YA LGBT Books discussion
Book Related Banter
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What YA Friendly Book Are You Currently Reading?
Sam wrote: "I've just started All Out. The No-Longer Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages and I'm really curious about it *^* i hope it's as good as it sounds ♡"I've been wanting to read that one for ages! I've requested it at my library for purchase, so, fingers crossed, they'll buy it!
Still reading through the Tortall books, and just finished Bloodhound for the first time, and, unbeknownst to me, the book has two secondary queer characters! One is a gay man, a fellow Dog (police), and the other, his partner, is a transgender woman of colour. I wasn't sure at first, she could have easily been a gay man who does drag (she performs, singing and dancing, under a drag persona) but she talks with the MC at one point, and about herself, says, 'Inside I am a beautiful woman. The Trickster tapped me in my mother's womb and placed me in this man's shell.' Tamora Pierce has confirmed her as transgender. It's not perfect, because the MC thinks of her as 'he' throughout whenever she's not performing, but on the plus side, the character's great, she seems at peace with balancing her gender identity and how she presents it to the world, and she contributes in an important way to the progression of the story. Also, both characters survive the story, and are neither evil nor persecuted because of their sexuality or gender identity.Also, it's just a cracking good story, so.
I really like Tamora Pierce's books and they spoke to one of my kids on his journey to identity too. That one sounds cool.
Life According to Maps: Omnibus Edition - A mixed bag here. The humor didn't always work for me and felt forced at times, but I liked the characters, especially Perry. 3 stars all around.The Inexplicable Logic of My Life - 4 stars. Really liked this one, ended stronger than it started. Told from the POV of Salvador, who is straight, but his father is gay and one of his best friends is too. No romance. Just kids trying to figure out life. Warning for (view spoiler)
Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "The Inexplicable Logic of My Life - 4 stars. Really liked this one, ended stronger than it started. Told from the POV of Salvador, who is straight, but his father is gay and one of his best friends is too...."I really enjoyed that one. Not as much as Ari and Dante, but I like his writing style a lot.
Linda wrote: "The Inexplicable Logic of My Life - 4 stars. Really liked this one, ended stronger than it started. Told from the POV of Salvador, who is straight, but his father is gay and one of his best friends is too. No romance. Just kids trying to figure out life.”That one killed me. I lost my grandmother to breast cancer just a few months before I read it, so it was very much like ripping a scab off and pouring lemon juice in the cut. I cried for hours. So I have just a little bit of bias when I say that it was better than Ari & Dante.
I just finished rereading Mia Kerick's The Red Sheet. I can't help but wonder what four-years-ago me was thinking about when I read it the first time; what kind of changes I wanted to embody and who I decided to forgive as the wake of the book's moral washed over me. I'd like to think that whatever it was helped because I fell in love for the first time shortly after. And I can only hope that something equally wonderful comes from this new round of change and forgiveness.
I'm now tempted to reread the Gives Light series to see if I feel any different about it; I read it the first time while in the throes of that first romance.
Rez wrote: "Linda wrote: "The Inexplicable Logic of My Life - 4 stars. Really liked this one, ended stronger than it started. Told from the POV of Salvador, who is straight, but his father is gay and one of hi..."I lost my grandmother too at the beginning of the year so I am biased because of Mima too.
The Red Sheet - *shudders*
Yesterday I started reading the lesbian novel 'Ruby' written by Rosa Guy!
Billy wrote: "Yesterday I started reading the lesbian novel 'Ruby' written by Rosa Guy!"I'd never heard of Ruby, but it looks really interesting! I think the oldest vintage black title I've read is The Color Purple, and this is older than that.
Kaje wrote: "Kim wrote: "I'm in the midst of an e-ARC of The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. =D"Lucky you - I'm very interested to see where that one goes."
It was really good! I liked it even better than I did the first Montague book. Felicity continued being strong and capable, and her engaging story features interesting adventures with two other strong, capable young women.
Kim wrote: "Kaje wrote: "Kim wrote: "I'm in the midst of an e-ARC of The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. =D"Lucky you - I'm very interested to see where that one goes."
It was really good! I liked it..."
I’m glad you liked it so much. I can’t wait to read it.
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
It's not queer, as far as I know, but so far it's a lot of fun for maybe 10-12+ age group - The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World.On the queer side of things, I have Mask of Shadows and You and Me and Him ready to go.
