I loved summer reading as a kid and still as a grownup, and I love when people recommend their favorite books. From me to you:

Summer reading especially for Pride: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful by Jack Lowery, Redefining Realness by Janet Mock, No Ashes in the Fire by Darnell Moore, When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrice McCullers, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas, children’s book Hispanic Star Sylvia Rivera by Claudia Romo Edelman. Recommended by a nonbinary trans activist: The Color Purple and its sequel The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker, The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall, Prayers for Bobby: A Mother’s Coming to Terms with the Suicide of Her Gay Son by Leroy Aarons, The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk by Randy Shilts.

Summer fiction: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, James by Percival Everett, Martyr by Kaveh Akbar, The Woman With the Cure by Lynn Cullen, Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore, Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray, Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, Babel by JF Kuang, Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah, Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok, Weyward by Emilia Hart.

Summer Memoirs: A Man of Two Faces by Viet Thanh Nguyen, A Heart for Freedom by Chai Ling, I, Rigoberta Menchu. White Like Me by Tim Wise, Being Heumann by Judith Heumann, Whiskey Tender by Deborah Jackson Taffa, The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston. Several are listed about in the Pride section.

Children’s books: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. El Deafo by Cece Bell. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. The Laura Line by Crystal Allen. Paper Boy by Vince Vawter. Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers. About birthright citizenship: I Am An American: The Wong Kim Ark Story by Grace Lin. About labor organizing: Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong. About resisting fascism: The Plot to Kill Hitler by Patricia McCormick. About internment: Aki and Sylvia by Winifred Conkling. About Native American resistance/environment: We Are the Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom. About LGBTQ resistance: Hispanic Star Sylvia Rivera by Claudia Romo Edelman. About resisting segregation: Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiah. About refugees: Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai. Recommended by a long-time Houston Native American activist: I is for Immigrants by Selina Alko, I Sang You Down from the Stars by Tasha Spillett, Frybread by Kevin Noble Mailard, A Friend Like You by Frank Murray, What Jewish Looks Like by Kleinrock et al, and Say Hello by Rachel Isadora.

Narrative nonfiction: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, Deep in Our Hearts: Nine White Women of the Freedom Movement (an anthology), Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell (produced for audio).

Now all you need is a hammock under a shady tree. Happy reading!