Are You a Friend of Dorothy? The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped
Kyle Lukoff, illus. by Levi Hastings. Simon & Schuster, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-66593-166-3
Straightforwardly detailing how LGBTQ+ people have long found each other via verbal and visual cues, this approachable, engaging work is a primer on both queer history and how “learning about the ways we survived in the past could help people in the future.” Succinct text from Lukoff (There’s No Such Thing as Vegetables) delves into the sociopolitical history of queer signal “friend of Dorothy.” During a time when U.S. laws “made it illegal to be gay,” undercover spies from the U.S.
military heard about the phrase—and, believing Dorothy to be a real person, began searching for her (“How did she know all these gay men? Why
did she know them? And how could they get her to reveal those secrets?”). Expressive, bright-hued portraiture from Hastings (Big Wig) visualizes decades of history alongside possible origins of the title phrase, including actor Judy Garland’s Wizard of Oz character and writer Dorothy Parker (“known for being clever and grouchy”). Together, the creators assuredly demonstrate that “people always know how to find each other. And when it isn’t safe to be out as yourself, you can always create ways
to learn who your friends might be.” Characters are portrayed with various abilities, body types, and skin tones. A concluding note reflects on terms used. Ages 4–8. Author’s Agent: Saba Sulaiman, Talcott Notch Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Brent Taylor, Triada US. (Apr.)
Details
Reviewed on: 01/09/2025
Genre: Children's
Other - 1 pages - 978-1-6659-3167-0