YA LGBT Books discussion

Wow, you are a treasure trove of book finding. Thank you!!

No problemo. Glad to help you guys build your shelf up. I found a bunch of them through Malinda Lo's blog and people mention new ones in the comments all the time. Sometimes also I check out what people on Goodreads have put on their "lgbt" shelf and you can find a lot of new books that way.

This might be a long shot given the low representation of both in YA fiction, but...
Does anyone know of books with neurodivergent, especially ADHD and/or autism spectrum, characters? Preferably also with LGBTQ characters.

There's books for teens about autism, but I dunno how many of them have LGBT characters too.

You might try....



I don't think they have queer characters though....

Oh, yeah, and the Joey Pigza books are about a boy with ADHD but there's nothing LGBT in them. I think most books about ADHD are for younger kids.

There's a good one one for ADHD on the adult side.

Dolphins in the Mud is a YA with a gay kid whose sister is autistic.

For people who are looking, another transgender fantasy....

Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott

An important character named Akira is MTF.

Also....

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

The character of Commander Ambrose is trans. FTM, I think, but it gets a little muddy in the sequels. There's some magic involved? Anyway I thought it still might interest people looking for transgender fantasy.

Rainbowheart wrote: "There's books for teens about autism, but I dunno how many of them have LGBT characters too.

You might try....

[bookcover:Marcelo..."

I've read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and I don't remember any LGBT themes in it but it is a really good YA book.

i'm wondering if anyone knows good non-contemporary where there's a lesbian as a major character/major relationship between two girls? like, dystopia or high fantasy or sci-fi, anything that's not too realistic.

or contemporary where they don't angst over coming out, just cute romance where they get a happy ending. :)

jess wrote: "i'm wondering if anyone knows good non-contemporary where there's a lesbian as a major character/major relationship between two girls? like, dystopia or high fantasy or sci-fi, anything that's not ..."

You could check what people said on the thread YA books with F/F romance or lesbian characters although only a few of those are really romances.

It is hard to find nice, sweet, low-angst romances in YA in general. (I have one or two contemporary as short stories in my Rainbow Briefs collection, but they're short.)

The closest coming immediately to my mind on the contemporary front is Sparks: The Epic, Completely True Blue, (Almost) Holy Quest of Debbie , by S.J. Adams.

jess wrote: "i'm wondering if anyone knows good non-contemporary where there's a lesbian as a major character/major relationship between two girls? like, dystopia or high fantasy or sci-fi, anything that's not ..."

The author who's written the most of those kinds of stories is Malinda Lo. She's got both high fantasy and sci fi.

Oh, yeah, this is also a good listopia to check for fantasy and sci fi stuff....

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

Kaje wrote: "You could check what people said on the thread YA books with F/F romance or lesbian characters although only a few of those are really romances."

thank you, i'll check those out, there are a bunch i haven't read yet.

Rainbowheart wrote: "Oh, yeah, this is also a good listopia to check for fantasy and sci fi stuff....

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2..."

oh wow! thank you for that, and the malinda lo recs. i've been meaning to read her books for a while, i just haven't gotten around to it.

No prob!

There are a lot of books on that list, so here are some that I know for sure have lesbian characters....



Not totally sure all of these are focused on the romance part, but they definitely all have lesbian girls or women in major roles.

For people looking for lesbian and transgender sci fi....

When We Wake by Karen Healey

The MC is straight, but there are lesbian characters and also one who is MTF transgender. It's set in a future world where there is no more homophobia.

Karen Healey is a good author to look for diversity since all of her books (that I know of) have characters of a variety of different sexualities.

More transgender fantasy....

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Character Tik Tok is somewhere on the transgender spectrum. He (that's how he's referred to in the text) is the tribe's shaman and has long hair and wears dresses.

Sorry, I'll twist the title a bit...

Looking for a book that makes me fall in love again!

I am not young anymore (forget my face, those are olive oil, tomatoes and laser treatments that make me look young), but I missed so many chances when I was a teenager and young man. I keep thinking about all the guys I met with whom something meaningful could have happened... Missed so many, so many chances. It's time for me to break this pattern; I don't want to grow old alone. Anyone has any suggestions?

I can suggest lots of adult books, but on the YA side... my favorite carpe diem YA book (although only very marginally LGBT ) is probably Deadline. Not quite what you had in mind, but I'm not sure stories of teens finding love are particularly inspiring to those of us who failed to do so when that young. Sweet and lovely, yes, but not reassuring.

Kaje wrote: "I can suggest lots of adult books, but on the YA side... my favorite carpe diem YA book (although only very marginally LGBT ) is probably Deadline. Not quite what you had in mind, but..."

