Hi, I'm Jasper
Lounds and I'm the resource center
coordinator here
at the LGBTQIA Resource Center
and am currently in my office.
You can
always come find me and chat with
me if you need support and resources
or if you want any book
recommendations.
And so let's get into some of those.
All right. First off, is The Witch
Boy.
The Witch Boy is an
amazing graphic
novel by Molly Knox Ostertag.
And it's all about sort of
the danger of
gender roles and how they can
really
narrow the narrow the playing field
for folks.
And I think The Witch Boy
specifically does a really
good job of taking what
is sort of a ridiculous premise,
like about a little boy
who wants to become a witch and a
magical family where he can't become
a witch but makes
it super relevant for our
time now and talks about, you know,
how gendered interpretations
of
what people can and cannot
be are incredibly harmful
for real kids and for
little witch boys as well.
Witch Boy is an amazing graphic
novel - super quick read.
Up next, we have Picture Us
in The Light.
Picture Us in the Light is one of my
favorite books I've read this year.
It's by Kelly Loy Gilbert.
and she is
actually like a fairly local author.
She's this amazing Asian-American
author from
Daly City.
So she does
a really great job of writing about
this story of
this young
first generation high school student
who is this
amazing
artist. And he's sort
of navigating a lot of things,
including his queerness.
And yes, he's navigating it all in
Cupertino.
So although, again, a fairly
local sort of
setting
which I think can always be
fun.
This book was sold
To me as a rom com,
definitely not a rom com.
But it is an
amazing, amazing story.
And there is enough.
You know, queer love in
there and
queer yearning that I think
really makes it a super cool
novel to pick up.
Very well-paced.
Very well done.
Up next, we have Missing Daddy
by Mariame Kaba.
So this book is
a really great sort.
Of introduction into
family dynamics;
different, different
structures of family.
We have a lot of really great
children's books actually
highlighted in our
resource center's library.
And I think it's really
important to sort of remember
that.
at any age we're out, we're
learning.
And children, you know,
we might not think
they're ready
for like some of the harder
topics, but they so
are. And so if you have any little
ones in your life.
You can always come by our
Center and
grab some children's books.
This book is really
beautifully and I think like
tenderly illustrated.
And it's talking about the different
family dynamics
that can come up when
you have a parent who is
incarcerated.
So very cool stuff
by Mariame Kaba, who is a
very renowned abolitionist
and
super cool human being generally.
Up next, we have All About
Love by bell hooks.
So All About Love
is one of those quintessential
books that I think
everyone should
pick up and try and read or get the
audiobook version, you know,
whatever works for you.
But oh my
gosh, it's so good.
I picked this book up
in my first
year of undergrad back
when I was a student here at UC
Davis.
And it completely
redefined how I lived my life.
I think that this
is a really great book.
So look
not only into like romantic love
and, you know, like
p[latonic love and stuff like that, but
to restructure your life around
love, which is an
amazing topic by an
amazing black queer,
feminist,
author, bell hooks.
Yes, please pick it up.
All About Love.
Next, we have Laura Dean Keeps
Breaking Up with Me,
which is such a fun
and poignant graphic novel
by Mariko Tamaki
who is a Canadian
author. She's Asian, and
she talks a lot
about sort of
queerness,
from the perspective
of, like, an outsider.
So not like the
the cool, popular
queer, but, you know, sort of
like that little outcast
thing that I think a lot of people
can really relate to.
And this book is so good.
I think what's amazing about it,
too, is that
it centers around a
sapphic couple.
But it talks about how
just because a couple is
queer doesn't
mean that their
relationship is perfect, which I
think a lot of media can
get into.
I think especially with like sapphic
couples, people think that like, you
know, violence can occur between
two women.
Right, but
you know, you can still have a toxic
relationship and you can still have
a bad breakup just because it's
queer.
Super cool.
I think also
one thing I
want to highlight, is that the art
style
in this book is really amazing.
Unlike other graphic novels
that have like
yeah very, very
high
pigment and
high contrast sort of art
style.
This book is exclusively
In
gray, black
and gray, black, pink and white.
And I
think it's just a really excellent
Sort of
way to approach the art within this
book.
And yeah, I really
loved it. It's a very quick read.
You will eat it all up.
All right.
And the last book I'll highlight
is Lil Nas X's
debut children's book.
I hope he writes
so many more.
But this is C is for Country.
It's a really fun alphabet book
about a
young, queer, black
cowboy.
Just sort of moving through
like a rural landscape.
And I think, you know,
those are stories that are really,
truly not old.
And I think
that's why, you know,
so many people
fell in love with Lil Nas X as a
person and, you know,
as an author
of a really cute children's book.
So, yeah, I think
he showcases a perspective that is
really powerful.
And within this book
and within
his life, you know, I think he
really tries to to center
sort of his own perspective
and and what makes him so special.
Also, just
a pretty really cute
children's book.
Feel free to pick it up
for any of the kids in your life.
It also has a lot of his
amazing looks
like iconic pink
pink chaps
and and cowboy hat.
So if you know about how awesome he
is on the runway, you're going to
love this stuff.
These books are all available
to pick up at any
time and check out from
these various LGBTQIA Resource
Center's library.
We actually share a library system
with the Women's Resources and
Research Center.
So if you're familiar with that
system, you already
have a library card with us.
Just come in, grab a library card
and you can check
out as many books as you
like for as long as you want.
Just please bring them back.
And yeah,
you can continue to learn and grow
with us.
Our library space is also a really
special
space within our center because of
Angelina Malfitano Memorial Library.
Angie was an amazing
human being,
student-activist who
worked within our center and
really tried to create
safer
spaces for folks to
learn and
grow. So we hope that,
you know,
our library
that really memorializes her and her
commitment
to
to bringing everyone with us,
in the struggle right towards
liberation.
So big
shout
out to Angie Malfitano and
we hope that you come by and learn
with us.
Thank you.