Recs if you like What They Always Tell Us...

Fiction with LGBTQ characters or themes, published for teens between 1990 and 2009.

All of these are from the list that Texas lawmaker Matt Krause in October of 2021 tried and in many cases succeeded to get banned from classrooms and school libraries. There are quite a few interesting and odd choices in there which is part of why I wanted to share this list on here. Not necessarily recommendations but there are some pretty good books on here. As well as a lot of textbooks

In October 2021, Texas State Representative Matt Krause initiated an inquiry targeting a list of approximately 850 books in Texas public schools, alleging they could cause "discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress" regarding race or sex. The list disproportionately targeted LGBTQ+ topics, race/racism, and sex education.

This is my project to read through this list for myself - utilizing my local library system for access to these titles. Follow the journey or join along!

Where the setting is cooler than the main character.

The feeling of growing up two miles from a Dollar General and getting yea ma’am-ed at 12 years old. People love to use Southern slang and talk about Waffle House like it’s a reality TV show but refuse to do their actual research into the South. If I see one more person acting like only inbred white supremacists live in the south (and only in the south) to eat their raw okra and liver mash I’m gonna lose it.