The ABCs of Queer History

A Through-the-Alphabet Celebration of Queer History in the US, from the Publisher of the New York Times Bestseller The ABCs of Black History

In a beautiful picture book brimming with P for Pride, writer and poet Seema Yasmin and illustrator Lucy Kirk celebrate all the joys and challenges of queer history in the United States through lively, rhyming verse and bright, colorful illustrations.

This is a book of people, of ideas, of accomplishments and events. It’s a book about Allies and Ancestors, about Belonging and Being accepted, about Hope, Knowledge, and Love. About historic moments like Stonewall, and how it changed the world. And all about Trailblazers, like Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Josephine Baker, Harvey Milk, Barbara Jordan, George Takei, Elliot Page, and Sally Ride.

And ultimately, it’s a book to help kids learn a different kind of ABCs--not just words like apple, ball or cat, but rather the essence of what it means to be diverse, to be equitable, to be inclusive. That no one counts unless we all count, and how we must open our eyes and ears, minds and hearts, to hear everyone’s story and understand and celebrate their experience.

Seema Yasmin is a medical doctor, disease detective, author, and journalist. She weaves science with storytelling to paint vivid pictures about our bodies and the world around us and is the author of five books, including a young adult title about fake news, What the Fact?!, and a poetry collection, If God Is a Virus, which was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the best books of 2021. Yasmin’s medical journalism appears in the New York Times, WIRED, Scientific American, and other outlets, and she regularly appears as a medical analyst on CNN. She trained in medicine at the University of Cambridge and in journalism at the University of Toronto. She now lives in Las Vegas where she writes books and creates TV shows.

Lucy Kirk is a freelance illustrator and ceramist based in Bristol, UK. Since graduating from Brighton University in 2012, she has worked with a wide range of different clients and varied projects. These include editorial illustrations, book illustrations, print and pattern designs, murals, fashion, and ceramic designs. Her work is playful and refreshing with an edgy humor.