NORTHAMPTON — For her tireless work to ensure that every child in the region has a good book to read, friends to read with and a sense of belonging in the community, High Five Books owner Lexi Walters Wright has been awarded a 2026 Commonwealth Heroines Award.
Each Massachusetts legislator is invited to nominate one woman from their district who goes the extra mile for her organizations and community for the award, which is presented by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Walters Wright is one of 147 women statewide selected as part of the program, including four from Hampshire County. The honor includes a ceremony in June at the State House.
This year, Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, of Northampton, said she nominated Walters Wright for her work to uplift LGBTQ youth, both within and outside her North Main Street bookstore in Florence.
“Every time there is something that is supportive of kids, supporting children’s mental health, or supporting LGBTQ youth, Lexi is there. It doesn’t matter if it’s a week night or a weekend, she shows up,” Sabadosa said. “She brings this sort of magic with her everywhere she goes. You just feel joyful talking to her and she never loses an opportunity to make sure other people in the community feel seen and feel heard.”
High Five Books, which initially opened at 29 N. Maple St. in Florence as a shared retail space with Art Always studio in 2019, now stands at 141 N. Main St. as a brightly colored haven, which, Walters Wright explained, focuses on spreading joy, inclusivity and affirmation for young people.
Walters Wright, a 25-year veteran of the publishing world, spent the bulk of her career working as a writer and editor. Having, at that time, a young child of her own, she said she initially opened the business to shift her literary focus to a more local level.
“We’re trying to keep in mind the needs of families right now, and what the most joyful, affirming, inclusive experiences for them could be. We very specifically work closely with queer and trans sports organizations here in town,” Walters Wright said. “We have a deep relationship with both Transhealth and Translate Gender to make sure that young trans readers feel seen and appreciated and affirmed, and so we are regularly coming up with programming that centers the experiences of those families.”
Among the largest youth-based events organized by High Five Books was a visit from New York Times best-selling author Tui Sutherland in March to discuss her newest children’s book: “Wings of Fire: The Hybrid Prince.” Walters Wright said the author brought roughly 800 children to the Academy of Music theater.
Walters Wright explained that the store’s queer youth programming aims to help LGBTQ youths connect and feel like themselves amid harsh rhetoric commonly aimed at the queer community.
“We are really lucky that families trust the programming and support that we offer. We know that trans youth and queer youth are under attack,” Walters Wright said. “Being able to provide families of young queer and trans kids safe, affirming places for them to go feels like a lifeline in this moment.”
Discussing her reasons for nominating Walters Wright, Sabadosa explained that the store owner’s efforts to unite the community has been both consistent and modest.
Sabadosa recalled one event in which the local nonprofit Transhealth held its “Freedom to Be Ourselves” annual benefit featuring trans rights activist Mercury Stardust. She said that the extent of the event’s success was, in-part, the result of Walters Wright’s work behind the scenes to decorate and promote it.
“More people ended up attending this event because Lexi spent all of this time posting about it and then decorated the place with sparkles and paper, in a way that made you feel like you were entering an enchanted dressing room,” Sabadosa said. “It just added whimsy and character and it made everything, in a moment where things feel very dark, just feel so happy and joyous. She didn’t brag that she’d done this thing, she just did it.”
The Florence book shop will also host a launch party for the second issue of a trans youth literary magazine “Chrysalis,” in coming weeks, Walters Wright said. She added that High Five Books runs anywhere from 60 to 100 weekly events each year.
Thirteen-year-old Phee Brewer moved to Northampton with their father Woody Brewer last year and now works as a youth volunteer. They said the shop’s Affirmations Book Club and Dungeons & Dragons campaign helped them make friends and find a sense of belonging in a new community.
“I moved to Northampton right around this time last year, I think 20 days ago. We heard about this awesome book store, came down, and I just felt really welcomed as soon as I came in,” Phee Brewer said. “It’s just a really fun, safe space. The staff are just amazing.”
Woody Brewer echoed his child’s remarks, explaining that as he believes a lot of youth programming is centered around teenagers and young children, High Five Books allows younger teens or pre-teens a place to be kids.
“When we were searching out a community, because our child is non-binary, we obviously we knew about Northampton, but we heard about the bookstore, and everybody kept on saying it is just a wonderful, magical place,” Woody Brewer said. “It’s just fabulous, it allows kids to be kids, affirm who they are and how they want to be seen and also lets them just be children and not have to answer the big questions in the world, which is really great.”
