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Justine Pucella Winans

@justinepwinans.bsky.social
849 followers 201 following 81 posts

Award-winning author, cat lover, and aspiring Pokémon trainer. Most recent: HOW TO SURVIVE A SLASHER Next up: A LITTLE TOO HAUNTED (9/30/25) They/She www.justinepucellawinans.com/links

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Reposted by Justine Pucella Winans
Candi Norwood | Horror Writer | Book Reviews @candikat.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
#HowtoSurviveASlasher by @justinepwinans.bsky.social is a sweet coming of age story masquerading as a self-aware teen slasher novel - and it’s a solid read for both. #HorrorSky #BookSky #Libby #PublicLibrary #ShopIndieBookstores Full Review: candikathorror.com/reads/how-to...
candikathorror.com
How to Survive a Slasher — CandiKat Horror
How to Survive a Slasher by Justine Pucella Winans is a sweet coming of age story masquerading as a self-aware teen slasher novel - and it’s a solid read for both. 
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Jen @popgoesthereader.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
🌈 195 2025 Young Adult Books Featuring LGBTQIA+ Representation 🌈 popgoesthereader.com/195-2025-you... #BookSky #YALit #KidLit #Pride #PrideMonth
A compilation of twenty-one 2025 young adult book covers in shades of pink and purple. Books featured include if We Were A Movie, I Love You S'More, Love At Second Sight, Togetha, Out of Step, Into You, Finding Prince Charming, Call Your Boyfriend, Chaos King, Hit Me With Your Best Charm, The Assassin's Guide To Babysitting, All-Nighter, Why On Earth, Run Away With Me, On Starlit Shores, There's Always Next Year, We Were Villains, Lucha of the Forgotten Spring, Nav's Foolproof Guide To Falling In Love, The Good Vampire's Guide To Blood and Boyfriends, The L.O.V.E. Club and Come Home To My Heart.
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Multnomah County Library @multcolib.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
If you're looking for "Something to read after Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet", check out How to Survive a Slasher by @justinepwinans.bsky.social: multcolib.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S1... #AskALibrarian
multcolib.bibliocommons.com
How to Survive a Slasher — Multnomah County Library
How to Survive a Slasher — Winans, Justine Pucella, — Queer teen CJ must rely on their knowledge of horror-movie rules to survive when a prophetic manuscript thrusts her into the center of a new murde...
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
New book out next fall! There's gore, there's gays, there's facing trauma! #booksky
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Children's Bookshelf @pwkidsbookshelf.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Announcing new deals for @justinepwinans.bsky.social @karlavalenti.bsky.social @rozenwoga.bsky.social @leahhong.bsky.social + more buff.ly/zs2aBsy
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Authors Against Book Bans @authorsabb.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
We've been asked this a few times & now have an answer! If you're in publishing, but not author you can join Publishing Professionals Against Book Bans! The group is still in development but you can sign up here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
Publishing Professionals Against Book Bans sign-up
Hello! We're Publishing Professionals Against Book Bans, a group of editors, agents, publicists, designers, marketers, and more who’ve come together to protect and promote the freedom to read. We're a...
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Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
unfortunately, this isn't surprising given ... everything. if you're an author, consider joining @authorsabb.bsky.social if you're a reader looking to support the freedom read, show up for your local library! ilovelibraries.org And attend local school board meetings and fight for these books!
ilovelibraries.org
I Love Libraries
There's never been a more important time to support our nation's libraries.
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Maggie Tokuda-Hall @maggietokudahall.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
It's hard to explain to people outside this fight that Texas is currently trying to ban kids from using public libraries... but they are; it's passed out of committee, and it's going to a floor vote. 🚨If you know ANYONE in Texas it's time for them to call their reps and demand NO ON HB3225🚨
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Authors Against Book Bans @authorsabb.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Texas! Tx HB3225 was passed by the House so now it is time to call your state Senators! Here's a good op-ed describing some of the dangers of the bill. And be sure to give a follow to @freadomfighters.bsky.social
statesman.com
Librarians aren't bouncers. Texas teens shouldn't be carded to read serious books | Opinion
The bill’s threat of a $10,000 fine per infraction will only create fear and lead to banning perfectly good books for people who happen to be minors.
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Catherine Hapka @catherinehapka.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Spotted some familiar names at the Union Square @barnesandnoble.com and @booksofwonder.bsky.social today! 📚👀😁 @matokah.bsky.social @justinepwinans.bsky.social @mtanderson.bsky.social @tayberryjelly.bsky.social
Books on a bookshelf with Ana on the Edge by A.J. Sass face out at center. 
Books on a bookshelf with The Otherwoods by Justine Pucella Winans face out at center. Books on a bookshelf with Feed by M.T. Anderson face out at center. Books on a bookshelf with Murray Out of Water by Taylor Tracy face out at center.
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24hr.YABookBlog @24hryabookblog.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Are you eager to explore more of the YA Horror genre? If so, my bookish list of 10+ young adult Horror books is for you if you need recs of atmospheric, chilling reads for your tbr! 🖤🕯️ #yabooks #booksky #diversebooks thebookedshelf.wordpress.com/2025/04/15/1...
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Catherine Hapka @catherinehapka.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Just finished BIANCA TORRE IS AFRAID OF EVERYTHING by @justinepwinans.bsky.social - loved it! It has murder! It has birds! It has queer rep! It has amateur sleuths! It has phobias! It has romance! It has an adorkably lovable protag! What are you waiting for? Fly out & get it today! 🐦 #kidlit #YA
Photo of a book: BIANCA TORRE IS AFRAID OF EVERYTHING by Justine Pucella Winans. Cover is shades of pink and purple, with art of a teen person's face in profile with birds around it, city skyline at bottom. Perched atop the book is a fake chickadee, and sitting beside it is a very silly looking yellow bird with orange feet and beak.
