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Are You a Friend of Dorothy?: The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped

by Kyle Lukoff

A shared name for finding one another

Regular price $17.71 USD
Regular price $29.52 USD Sale price $17.71 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

A shared name for finding one another

Kyle Lukoff’s picture book explores the phrase “friend of Dorothy” as a way LGBTQ+ people found community when they had to keep their identities private. Dorothy is presented not as one real woman but as an imagined figure shaped by several possibilities, including the familiar girl from Kansas. That blend of coded language and cultural reference gives the book a way to discuss secrecy, connection, and care across a difficult period in queer history. Illustrated by Levi Hastings, it introduces young readers to how a community could recognize and support one another without making that connection explicit to everyone.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Children ages 4–8 learning about LGBTQ+ history and community
  • Families and educators seeking picture books about belonging and identity
  • Readers interested in the history behind the phrase “friend of Dorothy”

Themes

LGBTQ+ historyCommunity and connectionPrivacy and coded languageCare amid adversity

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Two starred reviews!

From Newbery Honor and Stonewall Book Award-winning author Kyle Lukoff and celebrated picture book illustrator Levi Hastings comes an "venturesome, refreshingly frank" (Booklist, starred review) picture book about how people found community in a time when they had to keep their true selves secret.

"Are you a friend of Dorothy?"

In a time when the LGBTQ+ community was forced to hide in the shadows, a woman named Dorothy helped her people find each other in the dark and celebrate themselves in the light.

But who was Dorothy? Was she from the neighborhood, someone's wife, mother, or sister? Was she that clever writer, who threw parties where there were no rules about who you could and couldn't dance with? Or was she a girl from Kansas, who dreamed of leaving her black-and-white, small-town life and finding a vibrant, colorful world that loved her?

Dorothy might have been all these things--because Dorothy, as known by the post-WWII queer community, wasn't real. Still, she helped a community find connection and care amidst adversity.
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