This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us

Product Description
The first LGBTQA+ anthology for middle-graders featuring stories for every letter of the acronym, including realistic, fantasy, and sci-fi stories by authors like Justina Ireland, Marieke Nijkamp, Alex Gino, and more!
A boyband fandom becomes a conduit to coming out. A former bully becomes a first-kiss prospect. One nonbinary kid searches for an inclusive athletic community after quitting gymnastics. Another nonbinary kid, who happens to be a pirate, makes a wish that comes true--but not how they thought it would. A tween girl navigates a crush on her friend's mom. A young witch turns herself into a puppy to win over a new neighbor. A trans girl empowers her online bestie to come out.
From wind-breathing dragons to first crushes,
This Is Our Rainbow features story after story of joyful, proud LGBTQA+ representation. You will fall in love with this insightful, poignant anthology of queer fantasy, historical, and contemporary stories from authors including: Eric Bell, Lisa Jenn Bigelow, Ashley Herring Blake, Lisa Bunker, Alex Gino, Justina Ireland, Shing Yin Khor, Katherine Locke, Mariama J. Lockington, Nicole Melleby, Marieke Nijkamp, Claribel A. Ortega, Mark Oshiro, Molly Knox Ostertag, Aisa Salazar, and AJ Sass.
Review
“… a strong amalgam of confidently written portraits that consider the joys, pains, and complexities that can come with being young and queer.” —
Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A handful of gay adults rounds out this fine collection.” —
Booklist, starred review
“An essential read, this collection breaks free from the dichotomy of representing LGBTQ+ lives as total tragedy or one-true-love, happily-ever-after coming-out stories.” —
Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Purr-cle of Life
by Alex Gino
“Are you ready?” Dad asked with a bounce in his voice as he put on his jacket.
“Yes and no.” My shoes were on and there was nothing I needed to bring with me. I was ready to leave the house, but I had no idea how to be ready for a new cat.
Scout had been mine since I was born. He was originally Mom’s, from before she met Dad, but he claimed me the day I came home. The first time Mom and Dad set me in my crib for a nap, they found Scout curled up with me less than ten minutes later. They were worried he might scratch me, so they kept him out of their bedroom after that, but he would slip into my crib when he could, and once I was old enough to have a real bed, in my own room, Scout went to sleep with me every night, nestled at my side, purring as I drifted off.
“Are you excited?” Mom asked, in nearly the same cadence as Dad, as she put on her own jacket. My relatives say my parents become more like each other the longer they’re together. They even have similar haircuts--kind of shaggy, with a soft part in the middle.
“I guess,” I said.
Scout had cuddled with me the day Grandma said that using they was ungrammatical and that she was going to call me she until I could produce a duplicate of myself. If there had been two of me, one of them would have been able to hold the other back. As it was, I told her she was the one who was wrong and got sent to my room for rudeness. Apparently, I’m supposed to be polite when people disrespect me. The worst disrespect Scout ever showed me was sitting with his butt to my face. And if I reminded him by tapping on it, he would readjust himself into a more courteous position.
Scout died last year. He wasn’t there for my eleventh birthday. He wasn’t there when I failed my science test because I studied the wrong chapter. He wasn’t there to play with all summer long. The day Scout died was the worst day of my life, and every time I thought of cuddling him for comfort, I ached more.
Mom and Dad had told me a dozen times that we weren’t replacing him, but that’s sure what it felt like.
“I have a feeling they’ll perk up when we get to the adoption center,” Dad said.
I d