Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son

A Memoir of Growing Up, Coming Out, and Changing America's Schools

Paperback
$20.00 US
6"W x 9"H x 0.62"D  
On sale May 15, 2007 | 280 Pages | 9780807071472

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Long before Kevin Jennings began advocating to end anti-GLBT bias in schools, he was a victim of it. In Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son, Jennings traces the roots of his activism to his school days in the conservative South, where “faggot” became more familiar to him than his own name. Creating safe schools for all youth is now a central part of the progressive agenda in American education, and Kevin Jennings is at the forefront of that fight. Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son was featured in People, Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, and other national media.

“Kevin Jennings’s story brought me to tears again and again.” –Martin Moran, author of The Tricky Part: One Boy’s Fall from Trespass into Grace

“Kevin Jennings’s moving story takes us from the trailer parks of North Carolina to the halls of Harvard and meetings in the White House–and yet it is the most personal moments he dares to share that speak to our souls and teach the power of education.” –Bob Chase, president emeritus, National Education Association
Kevin Jennings taught high school in New England after graduating from Harvard and is best known for his work creating safe schools for LGBT students. In 1988, Jennings helped establish the nation's first Gay-Straight Alliance for students, and in 1990 he founded GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, to bring together teachers, parents, students, and community members to end anti-LGBT bias in schools. Mr. Jennings led GLSEN to success in making Massachusetts the first state in the nation to outlaw discrimination against public school students on the basis of sexual orientation, and he helped establish the Safe Schools Program for Gay & Lesbian Students. Under Jennings's guidance, GLSEN has become a national education and civil rights organization with a presence in all fifty states. Newsweek named him one of a hundred people to watch in the new century. Jennings tours extensively and makes frequent media appearances as an advocate and spokesperson for LGBT youth. The author ofOne Teacher in Ten and Always My Child: A Parent's Guide to Understanding Your Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender or Questioning Son or Daughter, Jennings also wrote and produced the historical documentary Out of the Past, which won the 1998 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary.

Educator Guide for Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son

Classroom-based guides appropriate for schools and colleges provide pre-reading and classroom activities, discussion questions connected to the curriculum, further reading, and resources.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

Horatio Alger meets Dorothy Allison in this debut memoir about growing up and coming out . . . Generous and illuminating. —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Not graphic or preachy, this book belongs in any high school that has students struggling with issues of identity and gender!" —Terri Lent (AASL), Patrick Henry High School, Ashland, VA

"Jennings, founder of GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educational Network, recounts his experiences with bigotry, fear, strength and inspiration within his immediate family, among school peers and in society in general. This work is an engaging account of a boy conflicted who goes on to lend vital support to other young people across the country."—Carla Bauman-Franks (PLA), Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN

About

Long before Kevin Jennings began advocating to end anti-GLBT bias in schools, he was a victim of it. In Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son, Jennings traces the roots of his activism to his school days in the conservative South, where “faggot” became more familiar to him than his own name. Creating safe schools for all youth is now a central part of the progressive agenda in American education, and Kevin Jennings is at the forefront of that fight. Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son was featured in People, Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, and other national media.

“Kevin Jennings’s story brought me to tears again and again.” –Martin Moran, author of The Tricky Part: One Boy’s Fall from Trespass into Grace

“Kevin Jennings’s moving story takes us from the trailer parks of North Carolina to the halls of Harvard and meetings in the White House–and yet it is the most personal moments he dares to share that speak to our souls and teach the power of education.” –Bob Chase, president emeritus, National Education Association

Author

Kevin Jennings taught high school in New England after graduating from Harvard and is best known for his work creating safe schools for LGBT students. In 1988, Jennings helped establish the nation's first Gay-Straight Alliance for students, and in 1990 he founded GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, to bring together teachers, parents, students, and community members to end anti-LGBT bias in schools. Mr. Jennings led GLSEN to success in making Massachusetts the first state in the nation to outlaw discrimination against public school students on the basis of sexual orientation, and he helped establish the Safe Schools Program for Gay & Lesbian Students. Under Jennings's guidance, GLSEN has become a national education and civil rights organization with a presence in all fifty states. Newsweek named him one of a hundred people to watch in the new century. Jennings tours extensively and makes frequent media appearances as an advocate and spokesperson for LGBT youth. The author ofOne Teacher in Ten and Always My Child: A Parent's Guide to Understanding Your Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender or Questioning Son or Daughter, Jennings also wrote and produced the historical documentary Out of the Past, which won the 1998 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary.

Guides

Educator Guide for Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son

Classroom-based guides appropriate for schools and colleges provide pre-reading and classroom activities, discussion questions connected to the curriculum, further reading, and resources.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

Praise

Horatio Alger meets Dorothy Allison in this debut memoir about growing up and coming out . . . Generous and illuminating. —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Not graphic or preachy, this book belongs in any high school that has students struggling with issues of identity and gender!" —Terri Lent (AASL), Patrick Henry High School, Ashland, VA

"Jennings, founder of GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educational Network, recounts his experiences with bigotry, fear, strength and inspiration within his immediate family, among school peers and in society in general. This work is an engaging account of a boy conflicted who goes on to lend vital support to other young people across the country."—Carla Bauman-Franks (PLA), Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN

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