Task #15: Read a YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+

[Fran]

I read Teeth for this task, and also used it for #12, Fantasy book.

[Jocelyn]

Do David leviathan books count for this category?

[Elyse]

Joce wrote: "Do David leviathan books count for this category?"

Absolutely!

[Carolina]

I feel uncomfortable asking this (in this blunt way) but does Patrick Ness identify as LGBTQ+? I read A Monster Calls last year and I'm keen to read his other books.

[Fran]

Carolina wrote: "I feel uncomfortable asking this (in this blunt way) but does Patrick Ness identify as LGBTQ+? I read A Monster Calls last year and I'm keen to read his other books."

Yes, according to Wiki, he is married to his same-sex partner :)

[Carolina]

Fran wrote: "Carolina wrote: "I feel uncomfortable asking this (in this blunt way) but does Patrick Ness identify as LGBTQ+? I read A Monster Calls last year and I'm keen to read his other books."

Yes, accordi..."

Perfect! Thank you! Actually this one of the categories that I didn't have a problem choosing a book.

[Barbara]

Ashley wrote: "Just started diving into A Gathering of Shadows. The author, V.E. Schwab, has Tweeted about her bi status and writes with characters from the LGBTQ community in her..."

A gathering of shadows is a great book, but it's not among her YA books. In North America, at least, her YA and children's books are published under "Victoria Schwab". The books published under "V. E. Schwab" are her adult fiction.

Wikipedia has a good list of the books she's published under either category
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._E._S...

[Ashley]

Barbara wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Just started diving into A Gathering of Shadows. The author, V.E. Schwab, has Tweeted about her bi status and writes with characters from the LGBTQ c..."

Ah, you totally just read my mind! I just realized - like two seconds ago - that this is part of her adult books and not her YA stuff. I will likely go back to my original choice and read The Marvels. Oh well, luckily choices abound!

[Julia]

I have been reading books like this for decades.

I recommend the books of David Levithan, particularly Wide Awake, which is about two teens rallying to get the first gay man running for president elected, Two Boys Kissing, which has an amazing structure, and Boy Meets Boy. The last novel at least is regularly also on the Banned and Challenged book list.

Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind is also on the Banned & Challenged list, but I preferred the less well- known Good Moon Rising about two girls putting on "The Crucible" at their high school.


Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming is YA, or MG, depending on the reader, won a National Book Award and is written in poetry.

[Bex]

Ok so apparently I read repeatedly in this category this year without realising it. So far I've read and loved Every Heart a Doorway which I've tried to make everyone I know read which led me to Indexing and Reflections. I'd recommend them if you like fairy tales and modern ideas. I feel like these three should be young adult but I'm not sure.

I also read By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead which I swallowed in an afternoon. This one is definitely YA. It's on a troubling subject and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone if suicide or cancer are triggers for you but other wise it's great. From that I came to It's Our Prom which I'm struggling to finish.

[[deleted user]]

Tytti wrote: "This would be a difficult task for me, too, because I don't read YA or "middle grade" (whatever that is, really). I know some LGBTQ+ authors but all of them write "just" fiction. One has even writt..."

If you're looking for a recommendation, I enjoyed The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Ben]

I read Aristotle and Dante, since YA and LGBTQ are both themes I had never approached before and it seemed to be the primary choice in this thread.

I can honestly say that it was a five-star read for me... for the first 3/4 or so of the book. But that ending was just not good. It all came together too cleanly in a book that so beautifully portrayed the messiness of relationships and the conflicting feelings of adolescents.

I am not sure I would recommend this one, to be honest.

[Book Riot]

Some more suggested titles to help with this category:

http://bookriot.com/2017/01/03/read-h...

[Beth]

I haven't seen anyone mention this one, but I think it would work. Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash is her "coming out" story in graphic memoir form and I believe it's meant for YA.

[Shawn]

I just finished reading We Are the Ants for this challenge (my third completed). It was pretty good.

[Beth]

Beth wrote: "I haven't seen anyone mention this one, but I think it would work. Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash is her "coming out" story in graphic memoir form and I believe it's meant for YA."

Actually, re-reading the task I see it's novel and not memoir, so I'm going to try and check out Maggie Thrash's YA mystery novel, "We Know It Was You" if my library ever gets it.

