Celebrate PRIDE!
June is Pride Month, when members of the LGBTQIA+ community around the world come together to celebrate the freedom to be themselves and to achieve equal opportunity for members of the community.
Making sure that voices from the LGBTQIA+ community are heard is a great way to celebrate Pride.
Usually, Pride is celebrated all month long with gatherings such as parades and festivals. As with many things, this year is different, so we’ve compiled a list of books in the MPL collection that will help you celebrate Pride at home!
Happy Pride!
Books for Young Readers
Board Books
Pride Colors by Robin Stevenson
Pride Colors is a celebration of the deep unconditional love of a caregiver to a child. The message of this colourful board book is that you are free to be whoever you want to be, and you will always be loved!
Mommy, Mama and Me by Leslea Newman and Carol Thompson
This book is about the loving bond between a same-sex couple and their child. In Mommy, Mama and Me a toddler spends the day with their two moms, showing that there is no limit to what a loving family can do together.
Picture Books
When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff and Kaylani Juanita
When Aidan was born everyone thought he was a girl. After realizing that he was a transgender boy, Aidan’s parents helped him change the parts of his life that didn’t fit anymore. Now he is going to be a brother and he wants to make sure everything is perfect! When Aidan Became a Brother is a perfect book that will resonate with transgender children, reassure a child becoming an older sibling, and celebrate the many transitions a family can experience.
A Plan for Pops by Heather Smith
Lou spends every Saturday with Grandad and Pops. But everything changes when Pops has a fall. Then comes the terrible news that Pops will need a wheel chair for always. Unable to cope with his new circumstances, he becomes withdrawn and shuts himself in his room. Hearing Grandad trying to cheer up Pops inspires Lou to come up with a plan! A Plan for Pops is a story about intergenerational relationships and community!
For Ages 9-12
The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Street by Gayle Pitman
This book is about a series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the LGBTQ+ community in reaction to a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969. The riots are attributed as the spark that ignited the LGBTQ+ movement. The Stonewall Riots helps readers understand the legacy of the LGBTQ+ movement.
The Mighty Heart of Sunny Saint James by Ashley Herring Blake
When Sunny St. James receives a new heart, she decides to set off on a “New Life Plan”: 1) do amazing things she could never do before; 2) find a new best friend; 3) kiss a boy for the first time. Her “New Life Plan” seems to be racing forward, but when she meets her new best friend Quinn, Sunny questions whether she really wants to kiss a boy at all.
Books for Teens
When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan & Robin Stevenson
When their grandfather dies unexpectedly, cousins Mark and Talia travel from opposite sides of the country to help clean out the family cottage in Ontario. However, they would much rather be celebrating Pride in Toronto than dealing with family drama. When a series of complications throws everything up in the air, Mark and Talia – with Mark’s little sister Paige in tow- hit the road. A contemporary road trip novel full of family secrets and friendships, perfect for fans of David Levithan and Becky Albertalli.
The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali tries her hardest to live up to her conservative Muslim parents’ expectations. But, when she’s caught kissing her girlfriend, Rukhsana is uprooted to Bangladesh and thrown into a world of tradition and arranged marriages. Will she find the courage to choose her own path? This novel is full of humor, heart, and high-stakes drama.
Books for Adults
Rebent Sinner by Ivan Coyote
In this collection of personal essays, Coyote takes a “look back over thirty queer years” as a trans, nonbinary writer and spoken word performer. Coyote shares their journey with readers, including experiencing such indignities as not having access to a gender neutral bathroom, and meeting their “queer” heroes, all with a message of resilience, inclusion and hope.
High School by Tegan & Sara
This is the revelatory and unique story of Sara and Tegan Quin, identical twins from Calgary, Alberta, before they became the celebrated musicians and global LGBTQ icons we know today. Told in alternating chapters from both Tegan’s point of view and Sara’s, the book is a raw account of their grappling with their identity and sexuality and their coming of age.