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Sometimes I doodle for fun. I played around with doing an outline of my kitten birdwatching. It might be rough, unpolished, unfinished, maybe even bad, but I did it for free, for fun, for joy. Not everything has to be amazing. Not everything has to be for profit. You can do it just to enjoy it.
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Chuck Tingle @chucktingle.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
WONDERCON was a profoundly beautiful day shared with profoundly wonderful people. overwhelmed with gratitude and thankful to share this moment with @ceejthemoment.bsky.social @lizkerin.bsky.social @justinepwinans.bsky.social @mystgalaxybooks.bsky.social @judyapneeb.bsky.social LOVE IS REAL
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Writers at work
A person on their laptop with a calico kitten in the foreground making a silly faceThe same person but with the calico now making a different face--mouth open wide, tongue out, winking
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Chuck Tingle @chucktingle.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
ANAHEIM BUCKAROOS i will be trotting to WONDERCON this coming weekend with my buds @lizkerin.bsky.social @ceejthemoment.bsky.social @justinepwinans.bsky.social @mystgalaxybooks.bsky.social ill be there FRIDAY ONLY here is my schedule come say hello and prove love
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🪱💀mindy💀🪱 [exorcism bondage era] @garbagesauce.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
new & restocked horror now available at b&n sioux falls 🔪🥰 @justinepwinans.bsky.social @shanehawk.com @cgolden.bsky.social @angelasylvaine.bsky.social @jwocker.bsky.social @sgj.bsky.social @pnwscribe.bsky.social @johndurginauthor.bsky.social @erikatwurth.bsky.social @jchaplinsky.bsky.social
photo of the books you've lost a lot of blood, letters to the purple satin killer, once was willem, never whistle at night, buffalo hunter, all hallows, till death, how to survive a slasher photo of the books dead spot, twelve nights at rotter house, mongrels, a history of fear, white line fever, the paleontologist, the cursed among us, the haunting of room 904, frost bite
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
I recreated the cover of my YA horror with my cats, and I think we nailed it. If you like meta, campy horror, and want a fun, quick read, HOW TO SURVIVE A SLASHER is available now!
A recreation of a book cover that has three cats with varied expressions and a person in a wolf mask holding a knife looking over them.The actual book cover that has three teens running from a person in a wolf mask holding a knife and looming over them
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Bloomsbury Books US @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Happy book birthday to HOW TO SURVIVE A SLASHER by @justinepwinans.bsky.social 🎉 This YA twists the classic slasher tropes you know and love and is perfect for fans of horror movies like Scream. Get your copy now: www.justinepucellawinans.com/howtosurvive...
justinepucellawinans.com
How to Survive a Slasher — Justine Pucella Winans
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Miss Becky Buns is trying to get her copy early! If you are a fan of queer, meta horror like her, HOW TO SURVIVE A SLASHER is out this Tuesday! #Booksky #Horror www.justinepucellawinans.com/howtosurvive...
A calico kitty reaching a paw out toward a book, HOW TO SURVIVE A SLASHER by Justine Pucella Winans
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Excited/emotional to receive ARCs for my upcoming MG horror. There is a cat character in this book that might look familiar. I miss Kana all the time, but loved giving her another home in this book. My team at Bloomsbury made a gorgeous dedication page. Can't wait to share this one with the world.
An advanced reading copy of a book, A LITTLE TOO HAUNTED by Justine Pucella Winans (cover: a young girl in red hoodie holding a flashlight out within a blue-green ghost-filled house). The book is in front of a green glow lantern, purple Pusheen Halloween lights, and cat skeleton toy.A book dedication that reads: for my sweet Kana, thank you for choosing me as your first home. I hope you like this second one I built just for you. Under text is a picture of a gray tabby kitten looking up.
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Frank Strong @frankstrong.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
🚨🚨🚨RED ALERT, Texas book lovers. This bill (SB13) will be heard in committee on Thursday. Now is the time to let lawmakers know how bad it is. #BookSky
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chris xu @chrysaora.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
If you are a cis person *please* take 2 minutes to do this. Trans people with non-updated gender markers, historical gender marker changes, and X markers are terrified to travel right now; rolling back this policy would mean a lot.
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
There is no stronger bond than that of a reader and a book with an average 3.2-3.8 star rating that will forever have a hold on them.
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Rebecca (Becky Buns) has to have a little recovery suit as she's healing up and stealing everyone's heart in the meantime
A calico kitten in a gray recovery suit with her tongue outA calico kitten sitting cutely with her gray recovery suit on
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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 13/02/2025
This is where you go to tell the National Park Service to restore the word "transgender" in its entry on the Stonewall monument. (Scroll down.)
nps.gov
Stonewall National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)
Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights a...
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Chris M. Barkley (He/Him) @cmzhang42.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
The down side of having a fairly large number of releases in my first years of being an author is having to update my bio so many times and a bunch of outdated ones being online still. Finally made a new one that doesn't list all my books to save myself.
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Gabino Iglesias @gabino.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Hah. Same.
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Authors Against Book Bans @authorsabb.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
AABB stands with our trans members, friends, colleagues, heroes, and the countless trans Americans who will be affected by this needlessly cruel Executive Order from the Trump Administration. We are proud to do so alongside so many of our comrades in the fight against book bans.
Statement on the Trump administration's january 20,2025 EO Targeting Transgender, Intersex, Nonbinary and Gender Non Conforming Americans

