YA LGBT Books discussion
Book Related Banter
>
What YA Friendly Book Are You Currently Reading?
Fat Angie was really good, guys. Mental health, self harm, fatness and fatphobia, queer identity, surviving family of a service person, bullying... there's a lot going on, and it's done well. It's messy, and it's complicated, and there are no tidy resolutions, no swooping triumphant conclusions... but the last page feels like one, and reminds us that happiness is where you find it. And the sequel, Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution, comes out this week! If I was going to pick a time to read the first book, I couldn't have chosen better.
I am finally reading Girl Mans Up, and guys, I want to hug it so hard. I am about halfway through, and I am so, so hoping that the story spools out in a way that I like, because it's been so long since I read butch/GMC rep I liked so much. It's been sitting in my book stack for literal months, because it's so rare to get ANY butch/GNC rep, let alone GOOD rep, and I wanted to wait until I was ready to take a chance on it. So far, I've really liked it. Best butch rep since Juliet Takes a Breath.Now, if I can find some great butch sword wlw rep that's new to me before the end of the year, I'll be happy.
Iamshadow wrote: "I am finally reading Girl Mans Up, and guys, I want to hug it so hard. I am about halfway through, and I am so, so hoping that the story spools out in a way that I like, because it'..."AAAAH read it one sitting pretty much and it's so freaking good. I'm so happy.
I'm listening to the audiobook of
, which focuses on 2 of characters from Shadowhunter Chronicles, who are a couple later in the series, but one is gay and one is bisexual (I love that Magnus is bisexual since bisexuals are underrepresented in YA lit and lit in general )
Iamshadow wrote: "I am finally reading Girl Mans Up, and guys, I want to hug it so hard. I am about halfway through, and I am so, so hoping that the story spools out in a way that I like, because it'..."I loved that book, so I'm glad you enjoyed it too. <3 It is hard to get books with butch girls who don't identify as transgender, and this was a good one.
I just read the last book of Sean Kennedy's "Micah Johnson series" that begins with The Ongoing Reformation of Micah Johnson - These books are best read after the Tigers and Devils series about an established Aussie football star and a media organizer (which are not YA due to the age of the characters, but which are suitable reads due to no erotic sex on page); the YA series stands on its own all right, I think, but the lead in to it is in the second to last of the adult books. The "Get Out" series features Micah - an upcoming high school Australian football player with the potential to go pro, and a chip on his shoulder big enough to sink him. Also Emma, a lesbian girl, a hockey athlete herself, and a vibrant force. And Will, who begins deeply closeted, conflicted, and not as good a player as Micah but determined to succeed.
I'm not quite as deeply fond of the YA series as the adult, but I have liked them all. The teens are pretty realistic IMO, sometimes self-sabotaging, and not idealized. Micah's temper leads him into big mistakes.
This fourth book (Where There's a Will Deanes), focused on Will, was good but I didn't quite connect with him as much as I thought I would. Still, worth the read. There is a series HEA here, although it came just a little fast for me, after the conflict leading up to it. But in all, a series I enjoyed and we don't have enough books set outside the US and UK for teens IMO, so this is welcome.
I really liked Bill Konigsburg's The Music of What Happens - two teen guys dealing with parental mental health issues and male sexual assault. Great characters, and a sensitive handling of both topics.
I am rereading The Belles right now, gearing up for the second half of the duology, The Everlasting Rose. I'm so excited, I love this author and this universe.I've recently read Girl Mans Up (which was every bit as amazing as I'd hoped), In an Absent Dream (loved it), What If It's Us (okay), Record of a Spaceborn Few (just as awesome as the rest of the series), Eon: Dragoneye Reborn and Eona: The Last Dragoneye (pretty good!), It's Not Like It's a Secret (liked it lots!), Darius the Great Is Not Okay (loved it), and You're Welcome, Universe (great!).
I also finally got around to reading Passing Strange, which isn't young adult but doesn't have any content that makes it a problem, and I would highly recommend it. Right now it's free from Tor in digital for pride month, too, so you should get if you're based in the USA! Multiracial San Fransisco in the 1940s, queer pubs, cross dressing and lounge singing, art, pulp fiction, and just a little bit of magic.
Glad you enjoyed Girl Mans Up - 5 star read for me too. I want to get to Not Like It's A Secret sometime. I finished and enjoyed I Wish You All the Best which looks like it will be our Book of the Month.
I just picked up You Know Me Well because it is on $2.99 sale and with Nina LaCour and David Levithan co-writing, I have to try it.
For all of you who enjoy Star Wars comics, here's one with a great original queer character...https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
The Whispers by Greg Howard . . . a coming of age story in which realizing the world means the shedding of misconceptions as much as the conceiving of magical truths.
