YA LGBT Books discussion

Sock it to Me, Santa!
Play Me, I'm Yours
Both by Madison Parker

Geoff Laughton has a couple also, nothing explicit, but maybe a little more mature.

One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger

Catherine wrote: "One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger"

Great suggestions, Catherine, although... Both of those books have some MC sex in them - not explicit (mentioned, not shown on the page, if I remember right) and IMO fine for a teenager to read, but it's there. Both are great reads for a gay teen, even a younger teen, if that's not a constraint. But if you want to avoid that completely you should probably wait on those.

There's no sex in One Man Guy. They make out and Alek's jeans are almost unbuttoned, but they get interrupted before anything else happens. The MC is 14, so on the younger side.

Rainbowheart wrote: "There's no sex in One Man Guy. They make out and Alek's jeans are almost unbuttoned, but they get interrupted before anything else happens. The MC is 14, so on the younger side."

Well the other MC had previously had sex though.

That's true. There aren't details about it, but the reader does learn that Ethan had sex in his past relationship.

I really recommend Simin Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda for very sweet MM YA romance with no sex. In addition to Kaje's suggestion for Vivaldi in the Dark!

Julia wrote: "I really recommend Simin Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda for very sweet MM YA romance with no sex. In addition to Kaje's suggestion for Vivaldi in the Dark!"

Vivaldi does have sex, though. Wonderful book for an older YA, with depression and a realistic relationship that does have some sex content.

I'm late to the thread (because I keep forgetting I'm a member of this group), but risking self-promotion here... Nail Polish and Feathers and Shoulder Pads and Flannel have a romance between two 16-year-old boys (the first book is from the point of view of one boy, the second from the other's point of view). There's no sex, and very little kissing, though there is a tiny bit of swearing and some serious bullying. And a mention at the end of the second book that a female secondary character was sexually assaulted.

Jo wrote: "I'm late to the thread (because I keep forgetting I'm a member of this group), but risking self-promotion here... Nail Polish and Feathers and [book:Shoulder Pads and Flannel|224027..."

And they have guys who are allowed to be a bit flamboyant, not all straight-acting like some YA where they seem out to prove you can be gay and macho at all times. I love variety in MCs.

I think sometimes YA authors do the "gay and macho" thing because they want to show that guys *can* be both. But then they're not representing the gay boys who might be effeminate and flamboyant, or they represent those boys too but go overboard with the flamboyance.

Jo wrote: "I think sometimes YA authors do the "gay and macho" thing because they want to show that guys *can* be both. But then they're not representing the gay boys who might be effeminate and flamboyant, o..."

That's true in adult M/M too - I think we're finally seeing a move to represent all of the spectrum.

I hope so. Evan Granger in the Deep Secrets and Hope series (the one that Nail Polish and Feathers kicks off) was inspired by one of my older child's best friends, a flamboyant, effeminate gay boy who complained to me more than once that he didn't enjoy reading in part because he couldn't find any books that had characters like him.

Just dropping a list here for safekeeping - a set of children's and pre-teen books cited online for breaking gender stereotypes:

1. When the Bees Fly Home by Andrea Cheng. Sensitive, artistic Jonathan isn’t sturdy enough to help his father with bee keeping, but when a drought hits, the family struggles to make ends meetand Jonathan uses his art skills to save the day.

2. Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood. A plucky retelling of Cinderella with a fairy godrobot and a princess who dreams of fixing up rocket ships.

3. Little Kunoichi, The Ninja Girl by Sanae Ishida. Little Kunoichi is a ninja in training who finds that ninja skills don’t come easily. She needs determination, perseverance and hard work to unleash her power.

4. 10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert. Bailey dreams about beautiful, magical dresses every night, but during the day no one wants to hear about it. Until a new friend helps Bailey make his dreams of dresses come true.

5. All I Want To Be Is Me by Phyllis Rothblatt. A book that reflects the diverse ways that young children express and experience their gender identity.

6. Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman. Jacob loves to play dress up, when he can be anything he wants to be. But what Jacob really wants is to wear a dress to school.

7. Play Free by McNall Mason and Max Suarez. Girls can wear pants, boys can wear dresses. None of that should make any messes. A story of gender expression and acceptance and a special playhouse where everyone is free to be who they are.

8. Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty. Rosie Revere creates great inventions from odds and ends and dreams of being an engineer. Afraid of failure, she hides her creations away, until her great-great-aunt Rose shows Rosie that only true failure comes from quitting.

9. Princesses Can Be Pirates Too! by Christi Zellerhoff. No Girls Allowed? Not only can girls be pirates too, they can do it in a crown and a puffy pink gown!

10. Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs. Angelica Longrider, also known as Swamp Angel can lasso a tornado, drink an entire lake dry, and wrestles a bear in this tall tale set on the American frontier.

11. Roland Humphrey is Wearing a WHAT? by Eileen Kiernan-Johnson. Roland Humphrey loves wearing pink and sparkles and doesn’t understand the “rules” for what boys should like. If girls can like sports and ballet, why can’t he?

12. Players In Pigtails by Shana Corey. A fictional account of the All Girls Professional Baseball League formed during WWII, about a girl named Katy who is determined to make it to the big league.

13. Dogs Don’t Do Ballet by Anna Kemp. Biff is a dog who loves music and moonlight and walking on his tiptoes. Biff also thinks he’s a ballerina. But dogs don’t do ballet— do they?

14. Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Christine Baldacchino. Morris is a little boy who loves outer space and painting beautiful pictures and most of all, his classroom’s dress up center. A story about creativity and the courage it takes to be different.

15. I Look Like a Girl by Sheila Hamanaka. Young girls imagine themselves as a dolphin in the sea, a horse on the mesa, a wolf and tiger and “what is wild, in the heart—so I can be me.”

16. Madam President by Lane Smith. A little girl spends a day imagining what it would be like to be president, a reality that may be not so far off.

17. Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman. Grace loves stories, all stories. So when her school decides to perform Peter Pan, Grace longs to play the lead, despite all the naysayers. Grace’s grandmother helps her see that she can be anything she wants.

18. My Name Is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream? by Jennifer Fosberry. Isabella imagines herself as different women who made history and ends the day empowered to be herself.

19. My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis. Sometimes Dyson wears dresses. Sometimes he wears jeans. He likes to wear a princess tiara, even when climbing trees.

20. Shopping With Dad by Matt Harvey. When mom heads to work, a little girl and her dad go shopping, where an enormous sneeze sets off a small calamity.

There's a similar listopia collection for that too. =)

Kim wrote: "There's a similar listopia collection for that too. =)"

Yeah, thanks :) I was going to add these if any aren't on that list. Eventually...

Thanks Kim! I was going to link that list too.

Kaje and anyone else, it would be great if you could add some from the new list if you get a chance. I'd add them myself, but I'm already at the 100 vote limit.

I had a request for lighter/funny YA LGBT - This was what I came up with

"Know Not Why" by Hannah Johnson is older YA and very funny;
"The Student Prince" by FayJay is free online (and downloadable) Merlin FanFic - there is one gay sex scene, so also for older YA;
"How to Repair a Mechanical Heart" has decent humor in it;
"Exiled to Iowa; Send Help and Couture" was pretty light.
"Love Spell" by Mia Kerick has humor in with the angst;
"One Man Guy" is pretty light; so is
"Maps" by Nash Summers.
"Outtakes of a Walking Mistake" starts light but delves into some heavy stuff later.
"Sock It to Me, Santa" is cute and light; ..."


Any other recommendations? Especially F/F?

Hi I'm new to this group and I'm looking for YA with a lesbian as a main character. Preferably not a straight girl kisses best friend and turns gay story but more of a girl recovering from bullying or abuse and just living her life as a LGBT teen.

Claire wrote: "Hi I'm new to this group and I'm looking for YA with a lesbian as a main character. Preferably not a straight girl kisses best friend and turns gay story but more of a girl recovering from bullying..."

A couple favorites - Empress of the World
Keeping You a Secret
Come To My Window

We have a "lesbian YA" shelf - https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

But it does have over 200 books on it and some are about Lesbian parents or non-fiction, so hopefully other readers can pick out their top choices too.

You could also check our F/F shelf, which is specifically for two girls in love stories. https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

(sorry it took me so long to see your request - Goodreads fails on notifying me about 1 time in 10, and yours was the latest 1.)

