Roughly a month ago I sent out a plea to my fellow GRL2012 goers to see if anyone would be interested in donating print books to Iceland's only LGBT center. Their library is very outdated in the fiction section because there hasn't been money to buy anything new in years, so their fictional section is looking rather forlorn.
Chicks & Dicks kindly offered to feature the issue and the post went live today ^.^ I'm happy to say that the LGBT center has a few new books already, either donated by me or sent by people (like Anne Tenino!), and a lot of people - including two publishers - will hand me their donations at GRL for me to take to the center. I thought maybe one or two people might respond to my plea, but I was unprepared for the 20+ people who responded. It goes to show how tight and giving this community is. Now there will be titles in the library by KC Burn, Victor Alexander, Geoffrey Knight, Tara Lain and more, for people in Iceland to read. I'm also hoping this will generate an interest of the local bookshops to buy more m/m books in print (I've already contacted the biggest one and they're very positive - they currently only have a few e-book m/m titles in their online store - by Sara York and Geoffrey Knight, among others. Looks like the shop has a deal with Total e-Bound or something).
Anyway! If you want to read a bit about Iceland, please head on over to Chicks & Dicks. If you want to send an LGBT book to the LGBT center (by you or anyone else), the address is listed in the post (just please make sure you mark the package as a donation so they won't have to pay the VAT). If you'll be at GRL in ABQ, I'd be happy to save you the shipping cost and take the books to the center myself :)
A day late! Sorry. However, I've drawn and contacted the winner already. Congratulations Anne ^.^ I hope you enjoy your copy of Hot Hands.
There's one more contest still running. It's not for a book by me, it's Geography Club by Brent Hartinger. It's an MG book (middle-grade) that has been banned from an American library and has been on the list of a group that wants it banned for years. I'm giving it away because I'm participating in the Banned Books Week. To participate, just leave a comment on any of the banned books I'm featuring this week and I'll draw the winner on October 6th.
Want a chance to win more of my books? Head over to Book-Tober Bash at Juniper Grove for a chance to win Hot Hands and other GLBT books (by other authors). I'm also taking part in the Sweet Spot Reader Appreciation Day next Saturday (it's a yahoo group). Then come back during Halloween when I'll be taking part in two giveaways ^.^
Oh, and psst, I hear that Grade-A-Sex Deal will be free for download next Saturday at the publisher's site ;)
Day three of Banned Books Week. I planned to feature lesser talked-about LGBT books that have been subjected to prejudice in the form of having been banned from libraries or have been through attempts to be banned. However, And Tango Makes Three is true story of two male penguins that adopted an egg! I just had to feature that. Plus, the whole circus around having it banned just blew my mind.
And Tango Makes Three is a story for kids aged 4 and up, and I'm telling you guys, it is sooooo sweet. Here, you can watch it on YouTube with the images (that made me go "awww!" so many times and I've vowed to buy this book and read for my kids. I'll have to translate it, but I'm doing it. And I left an Amazon review).
Here are Author's Note from the YouTube video: "All of the events in this story are true. Roy and Silo are called chinstrap penguins because of the delicate line of black feathers that loops under their beaks, as if to hold a hat in place. After years of living side by side in the Central Park Zoo, they discovered each other in 1998 and they have been a couple ever since. Tango, their only chick, was born from an egg laid by another penguin couple named Betty and Porkey. That couple had often hatched their own eggs, but they had never been able to care for more than one at a time. In 2000, when Betty laid two fertile eggs, Rob Gramzay decided to give Roy, Silo, and one of those eggs a chance to become a family. If you go to the Central Park Zoo, you can see Tango and her parents splashing about in the penguin house along with their friends, including Nipper, Squawk, Charlie, Wasabi, and Piwi. There are forty-two chinstrap penguins in the Central Park Zoo and over ten million chinstraps in the world. But there is only one Tango.
by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, illustrated by Henry Cole
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2005"
But of course there have to be closed-minded people to object this sweet little story! This book has been at ALA's top 10 list of most challenged books in America five years in a row! In 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010 it was THE most challenged book (as in, most reported for inappropriateness). In 2009 it was "only" the second most reported book. Thankfully, it didn't make the top 10 in 2011.
Take a look at this:
You can buy And Tango Makes Three from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and other retailers.
Giveaway: I'm offering a copy of Geography Club - the book I featured in my first post of this themed week - to a person who leaves a comment and email address on any of the banned books posts this week (only one entry though and one prize for the whole week). If you don't want your email address posted here, feel free to send me mail at eripike at gmail dot com. I will also make this contest open in the YA LGBT Books group on Goodreads, for those who aren't old enough to enter this site.
The winner will be randomly drawn, contacted and announced on October 6th - the last day of this awareness week.
My second Banned Books Week LGBT feature is Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan.
Again, I'm borrowing information and quotation from a preexisting blog. This one from Censorship-Free Libraries where it says that there is nothing objectionable about this book other than the content (as in, they can't ban it for bad language or sexual content). However, the blog also says: "In spite of its G rating, challenges to Boy Meet Boy crop up. It was challenged in 2009 at the West Bend (Wisconsin) public library [West Bend again... Remember the attempts to ban Geography Club?], after the library put in on a gay-themed reading list. The Oklahoma Library Association noted a challenge in 2003. Neither of these direct challenges was successful, although an article in Random House Inc. magazine indicates that the book is stolen from libraries with some frequency."
Honestly? Stolen so it won't be available in the libraries? Some people will go to any lengths...
Blurb:
Considered groundbreaking upon its publication in 2003, Boy Meets Boy is now 10 years old and David Levithan's debut about two teenage boys finding love is still in print and still as heartwarming. The world was different when Boy Meets Boy first appeared and attitudes have changed, but this novel is just as relevant and enjoyable as it was then. To mark the 10th anniversary, this edition features new backmatter from the author, including an original story about the scene-stealing, fan-favorite Infinte Darlene--literature's only star quarterback and homecoming queen. David is now considered one of the most important voices in YA literature, having since authored Every Day, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist with Rachel Cohn, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green, and fans of his more recent books will not be disappointed by his very first.
You can buy Boy Meets Boy from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and other retailers.
Giveaway: I'm offering a copy of Geography Club - the book I featured in my first post of this themed week - to a person who leaves a comment and email address on any of the banned books posts this week (only one entry though and one prize for the whole week). If you don't want your email address posted here, feel free to send me mail at eripike at gmail dot com. I will also make this contest open in the YA LGBT Books group on Goodreads, for those who aren't old enough to enter this site.
The winner will be randomly drawn, contacted and announced on October 6th - the last day of this awareness week.
I have drawn and contacted the winner of the GLBT Madness Hop. Kaisquared won a pdf copy of Absolutely Eric. Hope you enjoy it ^.^
***
There are still two hops running. The NBP's Back to School Bash, and my own personal Banned Books Weeks giveaway of Geography Club, by Brent Hartinger (it's a MG/YA story).
To take part in the NBP's Back to School Bash, for a chance to win a copy of Hot Hands, please click here. Winner will be drawn, contacted and announced tomorrow.
To take part in the Banned Books Week's giveaway, please comment on any of the banned books posts I make during this week (only one winner, no extra entries). Winner will be drawn, contacted and announced on the last day of Banned Books Week, October 6th.
