Despite recent progress in civil rights for sexual and gender minorities (SGM), ensuring SGM youth experience fairness, justice, inclusion, safety, and security in their schools and communities remains an ongoing challenge. In Growing into Resilience, André P. Grace and Kristopher Wells – co-founders of Camp fYrefly, a summer leadership camp for SGM youth – investigate how teachers, healthcare workers, and other professionals can help SGM youth build the human and material assets that will empower them to be happy, healthy, and resilient.

Grace and Wells investigate the comprehensive (physical, mental, and sexual) health of SGM youth, emphasizing the role of caring professionals in an approach that that recognizes and accommodates SGM youth. Throughout, the authors draw upon the personal narratives of SGM youth, emphasizing how research, policy, and practice must act together for them to be able to thrive and fulfill their promise.

Both a resource for those professionally engaged in work with sexual and gender minorities and a comprehensive text for use in courses on working with vulnerable youth populations, Growing into Resilience is a timely and transdisciplinary book.

André P. Grace is Killam Professor and Director of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the University of Alberta, where he also teaches in the Department of Educational Policy Studies. He was recently named Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Studies.

Andre P. Grace's profile page

Kristopher Wells is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and the Director of Programs and Services, Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services, University of Alberta.

Kristopher Wells' profile page