{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316516023?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"0316516023","authors":["Samantha Allen"],"book_id":"9780316516020","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780316516020","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780316516020.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","description":"LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST A transgender reporter's \"powerful, profoundly moving\" narrative tour through the surprisingly vibrant queer communities sprouting up in red states ( New York Times Book Review ) , offering a vision of a stronger, more humane America. Ten years ago, Samantha Allen was a suit-and-tie-wearing Mormon missionary. Now she's a GLAAD Award-winning journalist happily married to another woman. A lot in her life has changed, but what hasn't changed is her deep love of Red State America, and of queer people who stay in so-called \"flyover country\" rather than moving to the liberal coasts. In Real Queer America , Allen takes us on a cross-country road-trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible Belt to the Deep South. Her motto for the trip: \"Something gay every day.\" Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to scores of extraordinary LGBT people working for change, from the first openly transgender mayor in Texas history to the manager of the only queer night club in Bloomington, Indiana, and many more. Capturing profound cultural shifts underway in unexpected places and revealing a national network of chosen family fighting for a better world, Real Queer America is a treasure trove of uplifting stories and a much-needed source of hope and inspiration in these divided times.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780316516020","publication_date":"20200616","publisher":"Little, Brown and Company","slug":"real-queer-america","subtitle":"LGBT Stories From Red States","title":"Real Queer America"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"BIO031000","confidence_band":"high","label":"LGBTQ+ Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO032000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Activist Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC064000","confidence_band":"high","label":"LGBTQ+ Studies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}],"hint":[],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BIO031000","confidence_band":"high","label":"LGBTQ+ Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BIO032000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Activist Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC064000","confidence_band":"high","label":"LGBTQ+ Studies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"LGBTQ+ Lives","score":1,"slug":"lgbtq-lives"},{"label":"Activist Lives","score":1,"slug":"activist-lives"},{"label":"LGBTQ+ Studies","score":1,"slug":"lgbtq-studies"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy LGBTQ+ Lives","Good for readers interested in book club","Good for readers who enjoy LGBTQ+ Lives and Activist Lives."],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Milo Todd"],"book_id":"9781640097032","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781640097032.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":10.8148,"title":"The Lilac People","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781640097032"},{"authors":["Eric Cervini"],"book_id":"9781250798503","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250798503.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":10.7566,"title":"The Deviant's War","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781250798503"},{"authors":["Pedro Lemebel","Gwendolyn Harper","Idra Novey","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780143137085","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780143137085.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":10.7428,"title":"A Last Supper of Queer Apostles","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780143137085"},{"authors":["Nemonte Nenquimo","Mitch Anderson"],"book_id":"9781419763779","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781419763779.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":10.2127,"title":"We Will Be Jaguars","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781419763779"},{"authors":["Gregory Smithers","Shaun Taylor-Corbett","Beacon Press Audio","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780807003466","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780807003466.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":10.0301,"title":"Reclaiming Two-spirits","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780807003466"},{"authors":["Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha"],"book_id":"9781551528915","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781551528915.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":9.7929,"title":"The Future Is Disabled","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781551528915"},{"authors":["Michael Amherst"],"book_id":"9781910924716","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781910924716.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":9.2065,"title":"Go the Way Your Blood Beats","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781910924716"},{"authors":["Sarah Schulman"],"book_id":"9781250849120","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250849120.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T10%3A13%3A18Z","score":9.1438,"title":"Let the Record Show","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781250849120"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:transgender history"],"label":"History","score":0.9238,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["phrase_map_match"],"label":"Book Club","score":0.0914,"slug":"book-club"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:lgbtq books"],"label":"Lgbtq","score":0.0827,"slug":"lgbtq"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:lgbt"],"label":"Lgbt","score":0.0669,"slug":"lgbt"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:united states of america"],"label":"America","score":0.0564,"slug":"america"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: History, Book Club, Lgbtq.","Reading lane: LGBTQ+ Lives and Activist Lives.","Publisher: Little, Brown and Company."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":258,"goodreads_ratings_count":4466,"goodreads_reviews_count":783,"quality_score":0.9609}}