On January 20, the White House issued an executive order stating that
the United States government will only recognize two sexes, male and
female, as defined “at conception.” The ripple effect of this order will
undoubtedly affect public schools, public libraries, and the literature
that is shelved in both.
Among the many harms it causes, the order targeting transgender,
intersex, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming Americans threatens
unconstitutional censorship that could have a grave impact on literature
for years to come. In dismissing trans, intersex, and nonbinary identities,
the order blacklists LGBTQIA+ literature and invites the government to
dictate the perspectives, beliefs, and identities that can exist in public
forums receiving federal funding, amounting to financial coercion
through the arbitrary withholding of funds. This censorship may begin
with LGBTQIA+ perspectives, but it will not end there: allowing the
government to censor one group erodes the First Amendment rights of
all Americans, creating a precedent for silencing dissenting voices.If allowed to stand, the order will create new funding requirements
imposed not only on federal entities, but private citizens and
institutions who contract with them. Those requirements can and will be
manipulated to dictate speech. The broader chilling effect on literature
could be even harder to undo. Writers rely on funding from sources like
the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for
the Humanities, as well as the state-level institutions they fund.
Trans, nonbinary, and intersex experience is vastly underrepresented in
literature but disproportionately targeted by bans. During the 2022-2023
school year, 30% of books banned included LGBTQIA+ characters or
themes. Such censorship robs us of perspectives that enrich the
American story. Though the executive order in question tries to paint
LGBTQIA+ people and allies as bullies enforcing their perspective on

