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Too Controversial to Publish?
By lynmiller-lachmann on 2018-12-17 20:44:01
Several months ago I attended the Jane Addams Peace Award ceremony at the United Nations to see my friend and fellow
VCFA’er Laura Atkins receive an honor book prize for Fred Korematsu Speaks Up. While there, I spoke with librarians,
authors, and editors and found some new books to read, including award winning title The Enemy, a middle grade novel by
Sara Holbrook set in Detroit during the McCarthy Era. One of the editors, who was standing in for an author who couldn’t
be there, expressed admiration for Heyday Books, the small California-based nonprofit press that published Fred Korematsu
Speaks Up and will be publishing a book about the escape from slavery and activism of Biddy Mason in February.
We also talked about a self-published book that I'd read recently, Lee Wind’s YA novel Queer as
a Five-Dollar Bill. Although she represents a large corporate publisher, she’s aware of the growing limitations that corporate
publishers face in terms of publishing diverse and politically controversial books, especially at a time when a right-wing
authoritarian government is seeking to entrench itself, in part through threatening and controlling the media. We agreed that
courageous small presses and individual writers publishing themselves will be the source of most stories of resistance in the
future, and that reviewers, educators, librarians, and book buyers need to take a far more open-minded attitude toward these
upstarts. A regular blogger for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the compiler of award-winning
database I’m Here, I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? Wind approached me about reviewing Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill
several months before the novel launched at the beginning of October. He said that the manuscript had made the rounds of
commercial publishers with a handful of rejections and even more nonresponses, editors who lacked the courage to go on
the record with a reply. Basically, the subject matter — a closeted gay teenager’s discovery that 16th President of the United
States may have had a male lover, information possibly supported by years of correspondence between Abraham Lincoln
and Joshua Fry Speed — was deemed “too controversial.” Indeed, in 15-year-old Wyatt’s small town in Oregon, a town
dedicated to Lincoln’s legacy, the teenager’s blog making his case generates both local and national controversy. In other
words, the industry reaction to the book parallels the story. Spurned but undaunted, Wind initiated a Kickstarter campaign,
and in six days raised enough money from 182 contributors to edit, design, and publish the book himself. This engaging and
thought-provoking story portrays a teenage boy deep in the closet, using an invented romance with longtime friend
Mackenzie to throw bullies like their childhood friend Jonathon off his trail. But when a social studies project leads Wyatt to
explore Lincoln’s life in more depth, he discovers that the future President likely shared a bed with close friend and
confidant Speed. As part of the school assignment Wyatt sets up a blog that garners national attention but also outrage from
homophobes who believe he has destroyed Lincoln’s reputation. Both fans and enemies of Wyatt’s blog descend on
Lincolnville—among them, a lawyer whose teenage son, Martin, is openly gay. Wyatt’s relationship with Martin has its
tender moments as well as heartbreak. The challenges Wyatt faces in an intolerant community are daunting, but over the
course of the year, this determined and likable teenager learns the value of friends and allies and finds them in unexpected
places. Wind’s debut YA novel is honest, powerful, and well-written and will be especially useful for young people living in
similar communities to Wyatt’s. Given that teens cannot choose where they grow up, how can a queer teen survive in hostile
territory? What are the costs of coming out, and of trying to open closed minds? These are all important questions that Wyatt
faces as he tries to find solace and connection in Abraham Lincoln’s relationship with Joshua Fry Speed and to spread
acceptance by blogging about his research. Wind has also done his research and has an extensive afterword in which he
offers the same evidence that Wyatt uses, allowing readers to make up their own minds about Lincoln and Speed’s
relationship. I expect that countless teens and adults will appreciate Wind’s courage and the generosity of his supporters who
made this book possible. I hope that others will give it a chance and come to see the impressive quality and range of books
published outside the corporate system.
