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IST 605: LGBTQIA+ Representation in Children's Literature

Resources for public and school librarians, educators, university students, and others interested in the importance of LGBTQIA+ representation in children's and middle grade literature.

Lambda Literary Awards

The Lambda Literary Awards (known colloquially as the Lammys) were established in 1989 and honor LGBTQIA+ writers across various categories, including children's, middle grade, and young adult literature. The Board of the Lambda Literary Awards includes such people as Roz Lee (the Head of Philanthropy at the Equality Fund and a former employee of the Ms. Foundation for Women), Robert Guinsler (a senior literary agent at Sterling Lord Literistic), and Dr. Chase T. M. Anderson (a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellow at the University of California, San Francisco), among others. Finalists for the Lammys are revealed in the spring of each year, and awards are presented annually in June.

2023 LGBTQ+ Children's Book Winner: Mighty Red Riding Hood
Wallace West; Little Brown Books for Young Readers

2023 LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Book Winner: Nikhil Out Loud
Maulik Pancholy; Balzer & Bray

Stonewall Book Awards - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award

The Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature Award is a subsect of the Stonewall Book Awards, presented by the American Library Association. First awarded in 2010, the award is presented annually in summer "to English language books that have exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience." (Stonewall Book Awards - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature Award | Awards & Grant, n.d.) Winning books must have been published in the United States.
2023 Children's Book Winner: Love, Violet
Charlotte Sullivan Wild, illustrated by Charlene Chua; Macmillan Publishers
Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild