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Prager, Sarah

January 9, 2018 by admin

WORK TITLE: Queer, There, and Everywhere
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://sarahprager.com/
CITY: Wallingford
STATE: CT
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:

https://www.harpercollins.com/cr-124630/sarah-prager *

RESEARCHER NOTES:

LC control no.: no2017065282
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/no2017065282
HEADING: Prager, Sarah, 1986-
000 00691nz a2200193n 450
001 10457225
005 20170519073552.0
008 170518n| azannaabn |n aaa c
010 __ |a no2017065282
035 __ |a (OCoLC)oca10815763
040 __ |a ICrlF |b eng |e rda |c ICrlF
046 __ |f 1986-08-07 |2 edtf
100 1_ |a Prager, Sarah, |d 1986-
372 __ |a Homosexuality |a Human rights |2 lcsh
374 __ |a Authors |a Human rights workers |2 lcsh
375 __ |a Women |2 lcsh
377 __ |a eng
670 __ |a Prager, Sarah. Queer, there and everywhere, c2017 : |b t.p. (Sarah Prager)
670 __ |a Author’s Facebook page May 16, 2017 |b (Sarah Prager born August 7, 1986, is a speaker, writer, and activist focused on queer history)

Posted in 412 | Comments Off on Prager, Sarah

PERSONAL

Born August 7, 1986; married; children: one daughter.

EDUCATION:

Boston University, B.A., 2008; attended Universidad de Burgos; Emerson College, certificate of communications, 2012.

ADDRESS

  • Home - Wallingford, CT.

CAREER

Writer, activist, and public speaker. Worked as an online communications representative for various nonprofit organizations, including Justice Resource Institute, Boston, MA, and Maryland Coaligion against Sexual Assault, Annapolis, between 2008 and 2013; Quist (free mobile communications application), founder and director, 2013—. It Gets Better Project, blogger; Quistory in Your Neighborhood (online video series), host; guest on media programs. Palestinian-Israeli Peace Alliance, past president; Boston Pride Committee, volunteer chair, 2010; Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, part-time web content manager.

WRITINGS

  • Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World, illustrated by Zoe More O'Ferrall, Harper (New York, NY), 2017

Contributor to periodicals, including Advocate, Huffington Post, and QED: Journal of LGBTQ Worldmaking.

SIDELIGHTS

Sarah Prager was fourteen years old when she revealed to the people around her that she was a lesbian. It was a lonely time for her, she told Della Farrell in an interview at School Library Journal Online. With very few peers in her Connecticut community, she had to search far and wide for role models. Prager became an advocate for what she calls “queer history education,” according to her website, especially education for young people.

By the time she entered Boston University a few years later, Prager had become an activist, public speaker, and spokesperson for a multitude of issues that impact the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer (LGBTQ) community. She writes articles on topics that range from marriage equality to protection from sexual assault, and from HIV prevention to international human rights. In 2013 Prager launched Quist, a free cell phone application for people who want to learn about LGBTQ history and the history of HIV/AIDS. A year later she was working with “Apple and Google to make their tech policies more inclusive of bisexual terms,” as she explained at her website.

Prager has devoted years to library research in her quest to identify historical figures who were or might have been queer. All too often she found outdated or discredited material, if she found anything at all. Prager urges local librarians to keep their holdings up to date, promote Pride Month in June and LGBTQ History Month in October with displays and special events, and collaborate with local support groups, especially those that reach out to young people. Finally, she told Farrell, librarians should “make sure the content blockers on your public Internet don’t blacklist LGBTQ terms” on the grounds that they constitute “sexual content.”

Prager’s research bore fruit when she was able to publish her first book, Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World. Readers should be aware that she uses the term “queer” loosely to describe persons whose gender identity or sexuality seems to lie beyond societal norms. Her subjects include the young Roman emperor Elagabalus, who identified as female and indulged in relationships with both men and women. She writes about women who donned men’s clothing to carry out patriotic missions, such as Jennie Hodgers, who adopted the identity of Albert Cashier to fight for the Union Army during the Civil War, and Joan of Arc, the peasant maid who led a French army in the Hundred Years War, only to be burned at the stake before being canonized as a saint. Prager also offers biographical sketches of contemporary figures like Harvey Milk, the first openly gay official of San Francisco, who was assassinated in 1978, and actor George Takei of Star Trek fame. Her more controversial selections include Abraham Lincoln, who had what he himself called “intimate” friendships with at least two men in his lifetime, by which he may or may not have been referring to sexual relationships, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who maintained a close and possibly sexual relationship with the openly gay reporter Lorena Hickok for decades.

