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On Beyond Cisgender

“We Mostly Come Out At Night.” On Beyond Cisgender IX. – Boogieman In Lavender

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For this ninth (!!!) installment of the column’s occasional feature “On Beyond Cisgender,” we go into a recent YA anthology perfect for the Halloween Season. This feature is about books recommended for High School readers that go beyond the usual “white, male, cisgender paradigm,” an idea suggested by Amy Liebowitz, (thanks very much!) several years ago. “We Mostly Come Out At Night,” edited by Rob Costello, published by Running Press Teens, Hatchette Book Group in 2024 https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rob-costello/we-mostly-come-out-at-night/9780762483198/ features “15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels and Other Creatures,” to quote the cover blurb. Stories range from variants on a classic fairy … Read more

Jeff Baker, Boogieman In Lavender. Broken Metropolis. On Beyond Cisgender VIII

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QSF Broken Metropolis; On Beyond Cisgender VII by Jeff Baker AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the latest installment of this column’s occasional feature “On Beyond Cisgender,” recommending books written by or that feature people beyond the “Old Dead White Cis Hetero Male Literature Canon.” It was suggested by A. M. (Amy) Leibowitz who was lamenting the choices of books for High School reading. I’ve been doing this feature since October of 2018 and it is even more important in an era of censorship and book banning. So, here’s the latest installment.—-jeff Queer-themed anthologies of science fiction and fantasy, while not dominating … Read more

Night Of the Living Queers; On Beyond Cisgender VII – Boogieman in Lavender

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This is the seventh (wow!) installment of our “On Beyond Cisgender” feature, where we look at books for YA readers (whether written for them or not!) It was initially inspired by a Facebook post from A. M. Leibowitz lamenting the lack of LGBT, non-cisgender, non POC books for High School readers several years ago. There aren’t a lot of good original anthologies aimed at LGBT YA audiences out there, and this one is appropriate for the season. —–jeff Just in time for Halloween, Wednesday Books has published “Night Of the Living Queers,” a YA anthology edited by Shelly Page and … Read more

Initially Yours, On Beyond Cisgender VI Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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Initially Yours: On Beyond Cisgender VI by Jeff Baker NOTE: This occasional series was inspired in 2019 by suggestion from A. M. Leibowitz about a reading list for High School beyond the straight, male paradigm. —jsb I am writing this during March 2023, which is Woman’s History Month. So here (a month or so late!) is a short overview of some (not all!) of the women who wrote sci-fi for the pulps and a little later. I fits in well with this ongoing series “On Beyond Cisgender” which started as recommendations for High School reading but these books are fine … Read more

Zenna Henderson: Quiet Rebel – Boogieman in Lavender

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For this fifth installment of this column’s occasional “On Beyond Cisgender” feature (a feature suggested by A. M. Leibowitz) about recommendations of books or stories for High School by authors outside the white, male, cisgender paradigm that has so often been the norm, the focus is on just one author, one who may not be so well-known as she was even twenty-five years ago. The lines between science fiction and fantasy are blurred. The definition of science fiction is even sort of blurred. Sometimes the better term is “Science Fantasy.” Zenna Henderson, very definitely wrote science fantasy. While spaceships and … Read more

“On Beyond Cisgender IV: Or, Shirley You Can’t Be Serious” – Boogieman in Lavender

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On Beyond Cisgender IV, or: Shirley You Can’t Be Serious by Jeff Baker AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is an occasional feature of this column where I spotlight (or at least mention) writers who aren’t in the White, Male, Cisgender paradigm as possible reading material for High School age readers. She was a housewife, a mother, a writer and (she claimed) a witch. Her work remains familiar today and may not be as obscure as some of the writers mentioned for “On Beyond Cisgender.” In fact when I was in Grade School in the 60s, her novels were still sought-out in school … Read more

On Beyond Cisgender, part Three: Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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                     QSF On Beyond Cisgender Part Three                                        By Jeff Baker             For a year or so now, I have been posting about authors who do not fit the “white, male, cisgender” paradigm most familiar from recommended reading lists in schools. Three books on the list this time, three books that I discovered by accident.             “Cosmos Latinos” (ed. by Andrea L. Bell and Yolanda Molina Gavilan, published by Wesleyan University Press) is a large collection of fiction by Latin American authors from the turn of the last century to the present century. Most surprising to some readers unfamiliar with … Read more

“On Beyond Cisgender; Part Two.” Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender.

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                            On Beyond Cisgender Part Two                                          By Jeff Baker             About a year ago I posted a column suggested by A. M. Leibowitz’ list of suggested reading for High School of sci-fi/mystery authors outside the usual straight-white-male paradigm. These next few may be considered addenda of sorts, but are not as readily available.             I have a thing for science fiction of the Nineteenth Century-early Twentieth Century and recently got the Dover Publications book “The Feminine Future.” Subtitled: Early Science Fiction by Women Writers, the book presents fourteen stories of sci-fi published between 1873 and 1930.  Cyborgs, mysterious rays, … Read more

Boogieman In Lavender: On Beyond Cisgender: Books for High School

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Jeff Baker

On Beyond Cisgender: Books For High School                                                By Jeff Baker    A. M.  (Amy) Leibowitz has grumbled on Facebook about the “Old Dead White (mostly/presumed) Cis Hetero Male Literature Canon,” and how high-schoolers mainly read books from the aforementioned canon. No authors of color. Rarely any women. “Only literary fiction and other genres are typically not only disallowed but actively sneered at.” A. M. goes on to ask that if you could add any 4 books to a high school literature curriculum (one for each year of US High School) which would you add and why? Among the Facebook users … Read more