YA LGBT Books discussion

Hi Group Members! I'm a senior college student and I'm writing a 10-page paper about girls-who-love-girls in YA lit. I already have most of the books I'm going to be talking about and the ~academic~ literature, but I really wish I had YA books with wlw in the ace-spectrum and pansexual girls? I would really love it, and if you have any ~academic~ literature about queer girls' narratives in YA fiction, that would be awesome. Thank you, I love this group <3

Adriana wrote: "Hi Group Members! I'm a senior college student and I'm writing a 10-page paper about girls-who-love-girls in YA lit. I already have most of the books I'm going to be talking about and the ~academic..."

If you want just fiction , you might look at Not Your Sidekick which has a bi female character; I have not read We Awaken but it has asexual lesbian character(s) - check the reviews for a range of opinions.

I'm not clear what you mean by academic literature - a work of analysis, as a reference? I don't know of any, but maybe another member might.

Kaje wrote: "Adriana wrote: "Hi Group Members! I'm a senior college student and I'm writing a 10-page paper about girls-who-love-girls in YA lit. I already have most of the books I'm going to be talking about a..."

Thank you! I meant as literary analysis or theory surrounding queer YA lit, but I have enough references.

There don't seem to be any full-length academic books specifically about lesbians in YA (just queer YA in general), but the Journal of Lesbian Studies has some articles you might want to look up.

From Overlooked to Looking Over: Lesbians in Children's and Young Adult Literature by June Cummins

The Best Lesbian Show Ever!: The Contemporary Evolution of Teen Coming-Out Narratives by J. Mitchell

Rainbowheart wrote: "There don't seem to be any full-length academic books specifically about lesbians in YA (just queer YA in general), but the Journal of Lesbian Studies has some articles you might want to look up.

..."
thank you! i tried to access the articles but my school's library website doesn't have it. i'll keep trying some other ways!! they could be very helpful.

hi guys :)
Could you maybe recommend me some fantasy books with m/m romance? Also, I would love the gay character to be the protagonist. YA is preferable but it doesn't have to be.

Thank you!

Linda wrote: "hi guys :)
Could you maybe recommend me some fantasy books with m/m romance? Also, I would love the gay character to be the protagonist. YA is preferable but it doesn't have to be.

Thank you!"

You might like the following YA-appropriate:

Luck in the Shadows series
Guardian trilogy
Lord of the White Hell, Book 1 - 2 books
The Student Prince - free urban fantasy
Distant Rumblings trilogy
Swordspoint
Smoke and Shadows - 3 books
The Cat in the Cradle series
Triane's Son Rising series
The Door Into Fire - 3 books
Seven Tears at High Tide
Carry On
Vintage: A Ghost Story
Dreams series
The Fox's Mask series
Magic's Pawn series

These tend to be somewhat less intensely romance-focused than the adult M/M romance fantasies. We don't link those adult books on this YA group, but if you are interested you can PM me or check my own favorites shelves.

Linda wrote: "hi guys :)
Could you maybe recommend me some fantasy books with m/m romance? Also, I would love the gay character to be the protagonist. YA is preferable but it doesn't have to be.

Thank you!"

I second Kaje's Luck in the Shadows, Smoke and Shadows, Swordspoint, and Carry On suggestions. I'll add A Strong and Sudden Thaw , Teeth , A Hero at the End of the World , and anything that interests you among the blurbs for Hayden Thorne's titles. If you're up for superheroes, check out Hero .

Hi guys! I know this is a little niche, but I was wondering if anyone has come across any YA novels that centre on a gay teen father? I'm thinking along the lines of Malorie Blackman's Boys Don't Cry, but with a gay/bi/questioning teen father rather than a straight one?

Also, if anyone knows of any *good* gay superhero YA that's been published post-2010 that would be super helpful.

I know this is a little random, but it's for my Masters thesis. I'm looking at how masculinity is represented/negotiated in contemporary YA novels that centre on gay protagonists. Thanks! :)

Liam wrote: "Hi guys! I know this is a little niche, but I was wondering if anyone has come across any YA novels that centre on a gay teen father? I'm thinking along the lines of Malorie Blackman's Boys Don't C..."

Boy, both great questions. I'm not coming up with gay protag choices I've read for those. (and from the thesis topic I assume you don't want trans/lesbian MCs.) There is Queeroes 2 but I haven't read it.

