Book bans are continuing to target LGBTQ-inclusive children’s and young adult books — but this year’s American Library Association Youth Media Awards (YMAs) show that doing so means keeping young people from some of the best children’s literature around, bar none. And the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) latest annual Rainbow Book List, a broader selection of recommended titles, also shows that publication of LGBTQ-inclusive books isn’t slowing down.
The YMAs, announced Jan. 27, include the renowned Newbery and Caldecott Medals, the top U.S. awards for literary and artistic excellence in children’s books, respectively, but also many other awards in various sub-categories. Two of the YMAs are specific to books of “exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience”: the Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Awards.
The Stonewall Award for Children’s Literature went to “Lunar Boy,” by Cin and Jes Wibowo (Harper Alley), a warm and touching graphic novel about a transgender boy finding community and connection in the distant future. Two picture books and two middle-grade titles were also given Stonewall Honors: “Marley’s Pride, by Joëlle Retener, illustrated by DeAnn Wiley (Barefoot Books); “What I Must Tell the World: How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice,” by Jay Leslie, illustrated by Loveis Wise (Zando); “The Flicker,” by H. E. Edgmon (Feiwel & Friends); and “Murray Out of Water,” by Taylor Tracy (Quill Tree).
The Stonewall Award for Young Adult Books went to “Canto Contigo,” by Jonny Garza Villa (Wednesday Books), about a gay, cisgender Mexican American mariachi star and the Afro-Latino transgender boy who is his rival and love interest. Four young adult books received Stonewall Honors: “Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix,” by Gabe Cole Novoa (Feiwel & Friends); “Navigating With You, by Jeremy Whitley, illustrated by Cassio Ribeiro (Maverick); “Time and Time Again,” by Chatham Greenfield (Bloomsbury); and “Road Home,” by Rex Ogle (Norton).
A number of LGBTQ-inclusive books also gained awards or honors in non-LGBTQ-specific categories:
“The Wrong Way Home,” by Kate O’Shaughnessy, earned a Newbery Honor; The Michael L. Printz Award, for “literary excellence in young adult literature,” went to “Brownstone,” by Samuel Teer and Mar Julia, while Printz Honors went to “Compound Fracture,” by Andrew Joseph White (Peachtree), “The Deep Dark,” by Molly Knox Ostertag (Graphix), and “Road Home” (also a Stonewall honoree; see above).
“Night Owls,” by A. R. Vishny (HarperCollins), won the Sydney Taylor Book Award (Young Adult) for books about the Jewish experience; Sydney Taylor Honors went to the picture book “Joyful Song,” by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal (Levine Querido); the middle-grade novel “Just Shy of Ordinary,” by A.J. Sass (Little, Brown), and the young adult novel “The Forbidden Book,” by Sacha Lamb (Levine Querido), while the middle grade novel “Benji Zeb is a Ravenous Werewolf,” by Deke Moulton (Tundra) was named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book.
“Libertad,” by Bessie Flores Zaldívar (Dial), earned a Pura Belpré Honor (Author), for books about “the Latino cultural experience”; “Homebody,” by Theo Parish, earned a YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Honor; and illustrator Jamiel Law won a Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe New Talent Award for the picture book “Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues: The Extraordinary Life of James Baldwin,” written by Michelle Meadows (HarperCollins).
Additionally, author Carole Boston Weatherford won the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, for the lasting impact of her “books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences.” Her titles illuminate Black lives, and several contain LGBTQ representation, including “Sugar Pie Lullaby,” illustrated by Sawyer Cloud (Sourcebooks); “A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the 1963 March on Washington,” co-authored with Rob Sanders and illustrated by Byron McCray (Henry Holt), and “Becoming Billie Holiday,” illustrated by Floyd Cooper (Wordsong).
Just over two weeks after the YMAs, the ALA’s Rainbow Book List Committee announced its 2025 Rainbow Book List of over 175 titles “celebrating LGBTQIA+ youth and families.” Unlike the Stonewall Awards and other YMAs, which recognize only a very few books at the peak of excellence, the Rainbow Book List is a larger but still librarian-approved group of titles, intended “to assist librarians, educators, caregivers, LGBTQIA+ members, and community allies in selecting quality LGBTQIA+ stories to include in their collections,” as the committee explained in its announcement.
The committee read and evaluated more than 550 books to arrive at its selection of 175. This is up from 2024’s selection of 111 titles, second only to 2023’s record of 193, and nearly four times the 45 selected in 2008, when the list first launched. See the whole list, including Top 10 Titles for Young Readers and Top 10 Titles for Teen Readers, at bit.ly/rainbowbooklist.
The Rainbow Book List Committee observed, too, “Over the last few years, our job as librarians to fight for the inclusion of stories that reflect and celebrate the existence of all genders and sexual identities has become increasingly difficult. Unfortunately, the fact that this list exists will anger those individuals who wish to erase and censor queer identities and challenge titles in library collections.”
At the same time, the committee said, “We remain encouraged that so many queer stories are continuing to be told. The experiences of LGBTQIA+ youth and families deserve to be represented and included in ALL library collections.” They hope that stakeholders will use the Rainbow List to be “intentional” about doing so. I urge readers here to be among them.