Queer, There, and Everywhere is “a refreshing primer on a side of history that isn’t taught in schools,” reported Susanne Salehi at the Women Write about Comics website. She added that Prager even provides a “list of historical figures that she didn’t have enough information for [to] write about,” along with a glossary of terms, a bibliography of additional resources, and links to her personal website. A writer in Kirkus Reviews observed that Prager’s subjects “are presented in their historical contexts and carefully referred to as they referred to themselves.” A Publishers Weekly commentator described the biographical vignettes as “sometimes irreverent … but always respectful.”

According to a Teen Reads correspondent, the book sustains “a fun tone … , which makes it succeed where quite a few history books do not,” but Michael Cart emphasized in his Booklist review that the book “doesn’t stint on its honest acknowledgment of oppression, repression, and persecution.” One of Prager’s overarching messages is, according to Salehi, “that words have power, and that the way we talk about things affects the way we think about them.” In summary, Emilie Coulter wrote at the Shelf-Awareness website that Queer, There, and Everywhere offers “a fascinating look at history through a different lens.”

BIOCRIT

PERIODICALS

  • Booklist, March 15, 2017, Michael Cart, review of Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World, p. 37.

  • Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2017, review of Queer, There, and Everywhere.

  • Publishers Weekly, December 4, 2017, review of Queer, There, and Everywhere, p. S117.

  • Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2017, Lisa A. Hazlett, review of Queer, There, and Everywhere, p. 76.

ONLINE

  • HarperCollins Website, https://www.harpercollins.com/ (February 9, 2018), author profile.

  • Sarah Prager Website, http://sarahprager.com (February 9, 2018).

  • School Library Journal Online, http://www.slj.com/ (May 18, 2017), Della Farrell, author interview.

  • Shelf-Awareness, http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ (December 19, 2017), Emilie Coulter, review of Queer, There, and Everywhere.

  • Teen Reads, https://www.teenreads.com/ (July 12, 2017), review of Queer, There, and Everywhere.

  • Women Write about Comics, http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/ (June 2, 2017), Susanne Salehi, review of Queer, There, and Everywhere.

  • Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World illustrated by Zoe More O'Ferrall, Harper (New York, NY), 2017
1. Queer, there, and everywhere : 23 people who changed the world LCCN 2017288894 Type of material Book Personal name Prager, Sarah, 1986- author. Main title Queer, there, and everywhere : 23 people who changed the world / by Sarah Prager ; illustrations by Zoë More O'Ferrall. Edition First edition. Published/Produced New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2017] ©2017 Description 259 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm ISBN 9780062474315 (hardcover) 0062474316 (hardcover) CALL NUMBER HQ73 .P73 2017 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms
  • Harper Collins - https://www.harpercollins.com/cr-124630/sarah-prager

    Sarah Prager
    Sarah Prager
    Biography

    Sarah Prager is an activist, public speaker, and writer with a B.A. from Boston University and a Certificate of Communications from Emerson College. She is the founder and director of Quist, a free mobile app that aims to bring queer history to the world in an interesting and interactive way. Sarah came out as a lesbian at the age of fourteen and taught herself LGBTQ history as a means of gaining a sense of community. She has been an activist since that time, working for marriage equality, bisexual visibility, HIV prevention, sexual assault prevention, and basic LGBTQ human rights abroad. She has written about LGBTQ history for the Huffington Post, The Advocate, the It Gets Better Project’s blog, and QED: A Journal of LGBTQ Worldmaking. She lives in Connecticut with her wife and their child. Queer, There, and Everywhere is her first book.

  • Sarah Prager - http://sarahprager.com/bio/

    Sarah Prager is an advocate for <> particularly for youth. HarperCollins published her first book, Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World, on May 23, 2017. The book has received three starred reviews, is an official selection of the Junior Library Guild, and a nominee for a New England Book Award.

    In 2013, Sarah created Quist, a free app for iOS, Android, and Windows that brings LGBTQ and HIV history to life with a following of over 35,000 from over 100 countries. Sarah’s writing has been published in The Advocate, Huffington Post, QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, It Gets Better Project’s blog, and various other newspapers, magazines, and blogs. She has been a guest on HuffPost Live, the Michelangelo Signorile Show on Sirius XM Progress Radio, and The List on ABC2.