others through “legal and other socially coercive means,” that’s exactly
what the order itself does, just as book-banning pressure groups have
done since 2020 in school boards and libraries around the country. The
fate of trans, intersex, and nonbinary people is not a political ideology,
it’s a matter of human rights, civil rights, and freedom of expression.
Government erosion of those rights should concern all Americans,
regardless of their investment in LGBTQIA+ literature specifically.This executive order is censorship, pure and simple, and it has no place
in a free society. It must be rescinded or stayed as soon as possible, and
at the latest, before the earliest implementation deadline, February 19,
2025. Financially blacklisting trans, intersex, and non-binary
perspectives will rob us of a vital literature yet to be written while
insulting the dignity of LGBTQIA+ people everywhere. This return to
McCarthyism by other means is a leap backwards to a grim chapter of
American history.
Sincerely, the undersigned,
• American Booksellers
Association
• American Booksellers for Free
Expression
• Andrews McMeel
• Annie's Foundation
• Audio Publishers Association
• Authors Against Book Bans
• Berry Powell Press
• Cardinal Rule Press
• Charlesbridge Publishing
• Chestnut Publishing House
• Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
• Deborah Sloan and Company
and Kidsbuzz
• Developmental Texts
• Empowering Latino Futures
• EveryLibrary
• Firewater Media Group
• Florida Freedom to Read Project
• Foreword Reviews

• Freedom to Read Project
• Gryphon Publishing Consulting,
LLC
• Independent Book Publishers
Association (IBPA)
• IngramSpark
• Judging by the Cover: A
Bookstore
• Lafayette Citizens Against
Censorship
• Lambda Literary
• Latino 247 Media Group
• Lee Wind, author
• Levine Querido
• Library Futures
• Livingston Parish Library
Alliance
• Louisiana Citizens Against
Censorship
• Macmillan Children's Publishing
Group
• The National Book Critics Circle
• National Coalition Against
Censorship• NorthSouth Books
• Nosy Crow
• Patagonia
• Publishers and Writers of San
Diego and Orange County
• PEN America
• PFLAG Fresno
• PubWest
• Rattling Good Yarns Press
• Read Freely Alabama
• Red Comet Press LLC