[Elizabeth]

I read George by Alex Gino. It was wonderful, and it absolutely lived up to the hype.

[Elyse]

I'm going to read Will Grayson, Will Grayson since it's been in my TBR for years.

[Renee]

I read Proxy by Alex London, enjoyable, it has a sequel. I wanted a book that was not a romance or coming out book. This was a fun read, took about 4-5 hrs. It's along the lines of Hunger Games, dystopian.

[Zara]

Elizabeth wrote: "I read George by Alex Gino. It was wonderful, and it absolutely lived up to the hype."

Ooh, that's next on my list! Can't wait.

[Clare]

I read The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis and it was absolutely beautiful.

[Jennifer]

Just finished Openly Straight, and loved the characters and the story.

[Zara]

Everyone go read George . It was amazing.

[Ashley]

I just finished The Marvels and completely adored it. Brian Selznick is a wonderful writer; highly recommend!

[Rebecca]

I read A Darker Shade of Magic. I know this is considered adult in the US, but if I recall correctly, it was marketed as YA in the UK. And after reading it, I would definitely say it's written at a YA level. (And that is one of the book's top shelves on Goodreads, so I'm not alone in this assessment!)

I have very little interest in YA/MG (I'm not trying to be a snob - there's just so much Adult literature I can't justify reading below my age group to myself), so I thought this was a good compromise. I did end up really enjoying it, and it was great to see representation in a book for younger audiences. I (obviously) don't remember everything I read in middle school and high school, but I'm pretty sure I only ever encountered LGBTQIA+ rep once, and that was when I had purposely sought it out.

[Ashley]

Rebecca wrote: "I read A Darker Shade of Magic. I know this is considered adult in the US, but if I recall correctly, it was marketed as YA in the UK. And after reading it, I would definitely say i..."

I actually wanted to read this series for this task as well, but changed my mind when I realized (and it was brought to my attention) that it is the writer's Adult series rather than YA. Would you consider reading Schwab's YA stuff? She's obviously a talented writer - you might end up enjoying it!

[Carmen]

I'm just finishing up "If I Was Your Girl" by Meredith Russo and I highly recommend it! The author is transgender and so is the cover model :)

[Debbie]

Margaret wrote: "Tytti wrote: "This would be a difficult task for me, too, because I don't read YA or "middle grade" (whatever that is, really). I know some LGBTQ+ authors but all of them write "just" fiction. One ..."

A good book for this category is Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. Very good, quick read. A biography almost written in verse style.

[Rebecca]

Ashley wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I read A Darker Shade of Magic. I know this is considered adult in the US, but if I recall correctly, it was marketed as YA in the UK. And after reading it, I would ..."

I think I'm going to consider A Darker Shade of Magic good enough. If you Google it, about half the results refer to it as YA. This whole discussion does make me very interested in how publishers decide whether to classify a book as one way or the other.

[Bonnie G.]

Debbie wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Tytti wrote: "This would be a difficult task for me, too, because I don't read YA or "middle grade" (whatever that is, really). I know some LGBTQ+ authors but all of them write "ju..."

A favorite book of mine. Just wonderful.

[Rebecca]

I'm having a hard time with this one. Would Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky count? I've seen some reviews that describe it as YA.

[Rachiel]

I'm reading One Man Guy for this topic.

[Elyse]

Rebecca wrote: "I'm having a hard time with this one. Would Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky count? I've seen some reviews that describe it as YA."

I don't think it's classified as YA.

[Ashley]

Rebecca wrote: "I'm having a hard time with this one. Would Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky count? I've seen some reviews that describe it as YA."

Hey Rebecca, go back and check out posts #2 and #38. They both reference some lists of LGBTQ authors that write in these age groups. Some authors off the top of my head are Patrick Ness, Chris Colfer (actor and writer), Brian Selznick, and Victoria Schwab. That's just a small, small sampling! Happy reading!

[Ashley]

Rebecca wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I read A Darker Shade of Magic. I know this is considered adult in the US, but if I recall correctly, it was marketed as YA in the UK. And after readi..."

