This set includes:

Bright Before Us, Like a Flame
A landmark anthology spanning ten years of Shout Mouse Press with memoir, poetry, fiction, comics, and children’s literature from underrepresented youth authors, offering both a retrospective and a call to action for a new generation of writers as well as teachers.

The Light Looks Like Me: Words on Love from Queer Youth
A stunning, affirming collection of poems, stories, art, and comics by queer youth authors that celebrates love, identity, and self-expression in all its forms.

Passing the Mic: Building a Poet-Athlete City
A powerful portrait of Washington, D.C., this collection showcases three decades of DC SCORES poet-athletes who use soccer, poetry, and service to imagine and build a better future.

By the young writers of Shout Mouse Press

“…a balm for loneliness and validation amid an increasingly hostile political climate for LGBTQ+ Americans…” —Booklife

“The Light Looks Like Me is meaningful, moving, and often surprising as it explores different experiences of queer love.”—IndieReader

“Powerful, affirming, and important reading for young people and the adults in their lives.”—Kirkus Reviews

Amidst a fraught regime where assaults on queer and trans rights are leveraged for political clout, the voices of queer youth are more important than ever. In this anthology, 28 DC-area writers aged 13-24 share their thoughts, feelings and vulnerability through poems, stories, comics, and art exploring love in all its forms. Running the gamut from self-love, to romance, and the love they show to their family, friends, and community, their work will resonate with readers of all ages. With authors representing varied sexualities and gender identities, as well as diverse ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds, this tender anthology offers hope and validation to queer young people and cultivates greater understanding in supportive allies. Foreword by award-winning YA author Malinda Lo.

This project was created in partnership with The DC Center for the LGBT Community, Sasha Bruce Youthwork, SMYAL, and Split This Rock.

Educational Curriculum Available:

Discussion Guide created by nelle mills

Zine Workbook created by nelle mills

• ISBN: 9781950807833

• Age: 12+

• Page Count: 192

• Published: 2025

por London, Riley, and Shirelle of Reach Incorporated

Un niño sensible de piel oscura se enfrenta a un mundo de masculinidad tóxica. ¿Cómo puede Aaron expresar sus emociones cuando todos a su alrededor le dicen que «se porte como un hombre»?

Este motivador libro ilustrado explora los efectos perjudiciales de la masculinidad tóxica en nuestra cultura y en las comunidades de color, y cómo afecta a los niños más sensibles. Aaron es extrovertido, divertido y un genio del kickball. También es compasivo y bondadoso, y ofrece su tiempo para leerles libros a los ancianos en la residencia de ancianos de su vecindario. Es un gran chico, pero tiene un problema: todos lo llaman llorón. Cuando sus amigos hacen trampa en Fortnoche, llora de la rabia. Cuando ve a su amigo Tayshawn lastimar a un perro del vecindario, llora por empatía. Y cuando echa de menos a su hermano mayor, Sergio, que está en la universidad, llora de soledad. Su padre, sus amigos y sus compañeros de clase le dicen que «llorar es cosa de niñas». ¿Cómo puede Aaron aprender a valorar sus sentimientos y a cultivar su sensibilidad en un mundo que le dice «pórtate como un hombre»?

• ISBN: 978-1-950807-05-5

• edad: 4-9

• lexile: 510L

• páginas: 38

• publicado originalmente 2019

• fecha de publicación 15 October 2024

Authors: Luisa Orellana-Castillo, Brizel Martinez Cruz, Camila Melany De la Luz Villegas

Illustrator: Romeo Montero

Amidst changes in a gentrifying neighborhood, a young girl must overcome her fears in order to fight for her community and her aunt’s memory in this heart-warming bilingual children’s book.
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En medio de los cambios que atraviesa un vecindario en proceso de gentrificación, una niña debe superar sus miedos para poder luchar por su comunidad y por la memoria de su tía en este conmovedor libro infantil bilingüe.

Written by first-generation Latinx teens, this bilingual book – told in Spanish and English – follows Belinda, a young girl of Mexican and Salvadoran heritage who once loved to sing. But ever since her aunt’s death, Belinda has been afraid to use her voice. When a new owner decides to paint over the mural that was created to honor her aunt, Belinda rallies the entire community together to stop it. Can Belinda lead her community and lift her voice to save Tía’s mural? From the shy reader to the young activist, this endearing story uplifts our future leaders.

Esta historia bilingüe –contada en español e inglés—, escrita por adolescentes latinos de primera generación, narra la historia de Belinda, una niña de ascendencia mexicana y salvadoreña a quien le fascinaba cantar. Desde la muerte de su tía, Belinda siente temor a usar su voz. Cuando un nuevo propietario decide tapar con pintura un mural que se creó en honor a su tía, Belinda congrega a toda la comunidad para detenerlo. ¿Podrá Belinda liderar a su comunidad y elevar su voz para salvar el mural de su tía? Esta adorable historia alienta a nuestros futuros líderes, desde los lectores tímidos hasta los pequeños activistas.

• ISBN: 978-1-950807-64-2

• Age: 4-9

• Page Count: 40

• Publication Date: Oct 2023

• “Poignant and powerful . . . the students write with fresh power about loss, about the failures of the system around them, and how to decide when, how and where they should speak out.” —Publishers Weekly

• “Our young people are asking that we sit with them, that we listen to them, and that we see their lives in all of their complexity. The stories in What It Cost Us must be read. They must be remembered." —Clint Smith, author of How the Word is Passed: Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

• “Authentic and sincere.” —Kirkus Reviews

• “A momentous account of a time we must remember.” —Wendy Wan-Long Shang, author of The Secret Battle of Evan Pao

Foreword by Candice Iloh

In this collaborative novel, ten diverse young writers from Washington, DC recreate the historic year 2020 from their perspectives, through fictional stories inspired by their own lived experiences. Told chronologically from the onset of the pandemic to the insurrection of January 6th, their stories of change and resilience are accompanied by maps, social media, original artwork, and real-life headlines to create an immersive experience of an unprecedented coming of age. 

You’ll meet Faiza, a Muslim high school student, who struggles to celebrate Ramadan during the worst of the COVID-19 shutdowns. You’ll protest with Roman, the only Black student in his class, whose relationships are challenged in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. You’ll face the fraught 2020 election with Dennis, a young Nigerian immigrant, as he questions a democracy that seems to count him out. 

By examining the shards of this shattered year, these authors explore “what it cost us” through stories that both acknowledge loss and celebrate what got us through.

• ISBN: 978-1-950807-55-0

• Age: 12+

• Lexile: 780L

• Page Count: 329

• Published: Spring 2023