    Sarah was raised in Connecticut, and began her life as an activist at age 14 when she came out as a lesbian. By the time she moved to Boston at age 17 she had been a keynote speaker at a rally of hundreds, founded the largest student group at her high school, and traveled to 17 countries.

    She received her Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Language & Literatures from Boston University in 2008, with a course of study which included one academic year spent at the Universidad de Burgos in Spain where her courses focused on political science. During her time at BU, Sarah served as president of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace Alliance and the LGBTQA student organization. She also held several months-long internships a variety of non-profits for causes from public health to microcredit in locations from Paraguay to Bulgaria.

    She earned her Certificate of Professional Communication from Emerson College in 2012, a series of courses focused on writing for the web. From 2008 to 2013 she worked for five non-profits on online communications, including the Justice Resource Institute in Boston and Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault in Annapolis. Sarah served as the Volunteer Chair of the Boston Pride Committee for Pride 2010, which involved recruiting and organizing hundreds of volunteers for Boston’s 40th annual Pride Week.

    GO Magazine named her one of the 13 Red Hot Entrepreneurs of 2013. In 2014 she worked with<< Apple and Google to make their tech policies more inclusive of bisexual terms>>. She was also invited to the White House to contribute on LGBTQ tech issues that year.

    Writing and speaking on queer history continues to be her main focus, though she is also the part-time Web Content Manager for the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. She hosts the YouTube series Quistory in your Neighborhood.

    She lives with her wife, their daughter, and three cats in Wallingford, CT.

