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Mechanics' Institute

Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection

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Cover of Coping When a Parent Is Gay.

Cover image from Open Library.

Image source

Coping When a Parent Is Gay

Creator

Deborah A. Miller

Date

Published 1993

Format

Collection Context

A juvenile nonfiction book about young people responding to a parent's gay identity.

Children of gay parentsGay parentsParent and childTeen nonfictionFamily relationshipsFamily disclosure
Contact About AccessBack to catalog

Overview

Coping When a Parent Is Gay is a juvenile nonfiction book by Deborah A. Miller, published by Rosen Publishing Group in the early 1990s. Public descriptions identify it as a book about the impact of a parent's sexual orientation on family relationships and the experiences of young people in varied family situations. The local catalog notes essays, profiles of children with a gay parent, bibliographical references, and an index. In the Tarpey-Schwed collection, the item gives context for older child and teen readers, whose questions differ from the early-childhood picture books centered on family recognition.[1][2][3][4]

Teen-Reader Frame

This item addresses an older reader than most picture books in the collection. Bookseller records place it in teen and young-adult categories, and descriptions point to readers confronting the news that a parent is gay. The form is explanatory nonfiction, not an affirming bedtime story, and that change in audience matters.[2][3]

Profiles And Scenarios

The local record describes essays and profiles of actual children with a gay parent, while public descriptions emphasize young people's experiences in varied families. That structure makes the book a guide through scenarios rather than a single plot. It records how early-1990s juvenile nonfiction tried to help young readers name family change, stigma, and support.[1][2][5]

Resource-List Afterlife

The title appears in bibliographies and resource lists on gay and lesbian youth, parents, and families. That afterlife is important because issue-oriented juvenile nonfiction often survived through librarians, counselors, and educators who needed practical books for readers facing specific family questions. Its evidence trail is therefore more institutional than literary.[4][5][6]

Collection Role

Within the collection, Coping When a Parent Is Gay helps bridge children's picture books and young adult fiction. It is not centered on a preschool classroom or picture-book family celebration. Instead, it records a support genre for adolescents whose family knowledge may arrive through disclosure, divorce, peer pressure, or changing household arrangements.[1][3][4]

Timeline

  1. 1993Rosen publicationBibliographic and local sources place Coping When a Parent Is Gay with Rosen Publishing Group in the early 1990s.[1][4]
  2. 1998Youth bibliographyAn ERIC bibliography for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth lists Miller's title among recommended resources.[4]
  3. 2015Nonfiction resource listingAn LGBTQ literature resource list includes the book among nonfiction titles.[6]
  4. Current metadataBookseller recordsBookseller metadata preserves ISBN, format, publisher, page count, and a short description of the title's subject.[2][3]

Edition And Object History

Public records identify a Rosen Publishing Group library-binding or hardcover edition. The held copy can clarify exact date and series statement.

1993

Rosen Publishing Group edition

Bookseller records give ISBN 9780823914043 and a 140-page extent.

Explore Connections

Browse direct links, shared themes, and nearby publication dates.

Linked records

Gay-parent disclosure

How Would You Feel if Your Dad Was Gay?

Both records address children's responses to a gay parent, though one is a picture-book scenario and the other is teen-facing nonfiction.

References [2][4]

Older-reader family context

Holly's Secret

Both items move beyond early-childhood recognition into older readers' concerns about family, disclosure, and social pressure.

References [3][6]

Parent-child identity questions

From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun

The records share an older-child or teen lens on learning about a parent's sexual identity and negotiating family meaning.

References [4][1]

Shared themes

Children of gay parents

Gloria Goes to Gay Pride

An Alyson Wonderland picture book that places a child-facing story in the public setting of Gay Pride.

Children of gay parents

How Would You Feel if Your Dad Was Gay?

An Alyson Wonderland story about children deciding how to speak about gay and lesbian parents at school.

Children of gay parents

How Would You Feel if Your Dad Was Gay?

An Alyson Wonderland story about children deciding how to speak about gay and lesbian parents at school.

Children of gay parents

Zack's Story: Growing Up with Same-Sex Parents

A photo-illustrated account of an eleven-year-old boy living with his mother and her female partner.

Nearby dates

Published 1993

A Beach Party with Alexis

An Alyson Publications story-coloring book connected to early 1990s LGBTQ children's publishing.

Published 1993

Alfie's Home

A children's book from conversion-therapy advocacy, preserved here as harmful historical context.

Published 1993

Living in Secret

A young adult novel about custody, secrecy, and a teenager's hidden life with her mother and her mother's partner in San Francisco.

Published 1993

Saturday is Pattyday

A New Victoria picture book about a child maintaining a relationship with one mother after his two mothers separate.

Citation

Coping When a Parent Is Gay. Deborah A. Miller. Rosen Publishing Group, 1993. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-184.

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Sources

Cover image from Open Library.

  1. Local collection catalog record for Coping When a Parent Is Gay · catalog
  2. AllBookstores metadata for Coping When a Parent Is Gay · bookseller
  3. ThriftBooks metadata for Coping When a Parent Is Gay · bookseller
  4. ERIC bibliography for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth resources · bibliography
  5. CHADIS resource listing for Coping When a Parent Is Gay · resource_list
  6. LGBTQ Literature and Resources nonfiction list · resource_list