That situation of a questioning gay/bi kid ending up a father is such a trope it's almost a cliche in adult gay romance (as a way to get a kid into the mix with a gay male protag) but I'm not aware of a book that actually looks at the becoming-a-parent-as-a-teen stage...

Kaje wrote: "Liam wrote: "Hi guys! I know this is a little niche, but I was wondering if anyone has come across any YA novels that centre on a gay teen father? I'm thinking along the lines of Malorie Blackman's..."

Thanks for your response, Kaje. Yes, I'm looking specifically at male protagonists (sorry, I should have been a little clearer).

And I figured as much... I've scoured the net and can't seem to find any YA books on gay teen fathers. Plenty of adult novels about older closeted fathers, and quite a few YA books with gay dads, but nothing, it seems, with gay teen fathers.

Never mind! Thanks anyway :)

Someone needs to write one ... Hey, Robin Reardon??? You need a new plot bunny? It'd be right up your alley.

Kaje wrote: "Someone needs to write one ... Hey, Robin Reardon??? You need a new plot bunny? It'd be right up your alley."

I agree! I'm actually playing with the idea of writing such a novel myself. I've got a basic outline, but I haven't had much time recently to work on it. It's quite nerve-wracking actually as I've never done creative writing before!

This might be a bit of a stretch, but Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle features a questioning male protag who accidentally gets the one girl he's slept with pregnant.
The plot has almost nothing to do with the pregnancy or parenting the child, and the sex/pregnancy only occur in the last quarter of the book.

Rez wrote: "This might be a bit of a stretch, but Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle features a questioning male protag who accidentally gets the one girl he's slept with pregnant.
The plot has almost nothing ..."

Ooh! This sounds like it could be useful (and even if it doesn't work with my dissertation, it sounds like something I'd read anyway). Thank you so much! :D

Rez wrote: "This might be a bit of a stretch, but Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle features a questioning male protag who accidentally gets the one girl he's slept with pregnant.
The plot has almost nothing ..."

I would second Grasshopper Jungle, just for being great.

I'm looking for fantasy/horror/sci-fi (any of those three works) with m/m pairing and a gay male protagonist, because the only one that I've found thus far that I can really remember is ¨Carry On¨, which, by the way, is adorable and amazing.

Xander, you might like Lord of the White Hell, Book 1, (fantasy series)
The Star Host, (SciFi)
The Student Prince, (free Merlin fanfic, with dragon)
Three Truths and a Lie, (horror)
Vintage: A Ghost Story, (paranormal)
Distant Rumblings, trilogy (fantasy)
Carnival (SF)
Knight Errant series (SF)

Xander, the most comparable book to Carry On that I could suggest is Erin Claiborne's A Hero at the End of the World .

How about Tim Floreen's sci-fi Willful Machines and Tattoo Atlas , Sam Cameron's sci-fi Kings of Ruin , and Alex London's dystopic sci-fi series, Proxy ?

Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series is appropriate for mature YA readers -- there's no graphic sexual content (outside of maybe within the Glimpses story collection that I haven't yet read) but a fair amount of fantasy violence.

R.W. Day's A Strong and Sudden Thaw has a little sex on the page, plus dragons; I'd still consider it mature YA appropriate.

Noelle Stevenson's Nimona fantasy graphic novel is YA, although the paired males are adults.

The Young Avengers graphic novels feature a gay couple on the avenging team.

If you like superheroes in regular novels, try Perry Moore's Hero or Hayden Thorne's Masks series.

Hannah Moskowitz' Teeth is a darkly amazing tale about a boy who meets a young merman.

Steve Berman's Red Caps fairytale collection is very good.

One of my favorite stories in the Zombies vs. Unicorns anthology centers around a gay couple.

The intersex main character of Laura Lam's Micah Grey fantasy series has romantic connections with male- and female-identifying characters.

Rick Riordan's mythological Heroes of Olympus include a gay character whose m/m relationship carries into the Trials of Apollo series (the eponymous character of which is bi).

