Queer: the Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teenagers (2nd Edition)
Kathy Belge and Marke Bieschke
Zest Books
Published October 1, 2019
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads
About Queer: the Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teenagers (2nd Edition)
Teen life is hard enough with all of the pressures kids face, but for teens who are LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender), it’s even harder. When do you decide to come out? To whom? Will your friends accept you? And how on earth do you meet people to date?
Updated in 2018, Queer is a humorous, engaging, and honest guide that helps LGBT teens come out to friends and family, navigate their new LGBT social life, figure out if a crush is also queer, and rise up against bigotry and homophobia.
Queer also includes personal stories from the authors and sidebars on queer history. This updated and revised edition is a must-read for any teen who thinks they might be queer – or knows someone who is.
My Review
QUEER has a lot of personal stories from the authors about experiences they had that they learned from– either because they went well or badly. The authors are frank, funny, and warm. The overall message is that if you’re a person looking to better understand yourself, you’re not alone. Being comfortable in your own skin and learning to have healthy relationships part of a lifelong journey, and there are lots of great tips in the book on those things.
The book offers suggestions on topics like how to come out to your family, how to approach a crush and find out if they might be interested in you. I thought those tips in particular were great. The advice is practical and simple.
There were a couple of things that I wish QUEER had gone into more depth about. The great majority of the text refers to gay and lesbian issues– perhaps because those are the authors’ experiences? There are some moments where bisexual or transgender issues get a focus, but they don’t get the same focus or depth. Asexuality is mentioned only briefly as well, and again, I wish there had been more information about the spectrum of asexuality.
I would have especially liked to see tips and suggestions for how to come out to family members as nonbinary, asexual, or transgender. (There’s a mention of coming out as transgender in the chapter on coming out, but I wish there had been more, because it’s not the same as coming out as gay or lesbian.)
QUEER focuses on support and validation, so it’s a very permissive book. There’s no judgment toward non-monogamous relationships or one night stands. It leaves readers (and encourages them) to decide on moral values and relationship rules for themselves and with their partners.
One of the really great assets of this book is the resource section, which lists support websites for LGBT teens and sites that will help you connect to supportive groups and organizations in your area, including how to find religious organizations that are friendly to members of the LGBT community. I love that section and am anxious to explore more of those resources.
Overall, I think QUEER is warm and engaging, and a great resource particularly for lesbian and gay teens and support communities.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Representation
Written by and intended for members of the LGBT community.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content
Brief personal stories about romance (with hints at sex but not graphic descriptions). Some references to sexual acts.
Spiritual Content
The resources section lists ways to find religious groups that are friendly to the LGBT community.
Violent Content
None.
Drug Content
None.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of QUEER: THE ULTIMATE LGBTQ GUIDE FOR TEENAGERS (2nd Edition) in exchange for my honest review.