“ONCE WE BEGIN to look for them, we see sissies everywhere,” writes Marlon B. Ross in Sissy Insurgencies, noting that this controversial label can apply not only to such obviously gender non-conforming men as author James Baldwin and singers Little Richard and Sylvester James, but also to figures like educator Booker T. Washington, historian Henry Louis Gates, and basketball star Wilt Chamberlain.

While the historical information in The Paris Bookseller sometimes feels reminiscent of a history book, the novel’s easy style and tender portrayal of Beach and her friends make for a pleasurable reading experience.

In Queer Country, author Shana Goldin-Perschbacher, assistant professor of music studies at Temple University, discusses how this perception of intolerance has often made LGBT country-and-western fans feel unwelcome in the C&W scene (at least until recently).

WHEN DANIEL HENRIQUEZ, the protagonist of All the Water I’ve Seen Is Running, calls his mother in Jamaica to report the death of Aubrey, a girl he knew back in high school, his mom reminisces about people in her life who have died, including Daniel’s uncle, who left before Daniel was born. She’s sad but also practical.

FATIMA DAAS’ The Last One<.em> follows the journey of the last daughter of Algerian parents who settled in France before her birth. In Algerian Arabic, Fatima is the mazoziya, the last one, the youngest of three daughters. Unlike her sisters, Fatima was born to parents who desperately wanted a son.