When The Full Spectrum first hit shelves a decade ago, Massachusetts was the only state to legally recognize gay marriage. "Gender identity disorder" was still recognized as a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association. LGBTQ characters in popular media--especially media aimed at young people--were rare or nonexistent.
Now, ten years later, teens are becoming more aware of sexuality and identity than ever, and at much earlier ages. In order to help foster the young LGBTQ community, New York Times bestselling author David Levithan and author Billy Merrell have collected original poems, essays, and stories from gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, transitioning, and questioning teens and young adults, covering coming out, family, friendship, religion/faith, first kisses, break-ups, and others topics.
Teens are more aware of sexuality and identity than ever, and they're looking for answers and insights, as well as a community of others. In order to help create that community, YA authors David Levithan and Billy Merrell have collected original poems, essays, and stories by young adults in their teens and early 20s. The Full Spectrum includes a variety of writers-gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, transitioning, and questioning-on a variety of subjects- coming out, family, friendship, religion/faith, first kisses, break-ups, and many others.
This one of a kind collection will, perhaps, help all readers see themselves and the world around them in ways they might never have imagined. We have partnered with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and a portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to them.
Author Biography:
When not writing during spare hours on weekends, David Levithan is editorial director at Scholastic and the founding editor of the PUSH imprint, which is devoted to finding new voices and new authors in teen literature. His acclaimed novelsBoy Meets BoyandThe Realm of Possibilitystarted as stories he wrote for his friends for Valentine's Day (something he's done for the past 22 years and counting) that turned themselves into teen novels.He's often asked if the book is a work of fantasy or a work of reality, and the answer is right down the middle-it's about where we're going, and where we should be.
Billy Merrell was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He is a writer of both poetry and prose, coauthoring the New York Times bestselling Spirit Animal series and appearing in several anthologies of poetry. His other works includeTalking in the Dark,Vanilla, the Infinity Ring Secrets series, and The Full Spectrum, which was coedited with David Levithan and recipient of the Lambda Literary Award.Merrell currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his husband, Nico Medina.
