All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto

George M. Johnson

Apr 2020 · Sold by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

About this ebook

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue explores their childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.

A New York Times Bestseller!
Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, Today Show, and MSNBC feature stories

From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.

Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults. (Johnson used he/him pronouns at the time of publication.)

Velshi Banned Book Club
Indie Bestseller
Teen Vogue Recommended Read
Buzzfeed Recommended Read
People Magazine Best Book of the Summer
A New York Library Best Book of 2020
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020 ... and more!

Ratings and reviews

We do not need more confused children who are then exploited and going against the nature God has laid out. Men's ultimate partner is a women. Therefore, I do not support literature like this.

If you want to see your child kill themselves then this book with helping them do it but overall 1 star there is only two genders dumb nuts

Love that this story was told. I'd recommend it to anyone struggling with growth.

About the author

GEORGE M. JOHNSON is a writer and activist based in New York. They have written on race, gender, sex, and culture for Essence, the Advocate, BuzzFeed News, Teen Vogue, and more than forty other national publications. George has appeared on BuzzFeed’s AM2DM as well as on MSNBC. All Boys Aren’t Blue is their debut, an Indie Bestseller, and a People Magazine Best Book of the Year. The New York Times called it "an exuberant, unapologetic memoir infused with a deep but cleareyed love for its subjects." At the time of publication, George used he/him pronouns.