The Heart Has Its Reasons : Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2004

M. Cart, C. Jenkins

This resource chronicles the development of GLBTQ-themed young adult literature over time and intersperses critical commentary with annotated bibliographies of related fiction. Cart and Jenkins use a three-part framework to describe the historical changes in content and the depiction of gays and lesbians in terms of what they call "homosexual visibility," "gay assimilation," and "queer consciousness/community." The authors take a historical approach and examine GLBTQ-themed young adult literature decade by decade, discussing pivotal works in detail, and conclude each chapter with an annotated bibliography and a list of notes or works cited.