All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto

*An Amazon Best Book of the Year optioned for television by Gabrielle Union *

 In a series of personal essays, a prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.

 Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.

Reasons: Banned and challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, profanity, and because it was considered to be sexually explicit-In 2021, the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom named it the third most banned and challenged book in the United States of the year.

Author: George M. Johnson
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (Byr)
Published: 04/28/2020
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.70w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780374312718

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.4
Point Value: 9
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 510004 / All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto

About the Author

GEORGE M. JOHNSON is a writer and activist based in New York. They have written on race, gender, sex, and culture for Essence, the Advocate, BuzzFeed News, Teen Vogue, and more than forty other national publications. George has appeared on BuzzFeed's AM2DM as well as on MSNBC. All Boys Aren't Blue is their debut, and was an Amazon Best Book of the Year, an Indie Bestseller, a People Magazine Best Book of the Year, and optioned for television by Gabrielle Union. The New York Times called it an exuberant, unapologetic memoir infused with a deep but clear love for its subjects. At the time of publication, George used he/him pronouns.