Hear Us Out!: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope, 1950 to the Present - Hardcover

Garden, Nancy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374317593 ISBN 13: 9780374317591

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2007

Synopsis

What was it like being young and gay during the closeted 1950s, the exuberant beginnings of the modern gay rights movement in the 1970s, or the frightening outbreak of HIV and AIDS in the 1980s? In this unique history, Nancy Garden uses both fact and fiction to explore just what it has meant to be young and gay in America during the last fifty years. For each decade from the 1950s on, she discusses in an essay the social and political events that shaped the lives of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people during that era. Then, in two short stories, she explores the emotional experiences of young gay people coming of age during those times, giving vivid insight into what it really felt like.
 
Hear Us Out! is a comprehensive and rich account of gay life, both public and private, from one of the pioneers of young adult lesbian and gay literature.

About this title

About the Author

Nancy Garden is the author of young adult novels including Annie on My Mind, The Year They Burned the Books, and Endgame. She is also the author of novels for children and the picture book Molly's Family. Garden was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and has lived most of her life in New England and New York. She spent her early adult years working in theater, doing office work, teaching, and editing. During that time, she wrote in the evenings, on weekends, and on vacations, as well as at odd moments while working. Now she writes as close to full-time as possible. When she isn't writing, visiting schools, or making speeches, she enjoys reading, gardening, hiking, the outdoors, and anything to do with dogs. She has received the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the Lambda Book Award and the Robert Downs Intellectual Freedom Award. She and her partner of over twenty years divide their time between small towns in Massachusetts and Maine.

Reviews

Garden, who has won both the Lambda Book Award and the Margaret A. Edwards Award, offers an accessible narrative history of the changing rights and social status of gay and lesbian teens told through essays and short stories. Beginning with the 1950s, each essay describes a decade in broad political and social terms with references to specific events pertinent to GLBT adults and teens of the period. Each essay is followed by a pair of stories, written by Garden and set during the decade featured in the essay. Although the essays reflect the experiences of both men and women, the majority of the stories are about young, middle-class lesbians who live on the East Coast of the U.S. Still, the stories show how fiction can reveal truths more gracefully than nonfiction. The issues and questions will reach out to all teens, making it easier for contemporary youth, whether GLBT or straight, to imagine the past. Francisca Goldsmith
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Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0374317593
• ISBN 13: 9780374317591
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240