We expected the answer. We knew it was coming. But still, it tore at us: Over and over, these authors said, "I didn't. I didn't see myself."

At Scholastic, we are proud to publish books that give all children the chance to see themselves as heroes. But we know that we still have work to do. And part of that work is listening.

So, this week, in celebration of Pride Month, we are spotlighting some of our LGBTQ+ authors who are writing to fill the void they felt growing up.

Contributing authors:

• Bill Konigsberg, author of Honestly Ben
• Sarah Moon, author of Sparrow
• Alex Gino, author of George
• Kody Keplinger, author of Run
• Will Walton, author of I Felt a Funeral In My Brain
• Jessica Verdi, author of And She Was
• Billy Merrell, author of Vanilla

Additional resources:

• Listen to episode #50: I Exist: Why Representation in Children's Books Matters
• Learn more about Scholastic's #ReadWithPride campaign

Special thanks:

• Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
• Sound mix and editing by Chris Johnson
• Produced by Emily Morrow

Later in the episode, we also talk with Scholastic librarian Deimosa Webber-Bey and art director Jeremy Goodwin about their recent experiences when Bill came to a meeting of the Scholastic Employee Book Club while they were discussing Honestly Ben. 

Additional Resources:

• Read an excerpt of Openly Straight, Honestly Ben, and The Porcupine of Truth
• Get a free copy of Bill Konigsberg's novella, Openly, Honestly here
• See more of our recommendations for great Pride Month reads
• Follow along with our #ReadWithPride campaign on Twitter and Instagram

Guests:

• Bill Konigsberg is the author of novels including Openly Straight, which was named to the YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults list, and The Porcupine of Truth, which won the Stonewall Book Award and the PEN Center Literary Award. Bill lives in Arizona with his husband. Visit him online at billkonigsberg.com and follow him at @billkonigsberg.
• Deimosa Webber-Bey is the Library Manager at Scholastic and is responsible for the corporate archive, readers advisory, cataloging, and the employee book club. She also taught for several years in public schools in Queens, Brooklyn, Albuquerque, and the Pueblo of Jemez.
• Jeremy Goodwin is the Art Director for Scholastic's Corporate Communications department. He works on maintaining and elevating the equity of the Scholastic corporate brand across the many divisions of the company. He’s been in the design industry for more than 10 years and is an avid reader and independent artist. 

Special thanks:

• Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
• Sound mix and editing by Daniel Jordan 
• Produced by Emily Morrow