Am I Blue?

Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence. Edited by Marion Dane Bauer. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1994.

Am I Blue is a collection of short stories for adolescents that touch on issues of homosexuality and sexual identity, with contributions from authors such as Bruce Coville, Lois Lowry and Jaqueline Woodson. In the introduction to the anthology, published 18 years ago, editor Marion Dane Bauer writes writes “Ten years ago, an anthology of short stories dealing with gay and lesbian themes probably would not have been considered by any major young adult publisher. It is my dream that ten years from now such an anthology will not be needed, that gay and lesbian characters will be as integrated into juvenile literature as they are in life.” Bauer goes on to cite a high suicide rate amongst teens struggling with issues of sexual identity. The themes of this anthology are in no way outdated, as these are issues our society continues to grapple with.

The stories are well-suited for adolescent readers of various ages. In “We Might as Well be Srangers,” M.E. Kerr writes of a girl, Allison, who tells her grandmother she is gay. The grandmother is supportive and says she can identify with the feeling of being an outsider, as she was once a jewish schoolgirl in Germany just before WWII. Allison later tells her mother, and is met with resistance and a plea to keep the news secret from her grandmother. Whereas this story is appropriate for younger middle schoolers and is focused more on acceptance, “Winnie and Tommy” might be better for older students. In this story, Winnie learns that her high school boyfriend, Tommy, is gay while they are in a hotel room in San Francisco.

I really enjoyed reading these short stories, as they are all well-written, and the sentences are generally simple enough for middle school students to understand. It’s a great book to keep in the classroom for independent reading. Teachers might also select one or two stories to incorporate into a larger unit about tolerance and diversity.