I recently read My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me, and Ended Up Saving My Life by NFL retired player Ryan O'Callaghan- this isn't specifically YA, and it does deal with drug abuse, but it's a very vivid picture of how growing up gay in a conservative family, school and town affected a promising football player. I think a lot of teens may still connect with his fears and pressures, growing up. Ryan's account of the degree to which "not looking gay" dominated his day to day life is sobering, and the reactions he got when he finally did come out are mostly warm and hopeful.
I recently read Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
thegayshitposter wrote: "I recently read Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell"I saw that was out. I'll be interested in seeing people's opinions of it.
Kaje wrote: "thegayshitposter wrote: "I recently read Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell"I saw that was out. I'll be interested in seeing people's opinions of it."
I have both the e-book and the regular book from my library but haven't started either yet. I kept intending to reread Carry On first but am not sure I want to take the time and wait that long to get WS back again.
Kim wrote: "I kept intending to reread Carry On first but am not sure I want to take the time and wait that long to get WS back again."I'm in the same boat. I requested the audiobook for Carry On in the hopes that I can listen to enough of it to recall the majot details while doing other things.
Kim wrote: "Kaje wrote: "thegayshitposter wrote: "I recently read Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell"I saw that was out. I'll be interested in seeing people's opinions of it."
I have both the e-book and the regu..."
I don’t think you need to reread Carry On to appreciate Wayward Son. It might even be better to go into Wayward Son fresh, without any expectations. The writing was more typical of the average Rainbow Rowell book than Carry On.
I've just finished reading
by Marko Realmonte. I love the style and witty banter among all the characters. The boys are 16 in book one...in book 2 they are at Oxford, so 18? or 19? These are fun mysteries and terrific love stories that hit on a lot of social issues.
Angie wrote: "I've just finished reading The Butcher of Oxford by Marko Realmonte. I love the style and witty banter among all the characters. The boys are 16 in book one...in book 2 they ar..."Good to know - it's on my TBRs.
I just finished Hullmetal Girls - with kind of mixed feelings. We need more SciFi with female MCs, and the plot was decent, but I felt like the LGBTQ rep wasn't done very well, and the two main MCs needed more distinct voices.
Just picked up The Huntress, by Malinda Lo. Sort of a prequel to Ash, (a loose interpretation of the Cinderella theme). Not too far in, but it is good so far. It’s sometimes a challenge balancing my reading and my writing, and those around my real job.
Brooklyn wrote: "Just picked up The Huntress, by Malinda Lo. Sort of a prequel to Ash, (a loose interpretation of the Cinderella theme). Not too far in, but it is good so far. It’s sometimes a challenge balancing m..."I liked Ash, but haven't tried The Huntress yet - let us know what you think.
Kaje wrote: "Brooklyn wrote: "Just picked up The Huntress, by Malinda Lo. Sort of a prequel to Ash, (a loose interpretation of the Cinderella theme). Not too far in, but it is good so far. It’s sometimes a chal..."Both Ash and Huntress are great stories. Ash is very much of the realm of fairy tale adaptations, Huntress is kind of its own thing, squarely in the realm of a quest fantasy. Both worth reading. I like Malinda Lo's fantasy a lot better than her scifi.
Currently reading: The Gilded Wolves, not very far in but enjoying it so far. Just finished Dread Nation, and enjoyed that one a lot. I'm excited for the sequels of both, which are coming out in the next week. Waiting in the wings are Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Graphic Novel: A Modern Retelling of Little Women, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution, and The Brightsiders. Also, some adult books by Leigh Bardugo, Octavia E. Butler, and N.K. Jemisin. The goal this year is to read as diversely as I can, pulling heavily from books I've got physical copies of but haven't got to reading yet!
A friend's teen daughter recommended the Little Women graphic novel as one she really liked.
Kaje wrote: "A friend's teen daughter recommended the Little Women graphic novel as one she really liked."Yeah, I haven't started it yet, but I followed the prepublishing chatter with interest, and the art is simple but lovely.
I just finished 'The Music of what Happens'
I thought it was an okay-ish read. The concept was pretty original, involving two guys bonding over a food truck, and working through their personal challenges together as they become closer.
I did feel like it had a lot of 'tell' rather than 'show,' and one of the main characters kinda rubbed me the wrong way. However, I really liked how it explored toxic masculinity and sexual assault from a male victim's POV.
Amber wrote: "I just finished 'The Music of what Happens' I thought it was an okay-ish read. The concept was pretty original, involving two guys bonding over a food..."
That was one of my favorite reads last year. I also really loved the handling of the sexual assault aspect (although (view spoiler))
I really enjoyed the author's writing style, so that's just an area of different tastes, I guess.