Thanks again Kaje. Well, I would like to see where I went wrong....

You and 99% of us. Well for good advice you can't beat Two Boys Kissing

For a gay romance maybe Vivaldi in the Dark or Kamikaze Boys or Wide Awake

Can I suggest my books DON'T LET ME GO, WHERE YOU ARE, and JUST BETWEEN US. DLMG received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was a 2013 Lambda finalist in gay romance. WYA is a finalist this year. They are published as adult but have a strong YA crossover. Gay men both young and old seem to like them. You can check the reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. Happy reading!

Please add this to your to-read list...

PAULYANNA INTERNATIONAL RENT-BOY

Discover what goes on behind the glassy eyed smile of a male street worker. A stereotypical cliché? Perhaps.

I attempt to knock away any preconceptions about damaged goods using plain spoken truth. No added glam or grit, this is my unapologetic story. A social history report. (of sorts). Regards PDL

Fiction? Non-fiction? You said it was not explicit. But I assume you might call it 16+ at least for content issues?

Kaje wrote: "Fiction? Non-fiction? You said it was not explicit. But I assume you might call it 16+ at least for content issues?"


PAULYANNA INTERNATIONAL RENT-BOY

Definitely 16+ non-fiction. :-)

Kaje wrote: "You and 99% of us. Well for good advice you can't beat Two Boys Kissing

For a gay romance maybe Vivaldi in the Dark or Kamikaze Boys or [book:Wide A..."

Thanks again. I have read a couple of them... I think it's just me who's such a weirdo that nothing seems to appear to work.

Adriano wrote: "Sorry, I'll twist the title a bit...

Looking for a book that makes me fall in love again!

I second the suggestions for books by J.H. Trumble and David Levithan, and add those by Madison Parker and Robin Reardon, as well as popular standbys Alex Sanchez and Brent Hartinger. Also maybe try: Libby Drew's short stories, like "Running Far Afield"; Sara Alva's novella Pura Vida ; Hannah Moskowitz' Gone, Gone, Gone ; Bill Konigsberg's Openly Straight ; Jim Provenzano's Every Time I Think of You ; Timothy Woodward's If I Told You So ; Jax Cordoba's Fate Lends a Leg ; J.C. Lillis' How to Repair a Mechanical Heart ; and R.W. Day's A Strong and Sudden Thaw .

Nice list :)

I'm looking for a book with a bisexual main character--preferably female--that's not strictly a Romance. Any genre would be okay, especially contemp, paranormal, or sci fi.

A love story is great, love those :), but I'm having a hard time finding a book where the bi protag doesn't end up proclaiming her undying love for another gal. I'm not looking for a sad ending, though.

What do you guys think, does a female protag in a YA story have to end up with another gal for it to be satisfying? (Serious question, maybe I'm the only one who thinks it's not necessary?)

TIA! :)

Adaptation and Inheritance by Malinda Lo are sci fi with a bisexual female MC. I don't know the details of the love story though.

You might want to have a look at this listopia for bisexual YA....

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

Thanks, Rainbowheart.

I don't think the listopia gives away the endings, though, so I'm open to suggestions for books any of you have read and/or opinions about my question. (If this is the wrong place for the question please let me know and I'll move it.)

This is fine, although I don't have a suggestion myself.

Hi Charley, about proclaiming undying love for another girl, Adorkable by Sarra Manning and Fire by Kristin Cashore have bisexual female MCs who are both involved with guys. The same-sex relationships took place in the past for both characters.

Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block has a bisexual female MC who previously had a crush on a girl, but who begins a relationship with an FTM character in the story. It's also sci fi.

Kiss the Morning Star by Elissa Janine Hoole has a bisexual female MC who's sort of figuring out her sexuality. There is romance, but it's more of a road trip coming of age story.

Those all sound cool. Thanks, Rainbowheart! :)

We've just submitted our audio book, When Women Were Warriors-Book 1, to the ALA's AAYA committee. (AAYA= Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults.)

The main character in the story is a 16 year old girl who embarks on her journey to become a warrior's apprentice. It is a story about relationships, coming of age and wisdom, and deep insights into the human experience.
The ebook version of Book 1 is free as a download from the author Catherine M. Wilson publisher's website :
http://www.shieldmaidenpress.com/

I am looking for an LGBTQ book to teach in a class of sophisticated 13-14 year-olds. I'm still early in the screening process, but I'm already noticing that a lot of the recommended YA LGBTQ books include frequent drug and/or alcohol use by teen characters. I'm a middle school teacher, and I read a lot of YA books to keep up with what my students are reading. I haven't noticed such a high prevalence of teenage drug/alcohol use in other YA sub-genres. I wouldn't feel comfortable assigning a book that seems to glorify drug/alcohol use by teens, or worse still, one that seems to carry the message that all teens who are going through emotional difficulties get drunk/high to relax. I'm struggling to find a book with a level of sophistication that would appeal to my students that doesn't depict alcohol/drug use. Any suggestions?

