Happy Pride Month! 🥳🏳️🌈
What better time to put together a list of some LGBTQ+ reads that you can find in your local YA section?! I’m finally back with another instalment of the Best of YA! With my work as a Children’s Bookseller, with a focus on YA, I’m always looking at new releases and new trends and what’s currently popular – and I LOVE IT! Having a good knowledge of what books are on offer mean that I can offer the best recommendations possible to any customers who need a hand, so I thought I’d use a little bit of all that learning to make the Best of YA series!
This time I wanted to focus on LGBTQ+ representation. One of my favourite parts of the YA section I run is our Pride table – it’s been there for years and I definitely have no plans to get rid of it! Literature is, thankfully, becoming more and more diverse and children’s and YA books are no exception. Everyone deserves to see themselves in a story and I’m so glad that that’s beginning to become more of a reality. If you’re in the market for a recommendation, here are a few books to give you a head start! I’ll also try and keep this updated as I find more books that would fit in this list.
NOTE: blurbs aren’t included as this post would be super long if they were, but there are links to all of the info on Goodreads. Also, I haven’t included every book by these authors but often lots of their work fits somewhere on this list! I’ve also included some non-fiction titles that every good YA section should have.
L
The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown
Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown
The Miseducated of Cameron Post by Emily M Danforth
If You Could be Mine by Sara Farizan
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Eight Pieces of Silva by Patrice Lawrence
It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura
Girl Hearts Girl by Lucy Sutcliffe
G
Yay! You’re Gay! Now What? by Riyadh Khalaf
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Wranglestone by Darren Charlton
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
Heartbreak Boys by Simon James Green
Noah Can’t Even by Simon James Green
Two Boys Kissing by David Leviathan
Here the Whole Time by Vitor Martins
The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper
Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye
B
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
We Are Totally Normal by Rahul Kanakia
Ship It by Britta Lundin
(also a pansexual character)
T
Trans Teen Survival Guide by Owl and Fox Fisher
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson
Q
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M Johnson
Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) by L C Rosen
A
Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Lets Talk About Love by Claire Kann
That’s Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger
+
The Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
(* drag)
I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
(* non binary main character)
Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
(* discussion of AIDs and HIV)
Boy Queen by George Lester
(* drag)
Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha
(* discussion of AIDs and HIV)
And there we have it! A good start on a list of some LGBTQ+ representation to be found in the YA section. I’m sure I haven’t included everything but it’s not bad as a starting point What do you think? Are there any more that you’d recommend? Have you read any of the books on this list? I’d love to know!
You can always find me over on Twitter if you’d like to discuss these books (or any others that I’ve featured) in more detail 😌
Hannah's Bookshelf 🌸 