Amber wrote: "I just finished 'The Music of what Happens' I thought it was an okay-ish read. The concept was pretty original, involving two guys bonding over a food..."
I also finished that one last week (loved it, but it missed my 5-star list by a half). And then I followed it up with one that has a matching themes (one character is a foodie with PTSD) that did land on my 5-star list: We Contain Multitudes
Currently re-reading the Wells and Wong (Murder Most Unladylike) mystery series by Robin Stevens. It's got a protagonist who's a Hong Kong native in a British boarding school in the 1930s. Very Enid Blyton-meets-Cat Among The Pigeons. Read if you like Christie and boarding school stories. They're aimed at middle grade, but they're fun and clever and not written too young for older readers to enjoy. There are a bunch of secondary queer characters in some of the early books, and I know there's some kind of reveal in one of the later books about a main character, but I haven't read it yet so I don't know which, just that I think it's about queerness. I'm up to book three right now, First Class Murder. The final book in the series comes out in a few months, so it's a good time to track them down. There's a really nice hardcover re-release of book one, that I can personally attest is worth the money. Out here in Australia, in NSW, the series is part of the Premier's Reading Challenge, so it's been easy to find them at my local library (and successfully request they purchase the missing volumes!) So if you have a young rainbow Nancy Drew or Christie fan in your life, give them a whirl, they're a lot of fun.
Iamshadow wrote: "Currently re-reading the Wells and Wong (Murder Most Unladylike) mystery series by Robin Stevens. It's got a protagonist who's a Hong Kong native in a British boarding school in the 1930s. Very Eni..."Sounds like fun - I'll have to look for those.
Kaje wrote: "Sounds like fun - I'll have to look for those. " They're really fun. Those in the UK can get one of the mini mysteries (novellas) as part of the World Book Day promotions - The Case of the Drowned Pearl: A Murder Most Unladylike Mini-Mystery: World Book Day 2020. The rest of the world have to wait a bit to get hold of that particular story.
Mollie wrote: "I love you so mochi, frankly in love, beautiful creatures. They are all YA and different genres but all very good."Cool to see some YA books with POC characters - do they all have LGBTQ secondary characters? I was wondering about Frankly in Love - sounds like it could be fun.
I just picked up Don't Let Me Go on sale - I like this author's writing style, and am a big fan of Just Between Us which tackles HIV in a YA relationship. I enjoyed this one too although Nate who claims he's healed from a bad gay-bashing episode is clearly still broken in several ways - alternately needy and then pushing people away, inventing scenarios in his head and then punishing people for what he imagines. It felt real, in the sense that people are often more like this than the perfect heroes we sometimes get (and Adam is just a bit perfect, which made Nate seem worse.)
My biggest complaint was that the emotional resolution of this book came as an epilogue, and a remembrance, not in real time. Things I needed for emotional completion were only sketchily described.
Still, if you're OK with some painful content, time jumps alternating past and present, a range of character flaws, and a little frustration, this has some interesting characters, good writing, and an emotional and ultimately satisfying arc. Content warning for (view spoiler)
(My review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)
I just finished The Black Flamingo
by Dean Atta - This is a coming out and self-discovery story, written in free verse. The author is a celebrated poet and a black gay man of Greek Cypriot and Caribbean descent, much like the young man in this story. But this is fiction, not an autobiography. Although presented as a YA novel, it should have a wide appeal to anyone interested in the origin story of a young gay drag queen and a man of color finding his voice.
The verse is easy to read, not obscure and the story moves quickly. The beginning in Michael's childhood felt a little sketchy to me, the emotion tucked in to small moments in a way that was artistic but just a bit remote to me. But the second half is engaging, and eventually triumphant.
My review : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am currently reading The iron trial (first part of the magisterium series) by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare (it is not lgbt+)
It's been a busy month in Rez-land. In a remarkable wave of awesome new releases, three books with gay leads have landed on my 5-star list. The two I can mention here are: Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye, and
If We Were Us by K.L. Walther.
(The third is Annabeth Albert's latest New-Adult novel.)
Also of note, The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopulos [3-stars], and Camp by Lev A.C. Rosen [4-stars]. (Camp almost made 5-stars purely on the amount and quality of rep, but lost it because the non-binary character was teased as the alternate love-interest that didn't pan out.)
I just finished The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson and I'm still shaken what a mess that book was. If you take the romance plot alone, it's quite cute even if it's also not spectacular. But sadly the book is ruined by the political plot about the presidential election. The author pulls an awful "both sides" by introducing a third candidate who serves as pure evil hate sink. This book feels like a lot of wasted opportunities. It could have addressed all the serious political problems, but they're just named or downplayed or even worse joked about. Dean's story would have been worth to explore much further, but sadly it's sidelined for the political drama and the romantic drama. Sigh...Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye on the other hand is a book that totally surprised me – in a positive way. I somehow expected a fluffy and funny rom-com, which it is, but it's also so much more. It deals with being in the closet, wanting to have a "normal" love life just like all the straight kids, coming out and outing. I love this book with all my heart and recommend it to everyone.
Although now the publisher has pushed the book's release all the way back to September, Aiden Thomas'
Cemetery Boys
was originally due out this week, and I got to read an advance edition of it a couple of months ago.I liked the book a lot. I really enjoyed getting to know its compelling main and supporting characters; the development of the main characters' relationship; the positive trans*, queer, and Latinx representation; and the gorgeous and vivid imagery, details, setting, etc. Unlike most other reviewers of the advance edition, I saw the twist(s) coming by the midpoint of the book and kind of wished to have been wrong about one aspect of that, but generally I still appreciated how everything played out.
I pre-ordered a copy to own once it eventually gets its official publication, just like I did last year after reading an advance of Red, White & Royal Blue. I'm excited for other people to read Thomas' debut too.
Finished The Abandoned City by A. Lawrence, the follow up sequel to The Rising Stones this week. A fantasy adventure series. I liked the second story a bit better than the first although they're both worthwhile reads.
Kim wrote: "Although now the publisher has pushed the book's release all the way back to September, Aiden Thomas' Cemetery Boys
was originally due out this week, and I got to read an advance edition of it ..."
I'll have to keep that one on my radar.
I am currently reading The perks of being wallflower.
Kim wrote: "Although now the publisher has pushed the book's release all the way back to September, Aiden Thomas' Cemetery Boys
was originally due out this week, and I got to read an advance edition of it ..."
Aww. I'm really looking forward to that one.
You would think they'd be trying to put new books out faster with people having to spend more time separate.
Juuso wrote: "I am currently reading The perks of being wallflower."Are you liking it? I did, but me friends had mixed reactions.
Meghan wrote: "You would think they'd be trying to put new books out faster with people having to spend more time separate."I don't disagree. And I'm disappointed about this book in particular having to wait so much longer to get out in the world, when people could be digging into its trans*-positive goodness during this tumultuous Pride month.
I think the publishing delays for a lot of titles are partly because it's harder, at least in some ways, to promote the new releases properly, especially in the case of books like this by debut/lesser-known authors.
Also, I work for a large metropolitan library system that essentially stopped buying any new books or other materials for an as-yet-unknown number of months to save money, to try to keep the system afloat and avoid having to let go permanently [rather than only furlough] a ton of employees. And I guarantee that most, if not all, other U.S. libraries did the same. Likely booksellers in the U.S. (other than maybe Amazon), as well as international libraries and booksellers ahead of the U.S. in facing the virus, did too.
Publishers presumably would've wanted to try to earn more money later, once libraries/stores could purchase more again. Special cases like really popular authors or very timely new race relations titles may be exceptions. It leaves individual buyers/readers a bit in the lurch, but . . . capitalism.
Kaje wrote: "Juuso wrote: "I am currently reading The perks of being wallflower."Are you liking it? I did, but me friends had mixed reactions."
I do not know. So far it is okay. It is confusing, and the language is not my favorite, but i do not think it is horrible i am only in act (if that is the name it is called) 2. So in page 62
Kim wrote: "Also, I work for a large metropolitan library system that essentially stopped buying any new books or other materials for an as-yet-unknown number of months to save money, to try to keep the system afloat and avoid having to let go permanently [rather than only furlough] a ton of employees. And I guarantee that most, if not all, other U.S. libraries did the same."Can confirm. I work for a county-wide library system in California, and we're on a purchasing freeze until at least September. Our budget is tied to the county general fund... while library operating costs went down during the quarantine, other departments were not able to generate revenue, so the budget overall has dropped. And since politicians view libraries as expendable, our budget (despite the shortfall not being at fault at all) will be among the first cut.
And this is just another reason to vote if you're of age. Vote for tax measures that create stable, dedicated funds for your libraries.
@Rez and @Kim: yes. Seeing the cascading fall of dominos over the past 30-40 years of education and library cuts is horrifying and so short-sighted.
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)
More...
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)
More...
From the reviews, it sounds like this would almost certainly be YA (with some warnings for homophobia etc.) The reviewer reactions are a mix, with some finding the writing not up to the ambition of the story, but that's generally true for any book - some folks won't like it. I'll be interested if you do pick it up. Feel free to add it to the group shelves unless you find a reason not to while reading.