It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living in Queereaders

Jul 09, 2011 Thomas rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, lgbtq

The fact that this book exists makes me happy. It really does.

I know so many people who wish that there had been a book like It Gets Better when they were a teenager. Not just people who contributed to this book itself, but people I talk to in real life. Better late than never, right?

This book fulfills its purpose perfectly, as I am 100% convinced that it will, and it does, get better. While not superb in its structuring - there is a bit of redundancy and some of the stories are on the weaker s ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Apr 01, 2011 Josh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography-autobiography, woman-author, read-in-2011, children-young-adult, gay-lesbian, religion

What a truly remarkable, inspiring, and life-affirming collection of stories from LGBTQ people and allies! As an offshoot of the YouTube internet video project dedicated to reaching out to youth feeling marginalized & terrorized, this book gathers messages of hope with the common idea that life gets better for LGBTQ youth as they get older and that suicide is not a solution. What a fantastic idea! This book should have a place on the shelves of every school library and be handed out to GSAs acro ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 30, 2011 Ryan rated it it was amazing

A great collection of personal essays that will hopefully change the way some people live and think. This book's potential comes from the honesty that the contributors enlist to inform readers that life gets better no matter how bad growing up may be. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

May 03, 2011 Scott rated it really liked it

Shelves: homo-lit

It's perfect for what it is. Not necessarily acover to cover read, but something I will keep in my classroom library as long as there are kids who will need it.

Thank you Dan Savage, et al. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 05, 2015 Shannon rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya-books, queer

2.5 stars, if I could...

I actually feel bad about not giving this a better rating, because I fucking love Savage (and, his ridiculously hot husband, Terry Miller, no really, google this man, you're welcome). Buut I gotta be honest. Somewhere around the 50th essay in here (there's a lot, they are all short) it felt a bit...trite? I was having a hard time with the "everything is automatically great after high school I promise" message. It's just...not (unfortunately) a fair statement to make.

Buuu ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 29, 2011 Erica rated it really liked it

Shelves: queer

I knew I wanted to read this a bit at a time so it wouldn't get too overwhelming, so I figured I would just read a few essays before getting up to make dinner. Then I thought, well they’re short so how about just one more? And that turned into two more, which turned into three. Eighty pages later my tummy is growling and my cats are crawling all over me because it is past their dinnertime too, but I am still reading. ...more

1 like · Like · see review