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Published: 01/02/2024
Brilliantly combining engaging storytelling with illuminating LGBTQ+ history, The Fights That Make Us finds teenage Jesse determined to shine a light on the shocking Section 28 legislation passed in 1988.
'Maybe there was a place in history for people like me, not on the edges of the story, but right in the centre.'
Jesse has recently come out as non-binary, and is struggling to find their place at school, and ideas for their project on lost stories from history.
Thirty-five years earlier, Jesse's cousin Lisa is falling for her best friend, but with new laws being introduced to restrict LGBT people's rights, they'll have to fight for the world to accept who they are.
When Jesse stumbles across Lisa's teenage diary, they are fascinated and horrified by her stories of living a secret life and protesting in the streets. Now it's Jesse's turn to find a way to shine a spotlight on a history that mustn't be forgotten.
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 9781801315791
Number of pages: 352
Weight: 297 g
Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 22 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Highly engaging, completely relatable and truly empowering, I loved this book. Cleverly told from dual perspectives and two different time periods, and containing a cast of wonderfully diverse, rounded and recognisable characters, this is a gripping and truly empowering story steeped in LGBTQ+ recent history that cements the message that everyone has the right to be whoever they want and love whomever they choose. And that those things are worth fighting for. - Jen Carney, author of The Accidental Diary of B.U.G.
This powerful novel speaks to the concerns of our current era, shining a light on the damage of Section 28. Much needed. Bravo Sarah Hagger-Holt! - Cath Howe, author of Ella on the Outside
A brave, defiant, life-affirming story, full of heart and hope. - Ian Eagleton, author of Glitter Boy
An empowering, eye-opening and empathy-boosting book written with great sensitivity. - Rashmi Sirdeshpande, author of How To Be Extraordinary
A heartwarming and empowering read that amplifies LGBTQ+ voices from the past and present. Another beautiful and very important story from Sarah Hagger-Holt. - Tamsin Winter, author of Being Miss Nobody
The Fights That Make Us is a thought-provoking, heartwarming wonder. - Maz Evans, author of Who Let the Gods Out?
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“Powerful, painful and poignant, this is storytelling at its very best.”
Powerful, painful, and poignant, this is storytelling at its very best. I cried a lot – hopeful, happy tears came after a torrent of tears filled with anger and shame, as modern day meets modern history when Jesse... More
“Loud and proud!”
A wonderful addition to queer 9-12 fiction, The Fights That Make Us follows Jesse as they navigate being non-binary at school and learn about queer history. When they end up with the diary of a deceased family member... More
“Astonishingly good”
Although as someone who in many ways does not envy today’s children, with the many pressures on them that I did not experience growing up in the 1970s, I am envious of the books that are now available to young readers... More
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