Young adult books with gay/lesbian characters?

[lisabees]

Looking for well-written, well-handled books with gay characters for a 13 year old girl who has never read such books.  Not looking for anything graphic.

 

 

[hornblower]

This book list might be helpful to you. Compiled by Vancouver library & used by BC teachers. https://bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/SocialJustice/Issues/LGBTQ/Resources/LGBTQTeenBooklist.pdf

[Mergath]

Malinda Lo's Adaptation has a bisexual protagonist, and I really enjoyed reading it. But you'd want to pre-read, because I can't remember if that one's graphic or not.

[lisabees]

Fabulous.  Thank you!  Off to check them out.

[Farrar]

Boy Meets Boy is my favorite. It's the bestest. :)

 

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a more recent one that's very sweet.

 

There's a lot out there now but I don't feel like I can make a list off the top of my head... the list Hornblower linked is good but the titles are mostly older (older in this genre being a decade old...). Let me see if I can find another good one...

[lisabees]

Thanks farrar.  I am fine with books that deal with the gay issue directly (especially the struggling with identity aspect) as well as books that just happen to have gay characters.

[hornblower]

Boy Meets Boy is my favorite. It's the bestest. :)

 

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a more recent one that's very sweet.

 

There's a lot out there now but I don't feel like I can make a list off the top of my head... the list Hornblower linked is good but the titles are mostly older (older in this genre being a decade old...). Let me see if I can find another good one...

 

yes, it's weird how old it is. I'm sure I've seen a much newer list floating around. I think there are several good compilations on GoodReads as well. 

[hornblower]

here's a listopia http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1653908-listopia-lists-for-ya-lgbt-categories

Edited August 5, 2016 by hornblower

[lisabees]

Thanks hornblower.  Her brother just took her to the library and she came back with some books from the young adult section.  Amazon reviews describe them as "vulgar", "highly sexual" etc.  Not what I want her reading yet!

[RootAnn]

Tamora Pierce writes YA books. One of her series, Circle of Magic (4 books), includes two women who share a house for orphan magicians. (For those of you who are familiar with this series, forgive me for my somewhat misleading simplifications.) Adult readers will almost always make the connection that they are partners. Most kids probably won't. However, if your kid likes them, the series continues with The Circle Opens (4 books). One of the four orphans realizes she is attracted to females at some point in the third series (only three books this time), Circle Reforged. So, lots of books before you get to the gay characters revealing themselves, but most of them are interesting reads. (The male orphan also takes steps to temporarily self-sterilize before having one night stands with various unnamed girls. No graphic descriptions, but it is mentioned a couple of times. I'm pretty sure that's in the 2nd or 3rd set of books. Just a heads up.)

[Farrar]

Oh, those are some good lists. I was poking around. Malinda Lo has a good queer girls in YA list:

http://www.malindalo.com/2016/06/favorite-young-adult-fiction-about-lesbian-bisexual-and-queer-girls/

 

I didn't find one good, comprehensive list that seemed perfect. Really, I'd start with Boy Meets Boy. David Levithan is classic. Any kid who enjoys contemporary YA will recognize all the romance tropes. But the whole narrative is just flipped around. It's a book that completely normalizes being gay and gay romance. There's nothing graphic in it at all. It's just a sweet love story.

 

For younger readers, the best LGBTQ themed book I've seen is Five, Six, Seven, Nate, though it is a bit awkward that it's a sequel and the first one has less of the LGBTQ themes. There's also George, about a transgender character. That one is very new.

[Tanaqui]

Thanks hornblower.  Her brother just took her to the library and she came back with some books from the young adult section.  Amazon reviews describe them as "vulgar", "highly sexual" etc.  Not what I want her reading yet!

 

Do they give details? Because in my experience, when it's gay or bi characters, suddenly an innocent kiss or a briefly-mentioned crush is vulgar and highly sexual, when the same thing would pass unnoticed if they were het.

 

Of course, this only applies to certain reviewers who have, ahem, an agenda.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Tanaqui

[Farrar]

Thanks hornblower.  Her brother just took her to the library and she came back with some books from the young adult section.  Amazon reviews describe them as "vulgar", "highly sexual" etc.  Not what I want her reading yet!

 

What did she come home with, if I can ask? I'd be careful about reviews when it comes to LGBT books. Some reviewers find the same content - when it's same sex - to suddenly be way more "sexual" than when it's boy-girl... Though, obviously some YA does have racy content.

[Farrar]

 

 

Do they give details? Because in my experience, when it's gay or bi characters, suddenly an innocent kiss or a briefly-mentioned crush is vulgar and highly sexual, when the same thing would pass unnoticed if they were het.

