Give GAY for the Holidays + Merry Christmas to You All!

To everyone that celebrates, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! If you do not celebrate any holiday this time of the year, I still hope all is well and you are having a great December. I got an email from author Robin Reardon a week or so ago that was titled "Give GAY for the Holidays" and that's totally something this blog can agree with!

To help with that, Reardon's three novels below are available at a discount price until January 3, 2016 so definitely think about grabbing at least one title. I know I'm planning too! This is a great deal to support LGBT+ fiction.

THROWING STONES: $3.99

Something is drawing seventeen-year-old Jesse Bryce toward the community of Pagans who live in "the village," just outside his rural Oklahoma town. Maybe it's that he has a crush on Griffin Holyoke, a tall, dark-haired boy with a tree tattooed all up his back. Or maybe it's that the Pagans accept Jesse for who he is, unlike his family—or his church, where he hears that being gay is a sin.

Amazon
iTunes
Available soon at the reduced price on Barnes & Noble

EDUCATING SIMON: $2.99

Everything sixteen-year-old Simon Fitzroy-Hunt loves in is in England. There’s his school, his boyfriend, his cat, and especially Oxford University, which Simon plans to attend just as his beloved late father planned. But all of Simon’s certainties come crashing down when his mother remarries and drags him to Boston with her.

Amazon
iTunes
Barnes & Noble

THE REVELATIONS OF JUDE CONNOR: $4.99
 

Jude Connor’s rural Idaho hometown is a place of strong values and high expectations. For those who fit into the local church’s narrow confines, there’s support and fellowship. For those who don’t, there’s ostracism in this life and certain damnation in the next. Jude wants desperately to be saved—to believe with the fervor of the charismatic Reverend Amos King, whose sermons are filled with brimstone and righteousness. But every time Jude thinks he’s found the right path, there’s a fork in the road, and Truth seems to be in a different direction.

Amazon
iTunes
Barnes & Noble

Awake Anthology - Nancy Garden and More

Awake by Nancy Garden, Robin Reardon, Jordan Taylor, and Brian Katcher


Review by: Lauren


Copy sent for review, but all opinions are my own


Official Summary:

A girl trapped in a war between her school, her church, and her own family. A boy facing the pain of injustice and prejudice in the same rush as new love. A town shocked by the death of a young person, while one alone knows why. A loner fighting a losing battle inside, terrified by society, longing for respect. Poignant, funny, tragic, uplifting-Awake brings together the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender teens through four gifted authors, including Nancy Garden, author of the groundbreaking Annie on My Mind, who have donated their time and talents. The Trevor Project is the nation's leading organization dedicated to ending suicide among LGBTQ youth. All net publisher proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit The Trevor Project.

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Review: This is a collection of four very different short stories by a group of amazing author. The link between these stories though are the characters. Each one is somehow dealing with being gay, bi, lesbian, or transgender.

The longest story is probably Worth Waiting For by Nancy Garden which deals a lot with religion and wanting to be true to your self any way, but not having the proper support.

However, my favorite of the whole collection was probably A Line in the Sand by Robin Reardon. Dustin is out and proud, but he's had a hard time finding someone in the same situation that he can be with. Now he's on vacation with his parents and starts falling for a boy named Randy...except, Randy isn't out to his parents either and his father is far from accepting. I just thought this was a really wonderful story and you can't help but feel bad for both of the boys, for very different reasons.

It's been a little while since I read this book, so I might just be forgetting the name but I actually don't think the narrator in Shattered Diamonds has one. At any rate, this is either my second favorite story in the book or perhaps even tied for first place. It deals with a very different narrator...someone who picks on a new kid, Jeremy. From the beginning, you know that Jeremey is dead and you can guess just how that came about. The narrator tells his side of things, and even the things that he learns about Jeremy after he's gone. It's a very powerful, unique story. I would have loved to see this type of storyline in a full-fledged novel.

The final story is is Pervert. The narrator here is just the boy. It's all about how he likes to dress in his mom and sister's clothes, feeling more comfortable as a girl than the boy body he must live in. It's a sad story, but it's also a nice concluding one because it deals a lot with acceptance from various sides.

Overall, I really enjoyed Awake, and I do recommend it. Besides, a lot of the money goes to The Trevor Project, which is an amazing charity.

Don't forget about my auctions for the Living Beyond Tolerance scholarship, speaking of good causes. The first auction will start soon!!

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