In this discussion and call to action, award-winning authors Sarah Prager and Lee Wind will dive into the problem with how history has been taught, the importance of primary sources, and what the book banners don’t understand. It will also explore the opportunity and empowerment for queer kids, tweens, teens, and their allies that comes with sharing the rich legacy of people who lived outside the gender binary, and of men who loved men, women who loved women, and people who loved without regard to gender, across time and around our world.
Sarah and Lee will address crafting language choices for different ages when it comes to discussing sexuality and complex historical concepts as well as dealing with the current political climate as authors of queer children’s literature.
PARTICIPANT BIOS
Sarah Prager is the author of four books on LGBTQ+ history for youth. Her young adult book, Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World, was named a Best Book for Teens by the New York Public Library. Rainbow Revolutionaries: 50 LGBTQ+ People Who Made History, Kind Like Marsha: Learning from LGBTQ+ Leaders, and A Child’s Introduction to Pride, each also share the stories of LGBTQ+ historical figures for ages 4-18. Sarah has presented on LGBTQ+ history across eight countries, and her writing has appeared in the New York Times, NBC News, and other national outlets. Visit sarahprager.com.
Lee Wind writes stories to empower kids and teens to be their authentic selves and change the world – the same books that would have changed his life as a young gay, Jewish kid. He is the author of the nonfiction Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection No Way, They Were Gay? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves, the YA novel Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill, and the picture book Red and Green and Blue and White – called “Beautiful” by the New York Times. Lee is a blogger and the organizer of the Queer KidLit Creators community. Visit leewind.org.
This program is organized by Lee Wind and Sarah Prager as part of the 2023 Circa: Queer Histories Festival, presented by One Institute.