THE FULL SPECTRUM by David Levithan & Billy Merrell
    Category:  Anthology
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  5/9/06
    Publisher:  Knopf
    Reviewed by:  Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
    Rating:  5 Stars


    It was only a few weeks ago that I read AM I BLUE?: COMING OUT OF THE SILENCE edited by Marion
    Dane Bauer.  That book is filled with fictional stories dealing with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues, and
    is a book I highly recommend.  I was very happy to see THE FULL SPECTRUM, edited by the talented authors
    David Levithan and Billy Merrell, hit the shelves.  THE FULL SPECTRUM is not fiction.  It's filled with many, many
    stories--some long, some very short--that are mini-memoirs of the individual author.  This book covers all of the ups
    and downs, the sadness and joy, of being homosexual, transgender, questioning, or bisexual.

    There are so many great personal stories in this book that I'm unable to choose a favorite.  Instead, I'm going to list
    every entry that is included, for the simple fact that these authors, these very real individuals speaking from personal
    experience, deserve a round of applause for bringing these issues to the awareness of each and every one of us.

    O.K. by Courtney Gillette
    A GAY GRAMMAR by Gabe Bloomfield
    IT'S NOT CONFIDENTIAL, I'VE GOT POTENTIAL by Eugenides Fico
    SNOW AND HOT ASPHALT by Benjamin Zumsteg
    WHEN YOU'RE A GAY BOY IN AMERICA by Danny Zaccagnino
    I SMELL THE GAS OF MY FATHER'S FISHING BOAT by Adam K. Boehmer
    FOURTH OF JULY by Lauren Rile Smith
    MY DIARY: DOCUMENTED. DONE. by L. Canale
    CRYING WOLFE by Jack Lienke
    TRANS-VENTURES OF AN F2M by Alexzander Colin Rasmussen
    QUEER: FIVE LETTERS by Kat Wilson
    FALLING OFF MY BIKE AND RIDING INTO THE SUNSET by Christopher Wilcox
    THE NIGHT MARC HALL WENT TO THE PROM by J. J. Deogracias
    DON'T TELL ME THAT I'M OVERLY SENSITIVE AND PARANOID by Alex Weissman
    MY POEMS by Isaac Oliver
    SACAGAWEA by Laura Heston
    A FAIRY'S TALE by Travis Stanton
    A BOY IN THE GIRLS' BATHROOM by Dylan Forest
    OUR SPACE by Jovencio de la Paz
    FOUR PHOTOS by Justin Levesque
    BREAK-UP IN SLOW MOTION by Joshua Dalton
    A STORY CALLED "HER" by Alison Young
    MOMENT: THIS COULD'VE BEEN ME by Evin Hunter
    A QUIETLY QUEER REVOLUTION by Laci Lee Adams
    HATCHBACK by Kaitlyn Tierney Duggan
    WALKING THE TRACKS by Eric Knudsen
    THE MOST IMPORTANT LETTER OF OUR LIFE by JoSelle Vanderhooft
    WITHOUT A TRACE by Anthony Rella
    BODY ISN'T THIS by Zara Iris
    NICE ASS by Jesse Cameron Alick
    "GIRL + FAGGOTS" by Caspian Gray
    SOMETHING FOR THE LADIES by Danny Thanh
    CLICK AND DRAG by Joel de Vera Moncada
    JILL SOBULE AND FOUR OTHER TORTURE DEVICES by Ella Pye
    GAYDAR by Jesse Bernstein
    THE SHORT VERSION by Grover Wehman
    ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE by Stefanie Davis
    THAT NIGHT by Matthew Mayo
    CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE by Tyrell Pough
    THREE SUNSETS by Robert Brittain

    The truly wonderful thing about this book isn't just that it deals with issues that many people still feel are taboo, but
    the fact that they raise awareness in everyone who reads it that being different doesn't really mean being different.  
    Whether you're heterosexual or homosexual, male or female or transgender, clear in your sexuality or questioning,
    there are things that everyone can learn from reading the stories included in THE FULL SPECTRUM.  Add to that
    fact that part of the proceeds of the sale of the book are being donated to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education
    Network (GLSEN), and you have one more reason to pick up a copy.
The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of
Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,
Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities
edited by David Levithan & Billy Merrell