GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens [Paperback]

Kelly Huegel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2003

The teen years are full of challenges.

For gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning teens, these challenges can include prejudice, discrimination, rejection, reprisals, insensitive remarks (even among friends and families) and, sometimes, violence.

But being a GLBTQ teen can also be fun and enlightening—when you are comfortable with who you are.

Author Kelly Huegel understands what GLBT teens want and need to know. As a teen, she struggled to realize and accept her own identity. Her frank, sensitive book is written for teens who are beginning to question their sexual or gender identity, those who interested in GLBT issues and rights, and those who need guidance, reassurance, or reminders that they aren’t alone.

Kelly offers practical advice, knowing encouragement, accessible resources, and real-life testimonials from teens who’ve "been there." Topics include coming out (the pluses and minuses), facing prejudice and pressure, getting support, navigating relationships, staying safe, making healthy choices, surviving and thriving in high school, and more.

The message throughout is strong and clear: By accepting yourself, you take charge of your own future.

Created with feedback and suggestions from individuals at PFLAG (Parents, families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), and other organizations, this book is for any GLBTQ teen—and any straight friend, parent, teacher, counselor, youth leader, or other adult who cares and wants to understand.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-A great choice for teens who are gay or questioning their sexuality, or even those who would like to know more about what it's like to be queer (Huegel says it's "a great word because it frees you from using a more specific label if you don't want to"). Written in hip language and style, the book covers the basics in GLBTQ 101, then moves chapter by chapter through the primary issues and questions such as coming out; dating and sexuality; religion; and life at school, work, and home. Each chapter contains sidebar quotes from gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning teens and descriptions of appropriate resources such as books, organizations, and Web sites. GLBTQ doesn't cover any new ground, but it does give sound, practical information and advice in an inviting package from an author who has done her homework and has written the book that she wished she could have read when she was a teen.
Betty S. Evans, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-up. Huegel has written an indispensable guide for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning teens, as well as for their straight peers and parents. In 11 candid, fact-filled, nonjudgmental chapters, she covers every aspect of being GLBTQ-- from coming out to homophobia, from religion and culture to sex and sexuality. She devotes an entire chapter to transgender teens, a group that is often ignored or misunderstood. The tone is always supportive and matter-of-fact, Huegel's recommendations are sensible and practical, and apposite quotations from young people who have "been there" enrich the text. The book, designed for browsing, also contains an extraordinary number of references to additional resources--many of them online--as well as a glossary and a bibliography. One of the best one-volume sources of information available about being GLBTQ. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing; 1 edition (May 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575421267
• ISBN-13: 978-1575421261
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #425,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Bisexuality
  • #44 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Coming Out
  • #75 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Health

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful book, May 24, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens (Paperback)

i remember being a pre-teen, leafing through many books written for young women that followed an "our bodies ourselves" format. these books were ok, but never what i was really looking for. i didn't want information on how to ask boys to dance or how to apply lipstick- i wondered where the chapters entitled "when you don't feel like the rest or the girls" or "but what if i don't like boys?" were.

what a great help it would have been to have this book! the format is "hip" but not patronizing. while this book affirms the importance of pride and self-respect in queer or questioning young people, it also devotes pages to the concerns and dangers many queer teens face (safe sex, how to begin dating, facing intolerance). transgender issues and stories have their own chapter, as do homophobia and coming out. descriptive paragraphs are broken up by small autobiographical blurbs by young people describing their experiences with the topic at hand, and by smaller essays.

this book is a great place to begin for youth who are GLBTQ, questioning, or who would like to better understand their queer peers and friends.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dealing with Teens? Get this!, December 5, 2004

By 

Cathleen E. Ash "Librarian-in-Training" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens (Paperback)

This book is a must-have for any Library shelf that serves teens. It is written in a style appealing to teens and includes short, one or two page summaries of ways to cope with the many issues teens face when questioning their sexuality. It also provides excellent, current resources for teens, from crisis lines to 'safe' (moderated) chat sites. I especially enjoyed the section dealing with 'coming out' to parents and family. It provided experiences from other teens who have (the good, the bad, and the ugly), and also possible responses parents might have when a teen tells them he/she is gay. In addition, it listed possible, respectful ways to respond to less-than-accepting parents. A fantastic compilation of stories, insights, and resources for teens.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for teens!, March 16, 2007

By 

L. A. Fulton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens (Paperback)

This is an awesome book. I bought several that I use with a group of high school students. It's very informative and easy to read. Also has step-by-step suggestions for coping with issues such as homophobia, harassment, and coming out. An invaluable resource.