All About Books: Celebrating Diversity

If you received a letter from your older self, what do you think it would say? What do you wish it would say? That the boy you were crushing on in History turns out to be gay too, and that you become boyfriends in college? That the bully who is making your life miserable will one day become so insignificant that you won't remember his name until he shows up at your book signing? In this anthology, sixty-three award-winning authors make imaginative journeys into their pasts, telling their younger selves what they would have liked to know then about their lives as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgendered people. Through stories, in pictures, with bracing honesty, these are words of love and understanding, reasons to hold on for the better future ahead.

Ivan E. Coyote writes wry, honest stories about gender and identity. Funny, inspiring, and full of heart. One in Every Crowd is about embracing and celebrating difference and feeling comfortable in one's own skin. Ivan E. Coyote is also featured in It Gets Better.

Every story can change a life. After a number of tragic suicides by LGBT students who were bullied in school, syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage uploaded a video to YouTube with his partner Terry Miller to inspire hope for LGBT youth facing harassment. Speaking openly about the bullying they suffered as teenagers, and how they both went on to lead rewarding adult lives, their video launched the It Gets Better Project YouTube channel, with over 6,000 videos posted and over 20 million views in the first three months, the world has embraced the opportunity to provide personal, honest and heartfelt support for LGBT youth everywhere. It Gets Better is a collection of expanded essays and new material from celebrities, everyday people and teens who have posted videos of encouragement. We can show LGBT youth the levels of happiness, potential and positivity their lives will reach if they can just get through their teen years. By sharing these stories, It Gets Better reminds teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone - and it WILL get better.