Aaand if you feel like reading about characters who fanboy over sci-fi, go for J.C. Lillis' How to Repair a Mechanical Heart . =)

Are there any YA romance books where the main character is asexual? Either contemporary, Science fiction/fantasy is fine with me

Sarah wrote: "Are there any YA romance books where the main character is asexual? Either contemporary, Science fiction/fantasy is fine with me"

Antisocial - about college guys, one a manga artist, the other ace, this author writes a lot of very adult books but this one is YA. (note some liked the ace representation, some felt it was not good.)
Otherwise this is our shelf of books that a member has shelved as asexual. I've only read one other of them, too long ago to remember it well - https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

There is also this listopia list for Asexuality in YA Fiction you could browse.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

Awesome thank you both :D

It's not YA but is 100% YA appropriate, i just read and enjoyed How To Be A Normal Person that has an ace main character. The only disclaimer needed is that it has drug use but in a state where it is legal.

Liam wrote: "Hi guys! I know this is a little niche, but I was wondering if anyone has come across any YA novels that centre on a gay teen father?"

I do know of one. Thumped by Megan McCafferty has a gay teen character whose wife is pregnant with twins. It's science fiction, hence why teenagers are married. (view spoiler)[At the risk of spoiling the story for others, the gay teen is Ram, Harmony's husband. (hide spoiler)]

Justin wrote: "It's not YA but is 100% YA appropriate, i just read and enjoyed How To Be A Normal Person that has an ace main character. The only disclaimer needed is that it has drug use but in a..."

This is one of my favorite YA-ish stories.

Kaje wrote: "Justin wrote: "It's not YA but is 100% YA appropriate, i just read and enjoyed How To Be A Normal Person that has an ace main character. The only disclaimer needed is that it has dr..."

I received a free copy of the authors book Murmuration to review and i loved it! I bought this and one other that i will be starting soon. I have a feeling i will be going through all of the authors books on a binge read.

Justin wrote: "Kaje wrote: "Justin wrote: "II have a feeling i will be going through all of the authors books on a binge read. t..."

They are really good, even though very few are YA-appropriate.

Hello! I'm new here, but I was looking for dystopian books with gay/lgbt characters. If anyone has any recs, I would solo appreciate it!

It's not my book topic of choice, but we have 50 listed on the group "dystopian" shelf.

Hopefully someone will have personal recommendations, but till then you could check these out

https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

Ashley wrote: "Hello! I'm new here, but I was looking for dystopian books with gay/lgbt characters. If anyone has any recs, I would solo appreciate it!"

The Scorpion Rules and The Summer Prince were pretty good.

I second the Proxy series rec. Another choice is Emma Trevayne's Coda (although personally I would read only the first book and skip the second of that series).

Does anyone know of any novels that take place/focuses on the holidays in which there is either an f/f romance or trans main character? I've recently decided that during the month of December I am going to read all wintery/holiday themed books, but can't seem to find a lot featuring the lgbt+ community.

Geez, wintery YA books with f/f romance or trans characters are super scarce.

We Are Okay is set over winter break, but I don't know that I would call it a holiday book. That's the only f/f one I can think of.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares and The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily have gay male supporting characters. My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories has one m/m story.

Thank you Rainbowheart! I will check them out. I'm especially excited about 'We Are Okay' and 'Dash & Lily's Book of Dares.'

So hard to find f/f or trans holiday stories.
for M/M there is of course Sock it to Me, Santa!

The closest I can remember/find right now that are even tangentially related are Everything Changes , by Samantha Hale; New Hoofprints in the Snow , by A.M. Burns and K.T. Spence; Gravity , by Juliann Rich; Girls Made of Snow and Glass , by Melissa Bashardoust (not to be confused with Winterglass , by Benjanun Sriduangkaew, which appears to be adult rather than YA); and Being Emily , by Rachel Gold.

I feel like I'm forgetting another f/f YA book with snowy girl cover, but I'm probably just blending Gold's and Hale's covers into a nonexistent third in my head.

So, last Friday I saw the movie trailer for “Love, Simon”, which is based on the book “Simon vs the Homo Sapien Agenda”. So I decided to check out that book, I loved it.

And then it put me in the mood for more of the same, so had a weekend of binge reading a lot of YA gay M/M books.

Anyway the best books of the lot of them was “Simon vs the Homo Sapien Agenda” by Becky Abertalli and “Whatever” by S.J Goslee. Both were equally awesome.

I’m after more books to read like those two, more books with a gay male protagonist, coming out theme, humour, the main character having a distinctive personality (note: I don’t like meek characters).

Does anyone have any recommendations similar to the two above books?

PS: “Maps” by Nash Summers gets a special mention too. Definitely different!