All library books!
Reading an eARC of The Law of Inertia, it's slow to start but it's getting good, and one of the MC's is bisexual and one is gay and one is straight
I had such high hopes for What If It's Us. I mean, Albertalli is one of my favorites and Silvera has delivered nothing but 4-star books. But this… This was just stunning and blew my expectations out of the water! And Arthur having ADHD was unexpected and nice for representation (although, it would have been nice to see him slip up on his meds and have a bit of a down-cycle, but that's just me being picky about accurate depictions of cognitive differentials (view spoiler)), so bonus points for that. Also, I noticed that Arthur goes to Milton High, which if I remember correctly, was one of Creekwood High's rivals in Albertalli's Creekwood series (which now has me dying for a Cal×Hudson novel).
Rez wrote: "I had such high hopes for What If It's Us. I mean, Albertalli is one of my favorites and Silvera has delivered nothing but 4-star books. But this… This was just stunning and blew ..."
I agree it was a solid 4 stars, but that's it I was hoping it would be a 5 star
Avid Rrader and Geek Girl wrote: "I agree it was a solid 4 stars, but that's it I was hoping it would be a 5 star"The themes (view spoiler) just really resonate with me. (view spoiler) So that put my rating a bit above a 4-star, and then the ADHD and Ben being a writer pushed it all the way onto my 5-Star Favorites list.
I am glad there's neuroatypical rep in it, and that you liked it.
Rez wrote: "Avid Rrader and Geek Girl wrote: "I agree it was a solid 4 stars, but that's it I was hoping it would be a 5 star"The themes [spoilers removed] just really resonate with me. [spoilers removed] So..."
I gave it 4.5 stars, because of the ADHD and because of the realistic imperfectness of their relationship
Rez wrote: "The themes [spoilers removed] just really resonate with me. [spoilers removed] So..."In related and eerily foreshadowed news... my ex became single and moved back into town shortly after I posted that. He's still sore from his breakup and needing to find himself again, so I'm respecting his need to heal, but have made my intentions known.
In other news and what this thread is about:
Just finished That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 1 and am eagerly awaiting the second volume to arrive at my library.
I just picked up What Makes You Beautiful - trans Asian MC by an Asian writer - it will be interesting to see how it goes.
Kaje wrote: "I just picked up What Makes You Beautiful - trans Asian MC by an Asian writer - it will be interesting to see how it goes."The cover on that one is gorgeous, which makes me want to read it all the more. I just love that we're getting more covers with nonwhite leads actually shown on the cover, front on. Let's Talk About Love wasn't my favourite book I've read, but I think it's one of the most stunning covers of the last few years. The paperback edition of Radio Silence is gorgeous, too, as is the hardcover of Labyrinth Lost. And if we're going for art rather than photography, you've got things like Not Your Sidekick, which is really obviously showing an Asian girl but still really stylised and poster-art-ish.
In general, I'm a big fan of a stylised cover, something really punchy, maybe just with a silhouette (When the Moon Was Ours, Santa Olivia, Dreadnought, and Murder Most Unladylike: A Wells & Wong Mystery are great examples of books with leads of colour and/or queer characters that use silhouettes on their covers), but I'm also really in love with all the black and brown faces actually getting shown, rather than whitewashed or just not shown at all. I think too many of us default to white in our heads, and it's harder to do that automatically if there's a beautiful picture of the character on the cover. I think it's important for people to be able to walk into a bookshop or a library and see someone like themselves, or see someone NOT like themselves.
I had added poll to choose a book to read from YA LGBT books. and the book is
We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
Rajesh wrote: "I had added poll to choose a book to read from YA LGBT books. and the book is
We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson"
I have that one on my to-read for this year! I hope I like it better than At the Edge of the Universe, I felt like he tried for something in that one that he didn't quite achieve, at least, not for me.
I just read Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live, and I thought it was pretty interesting. It's a quick, free read for those who are busy or short of cash, which is always good. I would have read it months ago if I'd known it was free.
Rajesh wrote: "I had added poll to choose a book to read from YA LGBT books. and the book is We Are the Ants
"
I really liked that one - note a trigger warning for depression and focus on a past suicide, because I thought the depiction was very realistic. The story line is unusual, and imaginative.
I'm currently obsessed with graphic novels and webcomics! Right now I'm reading:Heartstopper
Magical Boy Basil
Bloom
Fence
And I'm just about to start Inhibit because they have a Kickstarter for a published version and I might back if i like what I see.