 

Of course, this only applies to certain reviewers who have, ahem, an agenda.

 

 

Heh. We simulposted the same thought.

[lisabees]

Good point.  

 

Here they are:

 

Anatomy of a Misfit

Exit Here

The Symptoms of my Insanity  (This one seems to only have straight characters?)

Your Know Me Well

The Difference Between You and Me

Edited August 5, 2016 by lisabees

[Farrar]

I haven't had a chance to read You Know Me Well yet but it's supposed to be good. I've never read anything by David Levithan (and he loves to collaborate with other writers) that wasn't great. And I've never read anything by him that was very graphic either. 

 

The Difference Between You and Me was okay. I don't remember it being graphic.

 

The others look meh and definitely less appropriate for a younger YA reader, but I haven't read them. I'd heard of Anatomy of a Misfit and thought it looked like another one of these stream of consciousness things that are hitting the YA shelves these days, most of which haven't been so good.

[Farrar]

Wait, I just realized I need to take back an earlier statement. Invisibly by David Levithan and Andrea Creamer was most definitely not "great." But as I love David Levithan so much, I'm blaming Andrea Creamer.

[lisabees]

Noted farrar!

 

How about this book?

 

Letters in the Attic  or this one...

 

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

[Stacia]

I read Will Grayson, Will Grayson back in 2010. I think it would fit; I don't remember it being explicit.

 

There was a YA non-fiction anthology I read in 2012: Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology

 

I wrote a review of the anthology on Goodreads:

Read this one in honor & celebration of Banned Books Week (which was celebrated in early October in the US). Celebrate your freedom to read!
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned

Overall, I think the topic is important & I enjoyed reading about the various contributors as much (or perhaps more than) the various writings/art that were included. Much of the writing is straightforward, raw, real -- about prejudice, love, hate, understanding, misunderstanding, uncertainty, & certainty... the road of life. A few pieces stood out above the others; much more was the style of what you would read in a high school or perhaps college-level literary magazines. I think the feelings & topics encompassed are the impact of this work (vs. the actual writing/art itself). As far as it having been a "banned" work -- really, it's not explicit. Yes, there is cursing, there is reference to queers (and many other terms, much of which is included in a glossary), to loving others. But, explicit? No. Filled with love, rage, anger, triumph, the good & bad? Yes.

Personally, I would love to hear a follow-up on the writers & artists in this book to see how life is going for each one of them a dozen years after the publication of this anthology.

 

Edited August 5, 2016 by Stacia

[lisabees]

I cannot thank you all enough!  I am looking at all of your suggestions.  

 

 

[Farrar]

Miseducation of Cameron Post wasn't graphic IIRC.

 

And agreed with the above that Will Grayson, Will Grayson wasn't graphic either. It's very angsty though. David Levithan writes good angst.

 

I mean, all this stuff being mentioned is *ya* for a reason. It has romance and teens who are either thinking about sexual activity or actually kissing, making out, etc. But it's all stuff I'd be okay with my kids reading at 13 for sure if they were interested.

[lisabees]

I am okay with my kids reading graphic stuff if interested and ready.  She doesn't necessarily want the sex stuff, but the "This is me.  I accept me.  I hope everyone else does." She is looking for a friend, a companion, a story she can relate to...

 

Maybe YA is not it.

[Stacia]

I am okay with my kids reading graphic stuff if interested and ready.  She doesn't necessarily want the sex stuff, but the "This is me.  I accept me.  I hope everyone else does." She is looking for a friend, a companion, a story she can relate to...

 

Maybe YA is not it.

 

In this case, I think she might really like the anthology I mentioned. It is exactly that -- teens who are going through the exact same feelings & experiences & expressing it through different writing forms, artwork, etc....

 

ETA: You can use the "look inside" feature on amazon to see some of it (mostly the editor's intro & why/how the book came to be; you can also see the table of contents which might give you an idea of topics/essays/art).

Edited August 5, 2016 by Stacia

[lisabees]

In this case, I think she might really like the anthology I mentioned. It is exactly that -- teens who are going through the exact same feelings & experiences & expressing it through different writing forms, artwork, etc....

 

You might be right.  The only book she has is Binge.  She liked that.  

 

Am I Blue? seems like a similar option.

[Stacia]

You might be right.  The only book she has is Binge.  She liked that.  

 

Am I Blue? seems like a similar option.

 

I don't know Binge.

