Description

VISIONARY HONOURS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020

A stirring, bold and moving anthology of stories and poetry by top LGBTQ+ YA authors and new talent, giving their unique responses to the broad theme of pride. Each story has an illustration by an artist identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Compiled by Juno Dawson, author of THIS BOOK IS GAY and CLEAN.

A celebration of LGBTQ+ talent, PROUD is a thought-provoking, funny, emotional read.

Contributors: Steve Antony, Dean Atta, Kip Alizadeh, Fox Benwell, Alex Bertie, Caroline Bird, Fatti Burke, Tanya Byrne, Moira Fowley-Doyle, Frank Duffy, Simon James Green, Leo Greenfield, Saffa Khan, Karen Lawler, David Levithan, Priyanka Meenakshi, Alice Oseman, Michael Lee Richardson, David Roberts, Cynthia So, Kay Staples, Jessica Vallance, Kristen Van Dam and Kameron White.

Following A CHANGE IS GONNA COME, winner of the YA BOOK PRIZE SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2018

Publisher Review

Be still my rainbow-striped, queer-as-all-heck beating heart! From the adorable to the achingly beautiful, from the funny to the fabulous, what we have in PROUD is a beautiful collection of stories that speaks to so many different experiences. I cannot WAIT for the world to read this collection, it's truly astounding. What a brilliant thing Stripes and Juno Dawson have done! -- George Lester, TheGeorgeLester, YouTube This is a beautiful, brilliant collection that we need now more than ever. There's such joy and hope in it, and yes, some agony, too, but that's life. Whole lives, instead of little keyhole peeks at it. The whole thing is spectacular. -- Saundra Mitchell, editor of ALL OUT It's wonderful to see a collection that manages to reflect so many different aspects of the LGBTQ+ experience, written by such talented authors. It's a (rainbow of) light, coming into the world just when such a light is needed the most. -- Jay Hulme, RISING STARS NEW VOICES IN POETRY The incredible stories inside of PROUD made me laugh, cry, and feel proud to be who I am. -- Julian Winters, author of RUNNING WITH LIONS I loved every page of this wonderful and much-needed collection. Funny, sad, charming and more than a little bit magical. -- Keris Stainton, author of MY HEART GOES BANG PROUD is a stunning rainbow array of stories and poems that cover romance, friendship, loss, family, and even D&D. A gorgeous mural of what it means to be LGBTQ+ in this specific moment. The selections are all wonderfully different, but they share the same heartbeat. Pride and love. I want to hand this collection to every queer teenager I meet-and I wish I could go back and give it to my sixteen year old self. -- Amy Rose Capetta, author of ECHO AFTER ECHO A brilliant, broad and inclusive collection of stories and poems spanning different genres, themes and identities. It's a wonderful snapshot of LGBTQ+ writing for young people from the UK and Ireland and is in turns funny, touching, stirring, and empowering. -- Sophie Cameron, author of OUT OF THE BLUE PROUD is not just a fabulous collection of LGBTQ+ stories for teens, it's also a beautiful, sometimes deeply touching collection of tales, confessions and council. Five stars. Get this baby on your TBR, ASAP. -- Rebecca Denton, author of THE PUNK FACTOR A joyous, brilliantly curated collection of short stories highlighting the full range and breadth of LGBTQ+ diversity in the UK and Ireland. -- Lauren James, author of THE NEXT TOGETHER and THE LONELIEST GIRL IN THE UNIVERSE PROUD brings together a beautiful variety of queer voices, telling stories of love and pain, struggles and triumphs. It's like a multi-faceted gemstone, each angle reflecting a new, different, story about queer adolescence - and together as a collection, it shines. -- LC Rosen, author of JACK OF HEARTS (AND OTHER PARTS)