(They're all LGBT too!)
Iamshadow wrote: "Rajesh wrote: "I just read Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live, and I thought it was pretty interesting. It's a quick, free read for those who are busy or short of cash, which is always good. I would have read it months ago if I'd known it was free."This looked interesting, where did you find it? The Book Smugglers no longer publishes stories, doesn't seem to host old stories and no longer sells the anthology anywhere. Thanks!
Rez wrote: "I'm currently obsessed with graphic novels and webcomics! "I haven't read any of those yet, though a few are on my to-read. Some that you might want to look into if you're on a graphic novel jag - a whole bunch of my friends are obsessed with Check, Please!: #Hockey, Vol. 1.
Also, if you like creepypasta and Night Vale you might want to look into Eerie Crests - it's got a transmasculine lead who's searching for his boyfriend that everyone thinks is dead, but the MC is sure he isn't. It's nowhere near finished yet, but it's unfurling slowly like a really good episode of the X-Files or a ghost story. The creator is trans themselves. I'd say it's okay for teens 14+ who like horror stories and mysteries.
Also, if you like more mainstream superhero stuff, there are the runs of Young Avengers, Runaways, and Loki: Agent of Asgard from a few years back. They're all pretty great, and Runaways had a tv adaptation that's just had its second season that people seem to think is pretty good. (I haven't got to watching it yet.)
Kaje wrote: "I just picked up What Makes You Beautiful - trans Asian MC by an Asian writer - it will be interesting to see how it goes."Well, I was sadly pretty disappointed with this one. It felt like it was trying way too hard, and the dialog didn't feel natural (I'm not sure a teen would say "I developed inappropriate feelings toward you..") , and the resolution had a hint of deus ex machina and didn't resolve the issue I really wanted resolved.
-I'd call it well-meaning but clumsy. (Lots of LGBTQ rep though, and several POC characters.)
I then read The Dangerous Art of Blending In
which I really liked (trigger warning for child physical/emotional abuse and bullying) - the author note makes it sound semi-autobiographical. Very engaging story. I'll review it when I get time. Now I'm reading The Art of Starving
which has a gay MC with an eating disorder and a missing older sister - quite an interesting start...
Kaje wrote: "Kaje wrote: "I just picked up What Makes You Beautiful - trans Asian MC by an Asian writer - it will be interesting to see how it goes."Well, I was sadly pretty disappointed with this one...."
Ah, that's a shame. Do let us know what you think of the others, though, I've had those on my to-read for ages.
Iamshadow wrote: "Kaje wrote: Well, I was sadly pretty disap..."
Yes - I was hoping for a good story with all the rep in it. Of course, someone else might enjoy it a lot. It just never clicked for me.
Rez wrote: "I'm currently obsessed with graphic novels and webcomics!I just heard about Mooncakes, also due to get a print release later this year. =)
I am not clear on the ages of the characters currently and can't be certain yet whether or not it is YA or more NA, so, I'll leave out the links.
Kim wrote: "Rez wrote: "I'm currently obsessed with graphic novels and webcomics!I just heard about Mooncakes, also due to get a print release later this year. =)
I am not clear on the ages of the character..."
Who is the author on that one - I'm getting mainly picture books when I search the title.
Suzanne Walker is the author, and Wendy Xu is the illustrator.
Iamshadow wrote: "a whole bunch of my friends are obsessed with Check, Please!: #Hockey, Vol. 1. "I read that one to start my binge and I LOVED it.
Iamshadow wrote: "Also, if you like creepypasta..."
I'm not a fan of creepypasta, one of my coworkers tried to get me to read this series of Department of Mysteries style cases/fanfic and I nope'd right out of there.
Iamshadow wrote: "Also, if you like more mainstream superhero stuff..."
I did Gillen's Young Avengers already, and the other series you mentioned are on my list.
Murder at White OakThis is a YA LGBTQ murder mystery and love story!! A gay whodunit. I think it's important to have LGBTQ YA books that aren't about coming out or coming of age...(since we've all read a dozen of those) The main characters in this mystery happen to be gay!!
Marko wrote: "Murder at White OakThis is a YA LGBTQ murder mystery and love story!! A gay whodunit. I think it's important to have LGBTQ YA books that aren't about coming out or coming of age....."