Actually I got to hear Victoria speak while she was on tour for the release of ACOL, and turns out it is not the publisher that decides her books - it's her! She talked about writing with her 12 yo self, her 17 yo self, or her 29 yo self in mind. Very interesting to hear her talk about these different perspectives and how different - and how similar - they are.

[Kelly]

Elyse wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I'm having a hard time with this one. Would Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky count? I've seen some reviews that describe it as YA."

I don't think it's ..."

I would agree with Elyse. Laurence and Patricia are children and teens for the first third of the book, but the majority of the action takes place when they are both adults, and the themes are fairly adult.

I think a potential YA readalike that would also work for this category would be The Weight of Feathers -- it definitely shares the magical realism of All the Birds in the Sky, as well as the childhood romance -- and the birds -- although it doesn't have really the same technology/futurism themes.

[Emily]

SibylM wrote: "Amy wrote: "Map of Ireland by Stephanie Grant sounds great. Is Ms. Grant LGBTQ+?"
Yes she is! And that looks like a great read, thanks for the tip."

I read it really fast.

[Stina]

Barbara wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Just started diving into A Gathering of Shadows. The author, V.E. Schwab, has Tweeted about her bi status and writes with characters from the LGBTQ c..."

Yes, I recently read her first "Everyday Angel" book for this challenge and would recommend it, even though I am not in the target audience.

[Jocelyn]

Liz wrote: "On of my favorite books from this past year was Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. I recommend the audio book, read by Lin-Manuel Miranda."

Oh my god, I read this book last year and it was one of the most wonderful books I've ever read. I pretty much read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. I'm so glad I randomly found it at the library! I can't recommend this book enough.

[Rebecca]

I just finished The Blood Between Us by Zac Brewer. Zac Brewer identifies as transgender and published a few books as Heather Brewer before becoming Zac. The book I read was okay. I gave it three stars because the main character did some really annoying things at times, even though he's supposed to be sympathetic, and I thought the ending was rushed and kind of came out of the blue. Nevertheless, Zac was written quite a few books, under both names, and I hear some of his other books are better.

[Nancy]

Jessica wrote: "George was wonderful-- sweet and age-appropriate and from a trans author."

I came across this book through Book Riot's recommendations. It was a good choice, and as a middle grade book, a quick and easy read. As I read it, I reflected on how times change. I don't think anyone in my elementary school, students or teachers, had even heard the word "transgender" (this was several decades ago). However, from what we now know, it's entirely possible that some of my classmates knew, even when they were as young as the title character (9 or 10), that their assigned gender was wrong but surely never had a chance to read a book about a character experiencing that. I"m glad things are different now.

[Laura]

If anyone has Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe as their book for this challenge, it's currently 99p on ibooks!

[Sue]

Dreadnought by April Daniels is great!!

[Sarah]

I just finished Benjamin Alire Sáenz's latest book, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, for this task. Not sure how it compares to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (haven't read that one yet), but I did enjoy this one quite a bit.

[Elyse]

Sarah wrote: "I just finished Benjamin Alire Sáenz's latest book, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, for this task. Not sure how it compares to [book:Aristotle and Dante Discover..."

Dante and Aristotle is amazing!! Lin-Manuel Miranda narrates the audiobook and it's phenomenal.

[Annie]

I don't know if anyone has added this, but "Hollow Earth" by John Barrowman. No idea if it's any good, but Capt Jack writing a YA book? I'm there!

[Caleb]

Sarah wrote: "I just finished Benjamin Alire Sáenz's latest book, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, for this task. Not sure how it compares to Aristotle and Dante Discover..."</i>

I just listened to the audiobook of [book:Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe for this challenge- it was amazing! Funny and easy to listen to, beautifully written, sweet but not too sappy. Wish I'd listened to it as a teen. So good!

[Julia]

I've read and enjoyed Hollow Earth by Carole E. Barrowmanand John Barrowman. Bone Quill is the next one in the series. The Barrowmans have also written several novels set in the Torchwood and Arrow universes

[Karen]

I've chosen Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz. I do love her name. If she lost the z it would be brilliant. But I'm about 1/3 of the way through this book and so far I'm bored silly. I think I hate YA novels. I've read a decent number of them and they never fail to underwhelm.

[Elizabeth]

Just read and highly recommend George by Alex Gino, who is a transgender author. This is also a middle grade novel that features a transgender character and is excellent!