Maybe Luna or Geography Club or Exiled to Iowa. Send Help. And Couture? Or a historical like The Celestial? It's been long enough since I read those that I'm not sure. There might be a suicide attempt in Luna...

We have a listing of Building a YA LGBT school Library - what books would you want? and the first section has books people recommended for Middle School/junior high.

Kaje wrote: "Maybe Luna or Geography Club or Exiled to Iowa. Send Help. And Couture? Or a historical like The Celestial? It's been long enough since I r..."

Kaje, thanks for the recommendations. I did read the school library thread and added a few titles to my list. I have Luna and Geography Club on order, so I'll be reading them soon. I'll also check out Exiled...

The age group I teach is tough because their reading level and sophistication is above most "middle grades" books, but they aren't quite mature enough for some of the more intense material in high school-level books. Some mature content is okay within reason; I just don't want it to seem as if I'm promoting drinking and drugs to kids. So far in my quest, Annie on My Mind seems to be the best candidate, but it's a bit dated.

Any other suggestions would be welcome.

Do you specifically want a contemporary? Because there are of course LGBT books with fantasy where that isn't an issue. (As the parent of two profoundly-gifted readers I sympathize with your dilemma)

One lovely coming-of-age book that just touches on LGBT is Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

I am open to fantasy. No matter the genre, the book would need to have enough substance that I could build a unit of study around it. Most of the books on my current list are contemporary, so a different genre would add some welcome diversity to the curriculum.

I should add that it would be a huge plus to find a book that is set somewhere other than the US, and/or by a non-US author. I teach at an international school, so global perspective is important.

There is a thread of where we were looking for International YA LGBT Books.

Maybe Peter would be good for this age group.

Most of the others I looked at were more older high-school reading.

I remembered another one you might look at - Swimming in the Monsoon Sea

Thanks for all the suggestions. I just ordered another batch of books. I have my reading cut out for me for the foreseeable future!

Bee wrote: "I am looking for an LGBTQ book to teach in a class of sophisticated 13-14 year-olds. I'm still early in the screening process, but I'm already noticing that a lot of the recommended YA LGBTQ boo..."

The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door is kind of right between middle grade and YA. The characters are freshmen in high school, but there are lots of flashbacks to 8th grade. There's no sex and no drugs, but there is one brief scene where two boys drink some whiskey from a parent's liquor cabinet. Not enough to get drunk though. Overall the book is very middle grade feeling.

Thanks, Rainbowheart. I'll check it out.

Bee wrote: "I am open to fantasy. No matter the genre, the book would need to have enough substance that I could build a unit of study around it. Most of the books on my current list are contemporary, so a d..."
The trilogy of "When Women Were Warriors" has a large, international YA audience. It does take place overseas and has universal themes along the lines of The Lord of the Rings. It is about relationships and self-discovery, more than anything else. The first ebook of the trilogy is free.

I'm looking for some books with Asexual couple/character?

Hi Amy, you might enjoy these lists!

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...

First one is for books that just have a whiff of asexuality to them, second is for books with characters who explicitly identify as asexual.

Definitely check out Accepting Me by Jo Ramsey. I think it's the only YA book that really tackles asexuality in depth. You might also like Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron. The MC mentions he can't imagine ever having sex with another person.

Bee wrote: "I am looking for an LGBTQ book to teach in a class of sophisticated 13-14 year-olds. I'm still early in the screening process, but I'm already noticing that a lot of the recommended YA LGBTQ boo..."

This might be too late, but I'd check out Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills-- a very tame but good book about a trans guy. Or Pantomime by Laura Lam, which is less tame and involves one drinking scene, but is by a non-US author and is a fantasy/steampunk with an intersex, genderqueer, and polysexual protagonist.

Sam wrote: "This might be a long shot given the low representation of both in YA fiction, but...
Does anyone know of books with neurodivergent, especially ADHD and/or autism spectrum, characters? Preferably al..."

I believe Corinne Duyvis' new book Otherbound has a character like this.

Vicky wrote: "I believe Corinne Duyvis' new book Otherbound has a character like this."

While I'm not sure if Otherbound does, her forthcoming On the Edge of Gone definitely has an autistic MC as well as several queer supporting characters. It's not out till 2016 though.