New LGBTQ+ Titles from Perpich Library

June 12, 2024

June is Pride Month and the Perpich Library is adding several brand new LGBTQ+ titles to the collection this summer! Here are just a few of them.

All items on this list are available at the Perpich library. Click on titles for more information.

1. Between Perfect & Real by Ray Stoeve
Dean Foster knows he’s a trans guy. He’s watched enough YouTube videos and done enough questioning to be sure. But everyone at his high school thinks he’s a lesbian – including his girlfriend Zoe, and his theater director, who just cast him as a “nontraditional” Romeo. He wonders if maybe it would be easier to wait until college to come out. But as he plays Romeo every day in rehearsals, Dean realizes he wants everyone to see him as he really is now – not just on the stage, but everywhere in his life. Dean knows what he needs to do. Can playing a role help Dean be his true self?

2. Fine: A Comic About Gender by Rhea Ewing
As graphic artist Rhea Ewing neared college graduation in 2012, they became consumed by a question: What is gender? This obsession sparked a quest in which they eagerly approached both friends and strangers in their quiet Midwestern town for interviews to turn into comics. A decade later, this project has exploded into a sweeping portrait of the intricacies of gender expression, with interviewees from all over the country. Questions such as “How do you identify?” produced fiercely honest stories of dealing with adolescence, taking hormones, changing pronouns – and how these experiences can differ, depending on culture, race, and religion. Amidst beautifully rendered scenes emerges Ewing’s own story of growing up in rural Kentucky, grappling with their identity as a teenager, and ultimately finding themself through art.

3. Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir by Lamya H.
Fourteen years old and growing up in the Middle East, Lamya is an overachiever and a class clown, qualities that help her hide in plain sight when she realizes she has a crush on her teacher–her female teacher. She’s also fourteen when she reads a passage in Quran class about Maryam, known as the Virgin Mary in the Christian Bible, that changes everything. Lamya learns that Maryam was untempted by an angelically handsome man, and later, when told she is pregnant, insists no man has touched her. Could Maryam be…like Lamya? Spanning childhood to an elite college in the US and early adult life in New York City, each essay places Lamya’s struggles and triumphs in the context of some of the most famous stories in the Quran. She juxtaposes her coming out with Musa liberating his people from the Pharaoh; asks if Allah, who is neither male nor female, might instead be nonbinary; and, drawing strength from the faith and hope of Nuh building his ark, begins to build a life of her own – all the while discovering that her identity as a queer, immigrant devout Muslim is, in fact, the answer to her quest for safety and belonging.

4. How to Be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess
Brave, witty, and empowering, this graphic memoir follows Rebecca as she navigates her asexual identity and mental health in a world obsessed with sex. From school to work to relationships, this book offers an unparalleled insight into asexuality.

5. The Out Side: Trans & Nonbinary Comics edited by The Kao, Min Christensen, & David Daneman
Includes 29 creators’ tales of self-love and affirmation that detail their experiences with gender and identity. Originally published as a successful Kickstarter campaign, this expanded edition includes comics by Dana Simpson (bestselling author of Phoebe and Her Unicorn), Aidyn Huynh (Snailords), Sage Coffey, Kyla Aiko, Coco Ouwerkerk, and many others.

6. The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz
Lady Camembert wants to live life on her own terms, without marriage. Well, without marrying a man, that is. But the law of the land is that women cannot inherit. So when her father passes away, she does the only thing she can: she disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert. But it’s hard to keep a low profile when the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and great sense of fashion, catches her attention. Camembert can’t resist getting to know the princess, but as the two grow closer, will she be able to keep her secret?

7. Revolution is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation featuring images and text by 24 photographers; text contributions by Qween Jean, Joela Rivera, Mikelle Street, and Raquel Willis
The powerful and celebratory visual record of a contemporary activist movement in New York City, and a moving testament to the enduring power of photography in activism, advocacy, and community. In June 2020, activists Qween Jean and Joela Rivera founded the Stonewall Protests, weekly actions centering Black trans and queer identities that took place across New York City. This book gathers twenty-four photographers who share images and words on the demonstrations, preserving this legacy as it unfolded.

8. This Arab is Queer: An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers edited by Elias Jahshan
This anthology features the compelling and courageous memoirs of eighteen queer Arab writers – some internationally bestselling, others using pseudonyms. Here, we find heart-warming connections and moments of celebration alongside essays exploring the challenges of being LGBTQ+ and Arab. From a military base in the Gulf to loving whispers caught between the bedsheets; and from touring overseas as a drag queen to a concert in Cairo where the rainbow flag was raised to a crowd of thousands, this collection celebrates the true colors of a vibrant Arab queer experience.

9. This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples
Set on an Ojibwe reservation in northern Minnesota, This Town Sleeps is the story of Marion Lafournier, a gay Ojibwe man, and his search for meaning in a town he cannot seem to leave. When he begins a romance with a closeted former high school classmate Shannon, Marion finds himself struggling to connect with the volcanic and unstable man. One night, while roaming the dark streets of Geshig, Marion unknowingly brings to life a dog from underneath the elementary school playground. The mysterious revenant leads him to the grave of Kayden Kelliher, an Ojibwe basketball star who was murdered at the young age of seventeen, and whose presence still lingers in the memories of the townsfolk. While investigating the fallen hero’s death, Marion discovers family connections and an old Ojibwe legend that may be the secret to unraveling the mystery he has found himself in.

10. Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution, Second Edition by Susan Stryker
A timely second edition of the classic text on transgender history, with a new introduction and updated material throughout. Covering American transgender history from the mid-twentieth century to today, Transgender History takes a chronological approach to the subject of transgender history, with each chapter covering major movements, writings, and events. Includes informative sidebars highlighting quotes from major texts and speeches in transgender history and brief biographies of key players, plus excerpts from transgender memoirs and discussion of treatments of transgenderism in popular culture.

All items on this list are available at the Perpich Library.