Openly Straight for sure, probably also One Man Guy.

Exiled to Iowa. Send Help. And Couture
The Suicidal Peanut
Love Spell
Know Not Why

Thanks Kaje and Rainbowheart, those look good. I’ve “sample” tagged them in my iBooks, except for one of them, as it wasn’t available in the AU iBook store (that’s really annoying when that happens).

BTW: I had read the Openly Straight books on the weekend, those were great! But haven’t yet read any of the others recommended.

Also:
The Great American Whatever
Perfect Ten
The Biggest Scoop

Also Been Here All Along, The Value of X, and maybe Fan Art.

Sprout
Heartstopper (This one is a comic that you can read online for free, it's super cute!) Here is the link - https://tapas.io/episode/428109

Hey guys! I'd be very glad if you could recommend me good LGBT+ romances with POC characters like Ari&Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe.

dilan wrote: "Hey guys! I'd be very glad if you could recommend me good LGBT+ romances with POC characters like Ari&Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe."

There is a real lack of POC characters in all forms of lit including YA - if you are looking for gay guys, you might like

The Thunder in His Head
Seven Tears at High Tide
Gives Light
Falling From The Sky
Swimming in the Monsoon Sea
One Man Guy
The God Box
Pukawiss The Outcast


(Chulito - YA theme but too much sex on page for real YA, still very good Hispanic MC IMO)


with other LBTQ
Not Your Sidekick
The Second Mango
For Today I Am a Boy
My Most Excellent Year
The House You Pass on the Way
Girl Mans Up

These are ones I know - There's a list that includes NA (books with sex) as well as YA here- https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

I just finished rereading Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Patroclus, Achilles' lover, narrates Achilles' story starting from when they were tweens. Madeline Miller's recreation of the iliad includes the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. You are going to want tissues while reading this book.

Another good book I have read recently is Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst. Princess Dennaleia has always known of her arranged marriage, but when the time comes to actually meet her new fiance and his family she is unsure of herself. Denna now must learn how to cope with being ignored and how to hide her magic in a place where magic is forbidden. While learning to ride a horse, hide her magic, and help solve the mysterious murders, Denna must be able to no grow feelings for her betrothed sister. Will she be able to handle it all? You might also want some tissues for this book.

Dilan, you may want to check out Alex Sanchez - all of his books have gay Mexican characters. I'm not sure about his other books because I haven't read them yet, but Adam Silvera's More Happy Than Not has a Puerto Rican main character. The Mariposa Club is one I own but haven't read yet, I believe that one is Mexican gay characters too (definitely poc though)

dilan wrote: "Hey guys! I'd be very glad if you could recommend me good LGBT+ romances with POC characters like Ari&Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe."

Hi, dilan. Here's a list of potential books of interest. =) Some I've particularly enjoyed from the list -- in addition to a couple that Kaje separately mentioned -- are Hannah Moskowitz' Gone, Gone, Gone; Becky Albertalli's Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (although the queer character of color is more supporting than main in that book -- fingers crossed for him to get greater development in the big-screen version this year!); Alex London's Proxy series; Erin Claiborne's A Hero at the End of the World; and everything of Malinda Lo's. I really liked the first book in Tom Pollock's Skyscraper Throne series but so far have got only a little way into the second book, wherein the queer POC who was supporting in the first becomes the main.

The group's book of the month for December, The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue , may actually fit the bill for you too, although it would've done so more -- and I think I would've liked the book even more -- had the story been from Percy's perspective rather than from Monty's.

If you're up for graphic novels, check out the Runaways (earlier series and new Rainbow Rowell series), which is also a Hulu show now, as well as Jennie Wood's Flutter .

Scott Westerfeld's excellent Leviathan series includes a queer POC supporting character who is romantically interested in the girl-in-drag main character. Min of Brent Hartinger's Russel Middlebrook series is a bi character of color, more supporting than main again, though.

Hello! Does anyone know of any good YA mysteries with LGBT+ characters (they could be the MC or an important side character)? Possibly even paranormal mystery?

I'd really appreciate the help! ^^

I'm a cat-astrophe wrote: "Hello! Does anyone know of any good YA mysteries with LGBT+ characters (they could be the MC or an important side character)? Possibly even paranormal mystery?"

Not paranormal, but Black Rabbit Summer and Far From You are mysteries.