Educators and speculative fiction aficionados who appreciate diverse representation in their literature should check out the Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Database. Here, visitors will find a thoughtfully constructed database cataloguing dozens of science fiction and fantasy books that feature queer protagonists. It includes acclaimed authors such as Octavia Butler, Seanan McGuire, and Malinda Lo, as well as up-and-coming writers. In addition to searching by various queer identities (e.g. asexual, genderfluid), the database can be filtered by numerous other factors including intersecting identities (e.g. mixed race, physically disabled), genre (e.g. space opera, epic fantasy), intended age group, and length. Also noteworthy is the collection of miscellaneous tags pointing out categories such as author of color, first in series, or self/traditionally published, as well as content tags such as "contains: world without homophobia," and "ends with queer protagonists alive." Clicking a book cover leads to a page where visitors can read a brief description of the story, see its included types of representation, and find links to reviews written by readers who (when possible) match that representation. This ongoing project was created by Sarah Waites, an avid book lover who aspires to work in the publishing industry.
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