Hi, Claire,

I just released a LGBTIQ graphic novella with a young lesbian main character, Minerva. This novella is a prequel to my forthcoming novel about how Minerva survives high school, showing how she was bullied in elementary and middle school.

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

I'm a huge fan of The Miseducation of Cameron Post, set in the early nineties in Montana, and how she survives the small-town bullying in her high school.

Thanks, Kaje, for those other recommendations. I will check them out.

Lyn

Asking for help for a friend - they are working with young adult LGBTQ individuals, many with very poor reading skills. They're looking for books, graphic novels, cartoons, things that would be easy material and yet not speak down to these teenagers whose lives are tough. Preferably in paper, not just online, since many have no online access. Any suggestions for material?

When my son was having problems I got him interested in Japanese Anime. They have tons of new series and they are all subtitled. At first I had to help read the subs for him, but he picked up started reading quickly to read them for himself. You can watch them on line or download them. Here are to sites where you can download anime sensei and anime stash. If they want to see if they like them you can watch them online at anime season. There are many on line sites. You just have to google anime on line and they come up. It encouraged my son to quickly up his reading skills. Good luck!

Teresa wrote: "When my son was having problems I got him interested in Japanese Anime. They have tons of new series and they are all subtitled. At first I had to help read the subs for him, but he picked up start..."

Good suggestion - maybe there are some print versions that would work.

Kaje wrote: "Asking for help for a friend - they are working with young adult LGBTQ individuals, many with very poor reading skills. They're looking for books, graphic novels, cartoons, things that would be eas..."

Bi-Normal is written for a low-literacy level. For graphic novels, there are lots of choices. Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir and Spit and Passion both might be good.

Thanks!

No problem! Here's a list that might be helpful....

Graphic Novels Featuring LGBTQ Themes

And thanks again <3

A + E 4ever is my favorite LGBT+ graphic.

Hey, everyone,

My LGBT graphic novella giveaway just began if you'd like to join. It's best for ages 13 and up due to excerpts from my forthcoming novel at the back that deal with online bullying. There's some language, etc., that though I'm sure middle schoolers have seen it, I don't want to assume what parents do/don't want their teens reading.

Minerda giveaway

Lyn

If I recall correctly, Mette Bach's Femme is a hi-lo title too.

I appreciate the suggestions. Passing them all along.

Dropping a link here so I can find it again - Gender Spectrum's list of books for younger kids with gender diversity -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ugpx2r5968g...

Oh I've just found this thread, what a great idea! I would love to read more books with bisexual/pansexual/asexual characters in them. I haven't seen many if any like that, which sucks, so if you know any, that would be awesome!

Hi Juli,

There's a good list for bisexual characters:

Bisexual Fiction in YA

I also made a list for asexuality, but there's a lot of ambiguity . There are extremely few self-identified asexual characters out there:

Asexuality in YA Fiction

Juli wrote: "Oh I've just found this thread, what a great idea! I would love to read more books with bisexual/pansexual/asexual characters in them. I haven't seen many if any like that, which sucks, so if you k..."

We have a few in our bookshelves -
Asexual shelf - https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

The bi-characters shelf has 100 books - Brent Hartinger's Russel Middlebrook Geography Club series has the MC's best friend who is bi. Superhero by Eli Easton, maybe - it's listed but I remember it more M/M(note there is some on-page sex in this book). Jo Ramsey's short Listening Skills is about a bi character. I'm not sure if it's currently available or not... Empress of the World was good and is listed - again I remember it as F/F

Thank you so much for the help! Definitely checking those out :D

Superhero is definitely M/M, and there are a couple of on page sex scenes. Not a lot in a book of this length, but it's definitely there. I think the bisexual aspect comes in from the fact that one of the MC's has a girlfriend through most of the novel, but he never really connects with her emotionally and their sexual relationship is also very limited.
But I will also add that it is, by far, my favorite Eli Easton novel. (And she has SO many good ones!)

Eric wrote: "Superhero is definitely M/M, and there are a couple of on page sex scenes. Not a lot in a book of this length, but it's definitely there. I think the bisexual aspect comes in from the fact that one..."

Thanks - I couldn't remember the details. (I also love Eli Easton, but her work generally is `18+ )

Kaje wrote: "Eric wrote: "Superhero is definitely M/M, and there are a couple of on page sex scenes. Not a lot in a book of this length, but it's definitely there. I think the bisexual aspect comes in from the ..."