1/27/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1517114453700 1/5
Print Marked Items
Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People
Who Changed the World
Publishers Weekly.
264.49-50 (Dec. 4, 2017): pS117+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World
Sarah Prager, illus. by Zoe More O'Ferrall. Harper, $17.99 ISBN 978-0-06-247431-5
First-time author Prager delivers a rich exploration of gender identity and sexuality across time and nation,
focusing on 23 queer individuals from different eras and using a broad definition of queerness ("anyone
outside society's gender and sexuality norms"). Among those highlighted are Joan of Arc, Abraham Lincoln
("Abraham and Joshua were 'intimate friends,' an antiquated relationship term ... one step above a
bromance"), and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as baseball player Glenn Burke, blues musician Ma Rainey,
queer rights pioneer Sylvia Rivera, and actor George Takei. These snapshots--<> in tone,
<> of the people and relationships they discuss--offer strong insight into the lives of
individuals who broke barriers or simply lived life on their own terms. Ages 13-up.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World." Publishers Weekly, 4 Dec. 2017, p.
S117+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A518029943/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=1943f690. Accessed 27 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A518029943
1/27/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1517114453700 2/5
Prager, Sarah. Queer, There, and
Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the
World
Lisa A. Hazlett
Voice of Youth Advocates.
40.1 (Apr. 2017): p76.
COPYRIGHT 2017 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
4Q * 2P * M * J
Prager, Sarah. Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World. Illus. by Zoe More
O'Ferrall. HarperCollins, 2017. 272p. $17.99. 978-0-06-247431-5. Glossary. Illus. Biblio. Source Notes.
Further Reading.
Prager tells the stories of twenty-three queer people who made major contributions to the world throughout
time, from the early Roman Empire to today. The books introduction reminds readers that queer individuals
have always existed but history courses frequently exclude them--or their sexual identities. Terms used in
the text, such as panromantic, asexual, cisgender, and more, are defined in the glossary for those who are
unfamiliar with them. Most of the figures featured are presumably unknown to readers, such as Elagabalus,
a young Roman emperor from the 200s, and Albert Cashier, a transgender Civil War soldier. Joan of Arc,
Frida Kahlo, Harvey Milk, and George Takei will likely be more familiar to readers, as will Abraham
Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Each profile is six pages and begins with an illustration of the individual. The illustrations faintly resemble
those on the cover, a bit bland; additional graphics would have relieved the stark black-and-white text. Also
included are a glossary; addresses from the authors website for supplemental information of each person
profiled; a bibliography; and notes. This is well written, timely, and interesting; the profiles include a
thoughtful, varied mix of queer historical figures. With humor and simple writing, Prager has captured
moments from thousands of years of queer history-making in a captivating, illuminating read good for any
middle-grade reader.--Lisa A. Hazlett.
QUALITY
5Q Hard to imagine it being better written.
4Q Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses.
3Q Readable, without serious defects.
2Q Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q.
1Q Hard to understand how it got published, except in relation to its P rating (and not even then
sometimes).
POPULARITY
1/27/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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5P Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday.
4P Broad general or genre YA appeal.
3P Will appeal with pushing.
2P For the YA reader with a special interest in the subject.
1P No YA will read unless forced to for assignments.
GRADE LEVEL INTEREST
M Middle School (defined as grades 6-8).
J Junior High (defined as grades 7-9).
S Senior High (defined as grades 10-12).
A/YA Adult-marketed book recommended for YAs.
NA New Adult (defined as college-age).
R Reluctant readers (defined as particularly suited for reluctant readers).
(a) Highlighted Reviews Graphic Novel Format
(G) Graphic Novel Format
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Hazlett, Lisa A. "Prager, Sarah. Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World." Voice
of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2017, p. 76. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491949565/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=1c27c551.
Accessed 27 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491949565
1/27/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1517114453700 4/5
Prager, Sarah: QUEER, THERE, AND
EVERYWHERE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Prager, Sarah QUEER, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE Harper/HarperCollins (Children's Nonfiction)
$17.99 5, 23 ISBN: 978-0-06-247431-5
For as long as there's been air, there's been Queer; in acknowledgment, Prager offers 23 short biographies of
individuals who changed their world and ours.From the teenage Roman emperor Elagabalus, who identified
as female and loved both men and women in the third century C.E., to gay social-media activist, playwright,
and actor George Takei, Prager profiles historical (only three are still alive) personages who challenged the
heteronormative pressures of their times to differing degrees. A president who had a boyfriend as a young
man (Abraham Lincoln) and a president's wife who loved women and created the role of the modern first
lady (Eleanor Roosevelt), along with artists, scientists, sports figures, musicians, activists, and queens (both
royal and drag), <>. From the introductory essay to the glossary, Prager carefully endnotes everything and provides
further reading and watching online as well as an extensive bibliography. All is presented in a breezy,
conversational tone that will engage teens and make them laugh while they learn whether they're queer
themselves or queer allies. Should be placed in the hands of every LGBTQ teen so they'll know that not
only are they not alone, but they have a rich and diverse history--as well as the straight ones, who should
know that history too. (Nonfiction. 12-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Prager, Sarah: QUEER, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2017. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A485105174/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9234163f. Accessed 27 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A485105174
1/27/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1517114453700 5/5
Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People
Who Changed the World
Michael Cart
Booklist.
113.14 (Mar. 15, 2017): p37.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World.
By Sarah Prager. Illus. by Zoe More O'Ferrall.
May 2017. 272p. Harper, $17.99 (9780062474315). 920. Gr. 7-10.
"Queer people have been part of history throughout every era," Prager asserts in the introduction to her
collection of 23 brief biographies of queer people that--proving her point--range from little-known Roman
emperor/empress Elagabalus to the contemporary actor and activist George Takei. Vis-a-vis her selection of
subjects, it's important to note that her definition of queer means "anyone not totally straight or not totally
cisgender," hence her inclusion of the gender-bending likes of Queen Christina of Sweden or Joan of Arc.
More eyebrow raising is the inclusion of Abraham Lincoln because of his close friendships with Joshua
Speed and David Derickson. Her other selections--though happily not all are well-known (Juana Ines de la
Cruz, anyone?)--are more traditional, thus Frida Kahlo, Renee Richards, Bayard Rustin, Alan Turing, and
so on. Written in a breezy, highly informal style ("Yikes," "Frickin historic," "yep"), the book doesn't take
itself too seriously, though it <>. A lively and informative introduction to queer history.--Michael Cart
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Cart, Michael. "Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World." Booklist, 15 Mar.
2017, p. 37. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A490998502/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=1bc1f928. Accessed 27 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A490998502

"Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World." Publishers Weekly, 4 Dec. 2017, p. S117+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A518029943/ITOF? u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 27 Jan. 2018. Hazlett, Lisa A. "Prager, Sarah. Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2017, p. 76. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491949565/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 27 Jan. 2018. "Prager, Sarah: QUEER, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A485105174/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 27 Jan. 2018. Cart, Michael. "Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2017, p. 37. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A490998502/ITOF? u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 27 Jan. 2018.

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