Oh yay, we don't have enough LGBTQ main characters in books that are another genre, especially mystery. Added to my TBRs.
I'm just starting Jordan vs. All the Boys by John Goode - a group member and favorite author of mine.
Kaje wrote: "I'm just starting Jordan vs. All the Boys by John Goode - a group member and favorite author of mine."Oooh, that's out? I preordered it on Harmony Ink and nearly forgot about it... (THE SHAME I FEEL! I'M SORRY JOHN!)
Feeling really torn right now about the book I'm partway through. (It's not listed as YA, but there's been nothing adult rated so far?) It's an Australian author and setting, I'm really enjoying the protagonist who is a QPOC, I think the writer is really good, I'm liking the exploration of gender questioning and how that's being handled. What I hate is the love interest. She's underage (17, the protag is 25), and she is very creepy and stalkerish and manipulative. Everything she does and says makes alarm bells ring in my head for 'nascent abusive relationship'. I'm talking cyber stalking, following the MC to her work and home, leaving 'gifts' for her, lying to gain access to the MC's home, criticising the MC's makeup, dress, and presentation, emotionally 'breaking down' when the MC tries to assert boundaries and forcing the MC to feel guilty... I feel creeped out when these things get sold as 'love' in straight romance stories. The fact that this is a queer book isn't making it any better. I was hoping that maybe once the MC worked through some gender stuff, they'd shore up their boundaries and find an equal who respects them. Instead, from the comments on the goodreads book page, it looks like she's the person they end up dating. And I'm just so infuriated. I'm like 25% into this book that is hundreds of pages long, and there are some things I love, I just wish I could surgically excise creepy controlling stalker girl from the narrative and just have it be a romance-free story with the MC finding their true self. And some people love this creepy, controlling girl. I can't believe they're reading the same character. I know I'm more finely tuned than most to abusive headfuckery thanks to my past, but THIS SHIT IS NOT LOVE. No one treats someone they respect this way. I'm just so frustrated. It's tainted the whole well for me. It is so hard to find GNC, butch and transmasc stuff, and were it not for this character, I would be so happy right now.
Iamshadow wrote: "Feeling really torn right now about the book I'm partway through. (It's not listed as YA, but there's been nothing adult rated so far?) It's an Australian author and setting, I'm really enjoying th..."Yikes. That does sound like a problem. Stalking and manipulation as romantic is a big problem in straight romance, and I guess it can show up in queer romance too. I hope the MC can establish healthier boundaries, and maybe get some maturity out of the love interest.
Rez wrote: "Kaje wrote: "I'm just starting Jordan vs. All the Boys by John Goode - a group member and favorite author of mine."Oooh, that's out? I preordered it on Harmony In..."
I enjoyed it - light and yet honest-feeling. (And be sure you read past the author notes to the after-credits scene.)
Kaje wrote: "Marko wrote: "Murder at White OakThis is a YA LGBTQ murder mystery and love story!! A gay whodunit. I think it's important to have LGBTQ YA books that aren't about coming out or c..."
THANKS!!!
Just an FYI...a gender switch novel of mine is due out March 1st. While it IS a fantasy, there is a lesbian romance, although it's pretty chaste. Lots of action...some funny dialogue.Links, just in case. https://www.amazon.com/Fight-Like-Wom... (Print)
http://regalcrest.biz/product/fight-l... (ebook)
Right now, I'm reading Fat Angie, which is okay so far. The writing style is interesting. It's from my library. I also have Solitaire, To Kill a Kingdom, and Tash Hearts Tolstoy on loan, all new reads for me, though I've had them on my to-read for ages.Is anyone else super excited for the second Belles book, The Everlasting Rose? It's coming out really soon, and I can't wait.
Has anyone read
Becoming Nancy
? Is it considered YA by group standards? I've just run across it and see a couple of GR members have shelved it as YA, but it's not on the group bookshelf and searching discussions I see only one reference to it at all.
YA LGBT Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Wicked Bargain (other topics)The Wicked Bargain (other topics)
Into the Deep (other topics)
Blue Flag, Vol. 1 (other topics)
My Love Mix-Up!, Vol. 1 (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Zaya Feli (other topics)Kevin van Whye (other topics)
Marco Donati (other topics)
Simon James Green (other topics)
Cale Dietrich (other topics)
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The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy
. =D"
Oooh, I'm jealous! Enjoy!