I might classify Superhero as older YA or NA, but yes, most of Eli Easton books are definitely adult.

Hi everyone,

I've really been enjoying YA LGBT books lately. However, all of the ones I've been reading are about characters who are either in high school or are just finishing high school. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for books in which the characters are in college/university. I prefer M/M books but I'm open to anything!

Thanks!

Tom wrote: "Hi everyone,

I've really been enjoying YA LGBT books lately. However, all of the ones I've been reading are about characters who are either in high school or are just finishing high school. I was..."

On this group we only discuss books that are suitable for under-18s, and a lot of the college-age books have on-page erotic sex. But you might check out
Louder Than Sirens, Louder Than Bells (free, college novel)
The Student Prince (free, one sex scene)
Swordspoint (fantasy - college student)
Know Not Why
Faster Than the Speed of Light (1950s physics grad school - may be out of print)
Just Between Us (1 college, 1 HS, HIV theme)

This list has a mix of Highschool and College MCs, including some YA and some erotic adult books (since you're old enough.) https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7... If you want recommendations of the 18+ stuff you can PM me.

Kira wrote: "I'm looking for a m/m romance/humor YA, it's Totally fine if there's sex scenes and/or cursing.(feel free to PM me any suggestions, there are some young teens on here!) I don't really like angst or..."


I absolutely loved Openly Straight. This book has a college setting and contains lots of humor, has tearjerker moments as well, and takes a different approach to the whole coming out issue when a guy who's been openly gay all of his high school years decides he's tired of being defined as the gay guy (his parents are super big activists, and have pushed him into that role too) and decides to go back into the closet to have the opportunity to have friendships with other guys without that "label" as a barrier.

Last of the Summer Tomatoes. A sweet love story. Minor angst, minor sex scenes (not graphic) There is also a sequel that is a little more mature, but not to the point of NA. (IMO)Two Red Leaves

D.J. wrote: "Kira wrote: "I'm looking for a m/m romance/humor YA, it's Totally fine if there's sex scenes and/or cursing.(feel free to PM me any suggestions, there are some young teens on here!) I don't really ..."

I also like anything by Mark Roeder..He has a couple dozen books out. His older books have less graphic sex, but his more recent ones have upped the more mature content. You have to look at each book, some are written for YA, others are definitely NA. Goodreads only lists two of his most recent books.

Eric wrote: "Last of the Summer Tomatoes. A sweet love story. Minor angst, minor sex scenes (not graphic) There is also a sequel that is a little more mature, but not to the point of NA. (IMO)[b..."

I'll have to add that one to my TBR list

Hello! First time posting on Goodreads, I hope I'm in the right place! I've been having trouble finding the sort of book I'm looking for, because summaries aren't really doing it for me.

I was rereading Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, which was going okay even though it's a bit (way) too heterosexual for my liking. I kept finding myself wishing for a book in the same vein, with a bit more of a lesbian flavor. While I do enjoy books that are focused on the being gay part of a gay romance, I really want something that's just a fun romance with no particular focus on the struggles of being a lesbian (been there, lived that, want a short break.)

Please let me know if anyone knows a fun and adventurous book like this, thank you in advance! (If you know a book like this and it's not particularly YA, I'm open to that too. I just figured this sort of thing would be more common in the YA genre.)

Khoshekh wrote: "Hello! First time posting on Goodreads, I hope I'm in the right place! I've been having trouble finding the sort of book I'm looking for, because summaries aren't really doing it for me.

I was re..."

I'll be interested to see what you get recommended. In YA in general, it's hard to find books (especially contemporary) where the LGBTQ part is just a facet of the characters, not the angsty focus of the plot.

Ash is fantasy, where the lesbian aspect isn't the central focus, although the relationships felt a little superficial to me.

I've seen this type of request before, and I never know what to recommend!

I'm not as well versed in lesbian YA, but I feel like there should be a list of sweet/sugary/cute/fluffy/no-angst books to refer people to. There is the Queer girl YA w/ happy endings listopia, but I'm sure a lot of those have major angst before the end.

One book I've seen mentioned that might fit is Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow, but I haven't read it personally.