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Books That Make You Podcast


Books That Make You is a channel about all things bookish. Home to the The Books That Make You show with host Desiree Duffy of Black Chateau Enterprises. Where she discuses books with authors and experts, unraveling the inner pages of all the books that help make us who we are. BTMY also live streams bookish events as well as posting author readings and bookish contest on www.BooksThatMakeYou.com

Jun 14, 2023

Books That Make You Acknowledge Pride Month

June is Pride Month. It’s especially poignant this year, too, with so many LGBTQ+ books being challenged across the country, and winding up on banned-book lists.

Author Lee Wind’s “Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill: The Podcast” will drop thirty-six episodes in June 2023, as both a celebration of Pride Month and a response to the book-banning and intimidation many in the Queer community—particularly teens—are experiencing.

With a Master’s in education from Harvard, Lee writes stories to empower kids and teens to be their authentic selves and to change the world: the very same books that would have changed his life growing up a young, gay Jewish kid.

He works for the Independent Book Publishers Association as their Director of Education and Programs, and as the official blogger for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. In addition, he is the organizer of the Queer Kid Lit Creators community, and runs the popular blog I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?,  words his teenage self once might have only dreamed of saying.

Upcoming books include the YA novel A Different Kind of Brave (Duet/Chicago Review Press), The Gender Binary is a Big Lie (Zest/Lerner), and the picture book Love of the Half-Eaten Peach (Reycraft), inspired by Queer history. Lee lives in Los Angeles with his husband of more than 25 years, and they have a grown daughter. Visit him online at leewind.org.

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