 

Am I Blue? seems similar except that it looks like the entries are written by professional authors, whereas the anthology I mention is written by teens who are not professional writers -- like I mentioned, it's kind of similar to a literary magazine that you would find in high school.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Stacia

[KarenNC]

(This is Karen's husband, Erik - I've been reading a lot of LGBT YA lately because I'm writing one)

 

First, there's such a wide range of diversity in YA that you're almost guaranteed to find whatever you're looking for, if you have the right guide. In that vein, here are some guides... :)

 

http://www.gayya.org/ - This site is entirely focused on LGBT YA literature.

https://lgbtqreads.com/ - this site covers the full age spectrum, from picture books through middle grade and YA and "new adult" (college age, basically) books with LGBT characters or content. Middle grade definitely won't have more than kissing, if that.

http://www.diversityinya.com/ - what it sounds like - includes LGBT as well as other types of diversity (racial, gender, etc). Currently on hiatus as of December, but has a good archive.

http://www.yainterrobang.com/category/inclusivity/

 

Some personal favorites that I recall as having no-to-very-mild sexual content (but you may still want to pre-read)

 

Dating Sarah Cooper - Siera Maley - a little bit of on-page fooling around, IIRC, but IMO not overly graphic. Pre-read, maybe, but it's SUCH a cute and sweet and funny story. I'd definitely nominate this as a likely candidate for the "looking for a friend" book.

 

Empress of the World - Sara Ryan

 

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (has already been mentioned)

 

Ask the Passengers - A. S. King - I LOVE the repeated motif of the main character sending love to the passengers in the planes that fly overhead. Just girls kissing, as I recall.

 

Everything Leads To You - Nina LaCour - She might like this one in particular because the main character is already out and living her life, the story isn't about coming out or being gay per se, she's just a lesbian having a story happen to her.

 

Annie on My Mind - Nancy Garden - this is from the 80s and honestly kind of dated, but it's a piece of LGBT YA history. The fact that the characters have sex is discussed (briefly) in a gauzy, soft-focus sort of way, but there's no actual sex scenes.

Edited August 5, 2016 by KarenNC

[Jyhwkmama]

I read Annie on My Mind in a class in college. It is a good book.

[Crimson Wife]

Rick Riordan's "Heroes of Olympus" series (2nd Percy Jackson series) reveals that a major character is gay. Not sure if the 2nd series would make sense without starting from Book 1 of the 1st series. But the books would be a quick read for a 13 y.o. and entertaining.

[Farrar]

Oh, seconding Ask the Passengers.

 

I don't mean to say that YA isn't it... It's a topic that's most often explored through first romance though. And that means sexual behavior. But sexual behavior is often just kissing in these books we're mentioning. Or having a crush where you want to touch and kiss someone. 

 

I'll mention Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda again too because it was cute. I like the everyday kid stuff. Not too much angst. Like, I love Will Grayson, but it's so much about depression too.

 

[Farrar]

Oh, and I've read Am I Blue?, which was mentioned. Super dated feeling now, I'm sure.

[Wishes]

Jacqueline Woodson is an amazing lesbian author who has written several books featuring lesbian characters.

 

The Notebooks of Melanin Sun - A teenage boy learns that his mother is a lesbian. It chronicles his journey of understanding.

The House You Pass on the Way - Staggerlee is a teenage girl coming to the realization that she may be a lesbian. She bonds with her cousin about this.

The Dear One – Several women including a loving lesbian couple help take care of a pregnant 15 year old.

The Letter Q: Queer Writer's Letters to Their Younger Selves - she's a contributor in this one

 

I like Jacqueline Woodson for several reasons. One, she is a fabulous writer. Her characters are very real and their "voice" is always unique. She also believes in writing books that have silver lining in them, even though in many cases the topics she writes about (death, child abuse) are difficult. There's always something dependably hopeful at the end.

 

It's nice to see more books about the LGBTQ experience that doesn't just focus on coming out. 

 

Edited August 5, 2016 by Wishes

[lisabees]

Wow.  You all are amazing!  Wishes, I agree about books that don't just focus on coming out.  Thanks for the list.

 

DD likes Percy Jackson, Crimson Wife, so that sounds perfect!

 

Erik, thank you for your post!  Best wishes on your book!  Off to check out your links.

 

Seriously, I cannot thank you all enough.  I am not sure how to help her navigate through all of this.  Lit seems to be a perfect way.  Other than one discussion with me, she is having trouble talking with me about it.  Hmmm..maybe I can read the books too?  We can share that way.

[RootAnn]

Rick Riordan's "Heroes of Olympus" series (2nd Percy Jackson series) reveals that a major character is gay. Not sure if the 2nd series would make sense without starting from Book 1 of the 1st series. But the books would be a quick read for a 13 y.o. and entertaining.

 

DD found that the character referred to here is very sad/conflicted and clearly going through tough times (not all related to being gay). He is her favorite Riordan character, but he is not a happy literary figure. Just a heads-up.