Happy Pride Month! Fifty-six years ago, the first Pride march was held in New York City to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. As it began with activism, so too does it remain to this day, with multi-city-wide celebrations, parades, concerts, and demonstrations by millions of people supporting LGBTQIA+ rights.
Reflecting on this moment for our LGBTQIA+ community, I was reminded of a conversation in my car, driving our kids to school several years ago. It went something like this between a big brother and a younger sister:
“I think your teacher is nice because he always says hi to me.”
“[Teacher name] isn’t he. They go by they.”
“That’s confusing. I thought they means more than one person.”
“Well, Flo, it’s not really about what we think. It’s about how my teacher identifies, their feelings, and what they want to be called.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
In that little moment, our son Cassius passed down one of the important lessons of Pride to his younger sister. People are who they are, and we, as fellow humans, should honor and celebrate that. We encourage our kids to be proud of themselves, love themselves as they are, love who they want to love, and respect and celebrate everyone in their community.
Felix and I have always treated our business as an extension of our family. We want our team members to feel loved and seen in their entirety and provide our clients with the resources they need to do the same for their members, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. We are deeply troubled by the rise in book bans nationwide and the negative consequences of censoring LGBTQ+ voices. We stand in unity with librarians and educators who are confronting these challenges. When we say we espouse values of love, inclusion, and awesomeness, we mean it. And we mean it for everyone.
That’s why we’re proud to highlight content available to our library and school partners:
- Special Pride Month Achievement for users who log their reading on June 1, as long as the “Other Special Days, Weeks, & Months (US)” Achievement Setting is turned on in the reader’s Beanstack site.
- Pride 365 Reading Challenge Templates are available for all partners to use. These templates feature LGBTQIA+ authors and themes and are available anytime.
- Recommended reading lists to accompany the Pride 365 challenge templates with book recommendations for all ages are also available.
Recommended Reading for Pride Month
If you are looking for great books featuring LGBTQIA+ characters, celebrating the diversity of our identities and relationships, or supporting age-appropriate conversations about sexuality, here are a few helpful lists that we love:
- Brightly: 30 Great LGBTQ+ Picture Books for Kids
- ALA: Stonewall Book Awards List 1971-2023
- Social Justice Books: LGBTQ+ from Early Childhood to YA Fiction & Nonfiction
- The Children’s Book Council: Books Full of Pride
- Brooklyn Public Library: Pride Month 2024 Books for Adults: Fiction
- Brooklyn Public Library: Pride Month 2025 Books for Adults
- Common Sense Media: Growing Up Queer: Thoughtful Books About LGBTQ+ Youth
- Publisher’s Weekly: 10 Essential LGBTQ+ Novels
- Publisher’s Weekly: New Books Showcase LGBTQ+ Icons
- Books Save Lives: An Ellen Oh Reading Challenge
- Trans YA Spec: A Kacen Callender Reading Challenge
- At the Intersection: A Nina LaCour Reading Challenge
Comics & Manga Spotlight on Comics Plus
Comics, manga, and graphic novels are another powerful way to engage a wide range of readers, especially those who may not gravitate toward traditional books. Now that Comics Plus® is part of the Joyful Reading family, I’m excited to share titles that celebrate identity, queer experiences, and belonging. Here are a few reader favorites from the Pride Picks featured list:
Teen
- Pizza Witch Vol. 1 by Sarah Graley and Stef Purenins (Image Comics)
- Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman (Lerner)
Young Adult
- Young Men in Love: A Queer Romance Anthology by Anthony Oliveira, Ned Barnett, Sina Grace, Charles Pulliam-Moore, Ian McGinty, and Nick Robles (A Wave Blue World)
- I Love This Part by Tillie Walden (Avery Hill)
Adult
- The Stranger in the Hoarding House by Joe Aruku (Tokyopop)
- LSBN by Emma Jayne and Sloane Leong (Silver Sprocket)
Additionally, our team will continue to find ways to amplify the awesome work our school and library partners are already doing to support and showcase their LGBTQIA+ communities financially and otherwise.
Rainbow logos are nice, but finding ways to take real action is critical. As a member of the board for We Need Diverse Books, I am blown away by the work they are doing to amplify queer voices and to fight book bans that seek to silence them. As their signature campaign claims, “Books save lives,” and we deeply believe in the power of books to do this. What actions are you taking to celebrate Pride this year?
At Joyful Reading Company, we stand with our LGBTQIA+ colleagues, clients, and readers. This Pride Month, our commitment to them is strengthened. With all the love in our hearts and the sincerity of our actions, we wish you and yours a Happy Pride.