At Ground Zero” somehow ended up ranking alongside “Jingle Bells” – how does that even happen?
well because it’s absurd but just not-edgy enough for mainstream radio
“Not edgy”? It’s about a woman being murdered by Santa Claus!
Have you never watched the movie??? She doesn’t die she gets amnesia and she’s brought to the North pole to recuperate.
They toned it down for the movie. In the song, there’s no suggestion that she survives (and being as the song predates the film adaptation by over twenty years, it can hardly be argued that the former was always intended to be taken in the context of the latter).
Once they come out, Jack starts wearing a tshirt that reads “My boyfriend is a hockey player”
Okay but just imagine with me…Jack comes out but doesn’t introduce Bitty to the public at large. And when he wears the t-shirt…like oh my god, the gossip and speculation! People are throwing out all kinds of names! Crosby, Seguin, Mashkov, and even Parson! Every day it’s some one new! (The Falconers, who are very familiar with Bitty, take great delight in informing Jack as to who the media thinks his boyfriend is that day).
snowy: yo Zimmboni, you didn’t happen to have dinner with Malkin last night, did you?
Jack: yeah, Geno and I were catching up, it’s been a while
Tater: why you not invite me? I thought I was your sexy Russian boyfriend
poots: hold on guys the wifi won’t connect and we need to see who’s in the top boyfriend spot today
snowy: i got 4G, how the hell am I not ahead of ovechkin he’s ancient and I have most of my teeth
Tater gets “I am Zimmermann’s boyfriend” t-shirts made and raises a LOT of money for charity, because a bunch of very famous NHL players all wear them at once in an I am Spartacus situation that brings Instagram to a grinding halt for three days.
Something that I feel is under-explored is the fact that Jack is a queer history major. And he went to a very LGBTQ friendly college.
Basically imagine Jack being forever annoyed when people assume that historical figures were straight.
So, with the wonderful help of my dear irl bff @ohsobittle, let me tell you a story. (seriously follow her she’s The Best and we are essentially a matched set)
it really all just starts when they Jack is a little tipsy and hanging out with The Boys and Bitty (of course). Bitty is the DD for the night.
“Y’know, John Laurens was really cute.” “Who?” “John Laurens. Alexander Hamilton’s boyfriend.” “….what?”
(Bitty is on Jack duty. tipsy Jack will probably wander off and go try to teach a class if left unsupervised.)
“No seriously John Laurens was really cute. And so was Alexander. You know his eyes were actually /violet/? Like. Bittle. You don’t understand. Pull up a picture.”
(Shitty points out that Jack isn’t usually into gingers and Jack throws a pillow at him)
“no but he was described as having a peaches and cream complexion like what the fuck”
and then of course Holster is like “I didn’t know they were in love” and Jack is like “oh my god their letters, man, their LETTERS”
*cue theme music and History Shit With Jack Zimmermann* (credit to ohsobittle for that one)
Jack: so dad I have to talk to you
Jack: Bits and I are dating. Have been for a while. Since the summer actually.
Bob: Jack I have something to tell you too
Bob: Your mother and I are married. Have been for a while. Since 1987 actually.
Jack: ….?
Bob: I thought we were sharing blatantly obvious relationship news
I did a very quick, sketchy comic because I was extremely inspired by this post. (Credit to @pinkdiamondprince for the original post.)
The entire analogy was just fantastic and so, so accurate, and I wanted to make a comic for it, even if it’s very sketchy because my attention span is nil.