• Rutherford County Library
Alliance
• Sara Paretsky, Writer
• SCBWI
• SEAT
• SparkPoint Studio
• St Tammany Library Alliance
• Stone Bridge Press
• Texas Freedom to Read Project
• Walker Books Group for
Candlewick Press, Holiday House
Books, and Peachtree Publishing
• We Need Diverse Books
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Do I have any artist friends who are open to commissions and love drawing cats? Like just a shit ton of cats?
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Kimura has decided this is HIS book now.
A Black cat sleeping on top of a copy of THE CAT WHO CAUGHT A KILLER by L. T. Shearer
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Alex London @alexlondon.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
And guess what authors? If you join #AuthorsAgainstBookBans they even have sample letters you can put to use! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
AABB Author Sign-Up Form
Hello! We're Authors Against Book Bans, a group of authors who’ve come together to protect and promote the freedom to read on both the national and local levels. We’re creating a network of authors to...
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The Book Burrow @thebookburrowtexas.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Buy a Blind Date w/ a Book! These are back on our website and can be ordered online (you don’t have to be local!). Choose a price point that works for you (between $10 and $150), tell us what genres you like, and we’ll find the perfect books for you. www.thebookburrowbookstore.com/product/blin...
thebookburrowbookstore.com
Blind Date With A Book (Select-a-Price) | The Book Burrow
Trust us to deliver you a book that will be a treat for you at a variety of different price points to meet your budget. Settle in for a nice relaxing evening of just you and a book. No awkward small t...
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kelly jensen @heykellyjensen.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
What can you do about book banning? How can you support essential public institutions of democracy like public libraries and public schools? Want to understand why "school choice" is an outright lie? I've got OVER FOUR YEARS of those answers and more in this pinned thread.
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Celeste Ng @pronounced-ing.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
One man is responsible for getting 100s of books (including mine!) banned in Clay County, FL. One sad dude! Sitting there filling out form after form with false claims about books he hasn't even read! The loudest voices have an outsize impact. We need to be loud--and persistent--too. 5calls.org
5calls.org
5 Calls
Spend 5 minutes. Make 5 calls. Make your voice heard.
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Celeste Pewter @celestepewter.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Call script:
YOU: Hi, my name is [NAME]. I’m calling from [ZIP CODE].

YOU: I am calling on [HOUSE MEMBER/SENATOR] to speak out against President Trump’s actions on Monday in freezing all federal aid. This is blatantly illegal; the Executive Branch can’t unilaterally decide to ignore laws that were passed by Congress, especially when it comes to financial aid. 

YOU: MOC must take action, and clarify how they will stop the freeze and ensure that the millions who are directly impacted by financial aid will not be harmed. 

YOU: [OPTIONAL COMMENT]
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Please send kitty healing vibes my way. Stories of pet recovery appreciated, but nothing else. I'm struggling.
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Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Btw Authors Against Book Bans ( @authorsabb.bsky.social ) might seem kid lit driven bc so many challenges are happening in schools, but I think every author should consider joining. Book bans are bad for everyone. www.authorsagainstbookbans.com
authorsagainstbookbans.com
Authors Against Book Bans
Our Mission Statement We are Authors Against Book Bans. We, a coalition of writers, illustrators, anthology editors and contributors, and other book creators, stand united against the deeply unconstit...
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Lyss @lyssabyss.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Okay, I’m hoping this will gain some traction on Bluesky *inhales* SALEM PUBLIC LIBRARY IN OREGON IS IN DANGER OF CLOSING. This sets a dangerous precedent for state capital libraries!! This is a continuation of the saga from last year, when we were saved at the last second by the then-mayor. (1/2)
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Andrew Karre @andrewkarre.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Book banning is real and is terrorizing teachers, librarians & students from marginalized identities now. It is worse than it has ever been. If you’re remembering your quaint “Celebrate Freedom. Read a Banned Book” T-shirt, adjust your perspective. You’ve brought an umbrella to a hurricane.
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Playing old Pokémon games is what has kept me going this month.
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
I wake up to kitty cuddles and you expect me to move her to go to work??
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Teen Vogue @teenvogue.com · 21/01/2025
As the transgender community continues to fight for civil rights in the U.S., one of the most common arguments against progress is that transgender people are a recent phenomenon. But it’s a fight that’s been happening here for decades and around the world for centuries. ⤵️
teenvogue.com
People Have Had Non-Binary Genders for Thousands of Years
It's nothing new.
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
What a time to be on deadline.
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Jen @popgoesthereader.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
🌟 Pop! Goes The Reader's 36 Most-Anticipated Young Adult Books: January-March 2025 🌟 popgoesthereader.com/36-most-anti... #BookSky #YALit #KidLit
A compilation of 21 YA book being published between January-March 2025.
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Justine Pucella Winans @justinepwinans.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
I received a top comment on WEBTOON which means more to me than any trade review ever could.
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