It’s highly enjoyable reading that parents would be smart to pick up after their kids are done.

The first tale, "Mrs. Houdini’s Wife" by Angela Brown, is simply a knockout of a story. In this completely fictional piece, Brown takes us back to the late 1800s, to the life of famed magician Harry Houdini’s wife, Bess. One day, Bess meets a Jewish woman running an animal act out of a dime museum. Her name is Tom and she has decided—after a brutal rape— that life is much easier for her to manage when she dresses as a man.

Brown’s story is immensely readable—you simply can’t stop once you’ve started. It is also historically accurate. (Bess was Houdini’s wife’s real name, for example, and Brown gets the feel of the freak show atmosphere and the 1890s down pat.) But most importantly, Brown highlights the fact that transgender life is nothing new at all. For even though this story is fiction, it makes us realize that there had to be other Toms out there during the 1800s, and even before. This is a topic that is rarely discussed, and an important lesson for everyone, but particularly for trans teens struggling with their identity.

Brown also highlights the fact that there have always been gay women out there as well. (Bess is clearly either lesbian or bisexual.) But queer women, like the transgendered population, could only go as far as the culture would allow, because there was no room to make waves back then. Still, while they may not have been able to wave pride banners in the streets, that doesn’t mean they weren’t just as radical for having a queer relationship in the first place, no matter how secretive it had to be.

Some of the best stories in this collection involve parents and kids dealing with GLBT issues simultaneously. In Claire McNab’s fantastic “Fooling Around,” a boy who is coming out learns an interesting secret about his father’s past, while the wonderful Leslea Newman (Heather Has Two Mommies) writes about a teen lesbian coming to terms with her sexuality and her father’s penchant for dressing up in women’s clothes in “Just Like a Woman.” So many times parents are angry at their kids for being gay because they themselves are dealing or have dealt with queer feelings, or a partner's gay orientation, in the past or the present. This is another topic that rarely gets talked about, but really needs to be.

There are different types of family problems in Laurel Winter’s "Somebody’s Boyfriend" and Judith P. Stelbourn’s "Her Sister’s Wedding." In Winter’s story, Alex meets Jeff and is almost instantly attracted to him. But he’s straight and in love with Alex’s sister, Maggie. Or is he? Winter perfectly captures the awkwardness of first love here. Stelbourn’s wonderful story concerns a lesbian named Veronica, who, while attending her sister’s straight wedding, is set up by well-meaning family members with a man. As the story comes to its conclusion, the pressure to be honest with her family about her sexuality mounts. But will she have the courage?

“Throwing Rocks at Cats” is popular Geography Club author Brent Hartinger's powerful tale about an abusive father and his son, as viewed through the eyes of the boy’s summer fling. It shows how sometimes kids have to be bigger, emotionally speaking, than their small-minded parents.

These stories are just a sampling of the amazing pieces you’ll find in this collection. In her introduction, editor Jane Summer says that this anthology shouldn’t be called Not the Only One: Lesbian and Gay Fiction for Teens, but that it should be called simply Fiction for Kids, and that it should be required reading for all high school students. After reading these stories, it’s hard to argue with her.

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Until next time!