Inside and Out

Finding Your Place in Safe Spaces with Brandy Colbert and L.C. Rosen

Free

Tuesday, 4:00 pm EDT June 9, 2020

4:00pm ET / 1:00pm PT

‣ Register for Online Event
‣ Donate $10 to Help Support Our Events

This event is part of Inside and Out Pride 2020 series, which offers solace and affirmation to the LGBTQ+ community during a time of isolation from trusted social groups and support networks.

What happens when the places or people we consider safe prove otherwise? Recent middle-grade books by Brandy Colbert and L.C. Rosen dive into the confusion and angst young teens face when pressured to change themselves in the pursuit of love or friendship Colbert’s The Only Black Girls in Town explores how two girls living in a predominantly white small town experience their blackness in similar and different ways. Rosen’s Camp, set at a summer camp for queer teens, is a coming-of-age story about one teenage boy’s willingness to hide his true self to get noticed by the boy of his dreams.

‣ Purchase The Only Black Girls in Town at Our Online Bookstore
‣ Purchase Camp at Our Online Bookstore

Featuring

Brandy Colbert

Brandy Colbert

Brandy Colbert is the award-winning author of several books for children and teens, including The Only Black Girls in Town, The Revolution of Birdie Randolph, Stonewall Book Award winner Little & Lion, and the forthcoming The Voting Booth. She is co-writer of Misty Copeland’s Life in Motion young readers edition, and her short fiction and essays have been published in a variety of critically acclaimed anthologies for young people. Her books have been chosen as Junior Library Guild selections, and have appeared on many best of lists, including the American Library Association’s Best Fiction for Young Adults and Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. She is on faculty at Hamline University’s MFA program in writing for children, and lives in Los Angeles.
L.C. Rosen

L.C. Rosen

L.C. Rosen writes books for people of all ages, most recently Depth and Jack of Hearts (and other parts). His next book, Camp, will be out in May 2020 He lives in NYC with his husband and a very small cat. You can find him online at LevACRosen.com and @LevACRosen

.

The Only Black Girls in Town

By Brandy Colbert

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

PURCHASE

Beach-loving surfer Alberta has been the only black girl in town for years. Alberta’s best friend, Laramie, is the closest thing she has to a sister, but there are some things even Laramie can’t understand. When the bed and breakfast across the street finds new owners, Alberta is ecstatic to learn the family is black-and they have a 12-year-old daughter just like her.

Alberta is positive she and the new girl, Edie, will be fast friends. But while Alberta loves being a California girl, Edie misses her native Brooklyn and finds it hard to adapt to small-town living.

When the girls discover a box of old journals in Edie’s attic, they team up to figure out exactly who’s behind them and why they got left behind. Soon they discover shocking and painful secrets of the past and learn that nothing is quite what it seems
.

Camp

By L.C. Rosen

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

PURCHASE

Sixteen-year-old Randy Kapplehoff loves spending the summer at Camp Outland, a camp for queer teens. It’s where he met his best friends. It’s where he takes to the stage in the big musical. And it’s where he fell for Hudson Aaronson-Lim – who’s only into straight-acting guys and barely knows not-at-all-straight-acting Randy even exists.

This year, though, it’s going to be different. Randy has reinvented himself as ‘Del’ – buff, masculine, and on the market. Even if it means giving up show tunes, nail polish, and his unicorn bedsheets, he’s determined to get Hudson to fall for him.

But as he and Hudson grow closer, Randy has to ask himself how much is he willing to change for love. And is it really love anyway, if Hudson doesn’t know who he truly is?

.

About this series

Inside and Out

Inside and Out is a new series from The Center for Fiction to run this Pride Month 2020! The series offers solace and affirmation to the LGBTQ+ community during a time of isolation from trusted social groups and support networks. Featuring a phenomenal line-up of authors whose books center the unique experiences of queer characters, conversations will explore how sexuality and gender identity intersect with race, class, religion, and nationality.

Events

More Events

Events