My new queer history book for ages 8+ comes out on May 26. My signings are canceled, bookstores are closed... This is a tough time for authors. In the hopes of catching your attention, here's a thread about this book I love so deeply.

Rainbow Revolutionaries: 50 LGBTQ+ People Who Changed the World is a middle grade illustrated collection of short biographies from @HarperChildrens. It's best for ages 8-12, but it's so f-ing gorgeous I honestly would want it as a coffee table book as an adult.

Each of the featured 50 figures gets a spread with a full-page portrait by Sarah Papworth on the left page and a mini-biography on the right page. Look for the details in the portraits, like how Sylvia Rivera is surrounded by stars to symbolize her and Marsha's org, STAR.

There's a ton of bonus content beyond these 50 people's stories, including a timeline of LGBTQ+ history, a glossary, a world map, illustrations of pride symbols and pride flags...

I hope you're wondering how inclusive this book is, since a lot of tellings of "LGBTQ+" history mean "white cis gay" history. We strove to make sure as many people as possible see themselves represented in here. I'm not perfect, but I worked w/ sensitivity readers to do my best.

Over half of the 50 people are people of color and about 40% fall under the trans umbrella. They come from 20+ countries on 6 continents. Yes, ace/aro folks are included! Yes, I use they/them pronouns for some of these figures in their bios.

Something else you might be wondering is the historical accuracy of calling these people LGBTQ+. L, G, B, T, and Q are modern terms and many of these people could not have self-identified with them and their eras didn't have the same social constructions as we do.

The way I got around this is by not assigning labels to people within their bios. If someone was assigned female at birth and lived as a man his whole adult life, I say so. If he lived 200 years before the word transgender, I don't explicitly call him trans.

Obviously I'm implying he belongs in a LGBTQ+ book (emphasis on the +) by the subtitle, but I try not to be ahistorical by using an exact identity label. I also do my best to respect the name and pronouns I think they would have used today based on my research and their words.

As for voice, @mombian says in her review: "Prager writes in an informal, approachable style (sprinkling in but not overusing phrases like 'BFF' and 'totally rock'), while also providing substantial facts about each person’s life and motivations."

You can read two full bios and see their portraits in the excerpt reveal at @LGBTQReads: https://lgbtqreads.com/2020/05/07/exclusive-excerpt-reveal-rainbow-revolutionaries-by-sarah-prager/

I find these people's stories absolutely incredible. Some were activists for LGBTQ+ rights or racial justice. Some were scientists or inventors. Some were athletes. Some were writers, actors, painters, or dancers. They all made history in some way.

Some are famous names like Greta Garbo, James Baldwin, and Alexander the Great. Some are alive today like @Adaripp, @CleveJones1, and @BillieJeanKing. Some aren't widely known, like Tshepo Ricki Kgositau, Maryam Khatoon Molkara, and Nzinga.

The history included goes back to BCE. Time periods of these 50 folks range from ancient China to al-Andalus to fin-de-siecle Paris to 1970s San Francisco. Queer history is all of human history!

Rainbow Revolutionaries is available for pre-order now as as hardcover, e-book, and audiobook. You can listen to audiobook narrator @InesActs read the book's intro here: https://soundcloud.com/harperaudio_us/rainbow-revolutionaries-by-sarah-prager

Of course, please support your local independent bookstore with your purchase! You can find this book on @indiebound at https://tinyurl.com/rainbow-ib  and at @bookshop_org at https://tinyurl.com/rainbow-bookshop. You can also order a SIGNED copy through @Books_She_They at https://tinyurl.com/rainbow-asw .

I adore this book's team and am grateful for the editing of @ninteli and art direction of @aliklap and of course the illustrations of widely acclaimed artist Sarah Papworth! Harper has been wonderful

I hope you'll join my online launch party where I sit at home with my wife and kids instead of glamming it up in NYC. It's more my style anyway. There will be trivia, special guests, a rainbow cake cutting, @UnicornDammit in a glitter beard, Q&A, and a chance to win a signed copy

It'll be Tues, May 26 at 1pm EST. That's the best I can do around naps and bedtimes so hopefully you can take a lunch break if you're working! It'll be streaming on FB Live (@sarahmprager page) and off of FB as well (link TBD). Here's the FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/527597578191962/

I love this book and I hope it can still make it out there as much as possible under the circumstances. If you pre-order, let me know, because it will make me SO HAPPY while I sit here canceling events. RTs or @jvn GIF replies also help. (Or a tweet from @jvn. Hi! Love you!)

Thanks for the love and pre-orders on this thread!! Rainbow Revolutionaries comes out TOMORROW so now is the time to order! https://tinyurl.com/rainbow-bookshop The launch party will be on http://facebook.com/sarahmprager  and http://youtube.com/c/quistapp  at 1:00 PM Eastern (NYC time) tomorrow (Tues, 5/26)!

Launch party includes:
Opening act by @queerkidstuff
LGBTQ+ history trivia game with @UnicornDammit
Rainbow cake cutting
Q&A with special guests like @DLanceBlack
A reading from the book by me in my quarantine haircut
A chance to win a signed copy of the book