Whether you’re looking for a book to help you embrace your uniqueness and let yourself shine, you’re a caring parent looking for guidance, or you just need the perfect read to bolster your spirits, we have the ideal book recommendation for you.

We Make It Better: The LGBTQ Community and Their Positive Contributions to Society by Eric Rosswood and Kathleen Archambeau

We’re here, we’re queer, and we make the world a better place. People in the LGBTQ community have made positive contributions throughout history and we continue to improve society today. In We Make It Better, Eric Rosswood and Kathleen Archambeau share inspirational stories of queer icons in a series of revealing close-ups, first-person accounts, and intimate snapshots of LGBTQ pioneers and heroes. Did you know that Apple (the largest tech company in the world) is run by Tim Cook, an openly gay man? Did you know one of the biggest blockbuster sci-fi movie franchises was directed by the Wachowskis, two transgender women who also happen to be siblings? Did you know that Iceland’s first female prime minister, Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir, was also the world’s first openly gay head of government? We set trends in fashion, film, music, art, and technology. We’re Academy Award winners, Grammy Award winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Olympic Gold medalists. We’re doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians, and religious leaders. We run businesses and we run countries. You’ll be inspired to take PRIDE in your community as you learn about some of the LGBTQ heroes who have done all of this and more. View this book on Bookshop and Amazon!

The Ultimate Guide for Gay Dads: Everything You Need to Know About LGBTQ Parenting But Are (Mostly) Afraid to Ask by Eric Rosswood

The Ultimate Guide For Gay Dads is jam packed with parenting tips and advice to help you build confidence and become the awesome gay dad you were meant to be. Unlike other parenting books that have whole chapters focusing on things specifically related to mothers (such as how to get the perfect latch when breastfeeding), this parenting book replaces those sections with things relevant to gay dads. It covers topics like how to find LGBT-friendly pediatricians, how to find LGBT- friendly schools, how to childproof your home with style, how to answer awkward and prying questions about your family from strangers, examples for what two-dad families can do on Mother’s Day, and much more. The book also includes parenting tips and advice from pediatricians, school educators, lawyers, and other same-sex parents. Bestselling author and gay dad Eric Rosswood covers every aspect of fatherhood for gay men in this essential guide to growing your family in the post-DOMA era. View this book on Bookshop and Amazon!

The ABC’s of LGBT+ by Ashley Mardell 

The ABC’s of LGBT+ is a #1 Bestselling LGBT book and is essential reading for questioning teens, teachers or parents looking for advice–or anyone who wants to learn how to talk about gender identity and sexual identity. We are living in a post-binary world where gender fluency and a real understanding of our LGBT+ family is essential. Ashley Mardell, one of the most trusted voices on YouTube, presents a detailed look at all things LGBT+ in this remarkable book. Along with in-depth definitions, personal anecdotes, helpful infographics, resources, and more, Mardell’s LGBT book is proof that it does get better every day in a world where people are empowered by information and understanding. In Mardell’s own words, “This book is also for allies and LGBT+ people simply looking to pack in some extra knowledge… a critical part of acceptance. Learning about new identities broadens our understanding of humanity, heightens our empathy, and allows us different, valuable perspectives.” View this book on Bookshop and Amazon!

Pride & Joy: LGBTQ Artists, Icons and Everyday Heroes by Kathleen Archambeau

Pride and Joy: LGBTQ Artists, Icons and Everyday Heroes tells the stories of queer citizens of the world living happy, fulfilling, successful lives. Diverse and global. Famous and unsung. There is a story here for everyone in the LGBT community who has ever questioned their sexual orientation or gender identity, or discovered it. Discover LGBTQ community stories that will stir you and reveal why Tony Kushner quit cello and how Colm Toibin found his voice; why Emma Donoghue calls her experience a fluke and the best advice Bill T. Jones got was from his mother; how being an inaugural poet changed Richard Blanco’s life and how Ugandan activist “Long Jones” escaped death threats and gained asylum. Award-winning writer and longtime LGBTQ activist Kathleen Archambeau tells the untold stories from diverse LGBT community voices around the corner or around the world. Not like the depressing, sinister, shadowy stories of the past, this book highlights queer people living open, happy, fulfilling and successful lives. View this book on Bookshop and Amazon!

