Susan Kuklin (born 1941) is an American photographer and award-winning writer.
Kuklin was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then studied theater at New York University and the Herbert Berghof School. [1] After graduate school at NYU, Kuklin began studying photography.
Her nonfiction works frequently cover controversial topics (e.g., AIDS, poverty, and transgender youth), and often blend photography with writing.
Beyond Magenta has been the center of controversy because some considered it anti-family; it included offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, and political and religious viewpoints; and it was unsuited for age group. Librarians also noted that they wanted to "remove [the book] from collection to ward off complaints." [2] According to the American Library Association, it was the 27th most banned and challenged book in the United States between 2010 and 2019. [3] Furthermore, it was one of the top ten most challenged books in 2019 (2) and 2015 (4). [2]
The Stonewall Book Award is a set of three literary awards that annually recognize "exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience" in English-language books published in the U.S. They are sponsored by the Rainbow Round Table (RRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) and have been part of the American Library Association awards program, now termed ALA Book, Print & Media Awards, since 1986 as the single Gay Book Award.
Proposed bans of LGBTQ-themed books in the United States.
Lesléa Newman is an American author, editor, and feminist. Four of her young adult novels have been finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, making her one of the most celebrated authors in the category.
Cynthia Leitich Smith is a New York Times best-selling author of fiction for children and young adults.
Russell A. Freedman was an American biographer and the author of nearly 50 books for young people. He may be known best for winning the 1988 Newbery Medal with his work Lincoln: A Photobiography.
Marc Henry Aronson is an American writer, editor, publisher, speaker, and historian. He has written history and biography nonfiction books for children and young adults, as well as nonfiction books for adults about teenage readers.
Kirstin Cronn-Mills is an American author of children's books including the Minnesota Book Award finalist The Sky Always Hears Me And the Hills Don't Mind (2009) and Beautiful Music for Ugly Children (2012) which was a Stonewall Book Award winner and a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Her third novel, Original Fake (2016), was a Minnesota Book Award finalist in 2017, along with her third nonfiction volume for high school libraries, LGBTQ+ Athletes Claim the Field. Her fourth novel, Wreck, will be published in 2019.
Cris Beam is an American writer. She is the author of nonfiction books on transgender teenagers, the U.S. foster system, and empathy, as well as a young adult novel and a short memoir.
Meredith Russo is an American young adult author from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Anna-Marie McLemore is a Mexican-American author of young adult fiction magical realism, best known for their Stonewall Honor-winning novel When the Moon Was Ours, Wild Beauty, and The Weight of Feathers.
Pat Schmatz is an American author of young adult fiction and middle grade fiction, best known for their James Tiptree Jr. Award winning novel Lizard Radio. Other of their well-known and award-winning works include Bluefish and The Key to Every Thing.
Long Way Down is a young adult novel in verse by Jason Reynolds, published October 24, 2017, by Atheneum Books. The book was longlisted for the National Book Award and was named a Printz Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Book, and Newbery Medal Honor Book, alongside other awards and positive reviews.
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out is a 2014 book written by American author Susan Kuklin. For the book, Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults, describing their sense of identity before, during, and after transitioning.
Ron Koertge is an American poet and author of young adult fiction. Koertge is currently the Poet Laureate of South Pasadena, California. Koertge's honors include a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a California Arts Council grant, and inclusion in numerous anthologies. His young-adult fiction has won many awards, including Friends of American Writers Young People’s Literature Award, New York Library’s 100 Best Children’s Books, ALA Best Book, New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age, and P.E.N. awards. In 2017, he was awarded a Pushcart Prize.
Tanya Lee Stone is an American author of children's and young adult books. She writes narrative nonfiction for middle-grade students and young adults, as well as nonfiction picture books. Her stories often center women and people of color.
Aiden Thomas is a Latino-American author of young adult novels, best known for the book Cemetery Boys which was a New York Times bestseller and won numerous awards, including best of the year recognition from the American Library Association, Publishers Weekly, Barnes and Noble, NPR and School Library Journal.
Allan Wolf is an American poet and young adult author. His books are primarily multi-perspective historical fiction in verse, but he has also published several poetry books for children. He is also an accomplished slam poet.
The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic is a fictional retelling of the Titanic, written by Allan Wolf, published October 11, 2011 by Candlewick Press.
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream is a nonfiction children's book by Tanya Lee Stone, originally published February 24, 2009 by Candlewick Press, then republished September 27, 2011. The book tells the story of the Mercury 13 women, who, in 1958, joined NASA and completed testing to become astronauts.
Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers is a nonfiction book geared toward children, written by Tanya Lee Stone and published January 22, 2013 by Candlewick Press. The book tells the story of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, nicknamed The Triple Nickles, an all-Black airborne unit of the United States Army during World War II.