Unconditional: A Guide to Loving and Supporting Your LGBTQ Child by Telaina Eriksen 

Looking for LGBTQ books that offer guidance on providing loving support to your LGBT child? Unconditional: A Guide to Loving and Supporting Your LGBTQ Child provides parents of LGBTQ children with a framework for navigating through a world that isn’t always welcoming. Author Telaina Eriksen, a professor at Michigan State University and the mother of a gay daughter, explains what she and her husband have learned through experience, including how to respond to gay children coming out, confront bullying of gay children, become an advocate for gay children, and build a support system in a gay family. Eriksen also covers the science on gender and sexuality and how to help a transgender child through the various stages of development. Throughout the book, parents and kids who have been there share their stories. LGBTQ parents will learn everything from how to help their child navigate locker rooms, sleepovers, and school dances to ways to educate well-meaning, but misguided extended family members. View this book on Bookshop and Amazon!

Starving in Search of Me: A Coming-of-Age Story of Overcoming an Eating Disorder and Finding Self-Acceptance by Marissa LaRocca

Many young women and girls struggle with the body image issues that engender eating disorders with elaborate rituals around food, binging, purging, and hiding it all while trying to maintain a face of normalcy to the world. Anorexia and bulimia have become major national health crises with skyrocketing statistics indicating that between 3 and 5% of the population suffer anorexia nervosa alone. Sadly, many never attain the sense of being “normal” and deal with a lifetime of body image and self-esteem issues. This intimate account of courage and the search for truth and meaning will have you rooting for Marissa LaRocca as she unravels the emotional layers of her own battle with food, body image, and sexuality. Readers of this riveting memoir, Starving in Search of Me, will relate to the coming-of-age story of a young woman confronting some of life’s major issues while living, for a time, in two closets: one to hide her eating disorder and one to hide her sexuality and very identity. This confessional self-help guide explores the complex emotional truth of what it’s like when food, weight, and body image take priority over every other human impulse or action. View this book on Bookshop and Amazon!

Flipping the Script: Bouncing Back From Life’s Rock Bottom Moments by AJ Gibson

AJ Gibson’s journey from a closeted gay boy from Ohio to that guy people kinda, sorta recognize from TV and Hollywood’s biggest red carpets seems glossy, but the truth is anything but. In Flipping the Script, AJ shows how his life has been a series of personal roadblocks and rock bottom moments. Every time he thinks he’s in the clear, he finds a new way to crash and burn. Luckily, he’s a pretty smart guy and moderately witty, always finding his way out of life’s difficulties – and you can too! AJ knows that we all have problems that we have to work through, and he’s here to help. Flipping the Script will give you the strength to overcome your own personal roadblocks and live the life you were created to live. In his book, AJ shares tips and tricks in the form of “Script Rewrites” at the end of each chapter that will help you persevere and find your true purpose.  He’ll show you how to shift your perspective to find the beauty in not only life’s high points, but more importantly, in life’s all-too-familiar rock bottom moments. View this book on Bookshop and Amazon

Be That Unicorn: Find Your Magic, Live Your Truth, and Share Your Shine by Jenny Block

Let Jenny Block, author, travel writer and expert in all things magical, teach you how to be the best version of yourself. Embracing your inner unicorn is a simple practice that will reap glittery rewards; it begins with being true to yourself every day, no matter what. For when you are comfortable with your own uniqueness and living your truth, you will start to feel the kind of happiness that is practically contagious! Share your shine (and use your horn when needed), for you are a magical being with much to contribute to this world. View this book on Bookshop and Amazon

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.