A mix of new and popular titles that amplify young LGBTQ+ voices and experiences.
In this booklist:
Middle Grade Titles
Nico, the son of Hades, and his boyfriend Will, the son of Apollo, travel to Tartarus, the deepest, darkest part of the Underworld as they attempt to rescue an old friend.
A week-long amusement park road trip becomes a true roller coaster of emotion when Dalia realizes she has more-than-friend feelings for her new bestie.
A coming-of-age story about transgender tween Obie, who didn't think being himself would cause such a splash. Obie is ready to prove he can be one of the fastest boys in the water-to his coach, his critics, and his biggest competition: himself.
In the summer of 1987 in Venice, California, ten-year-old Bug and her new friend Frankie learn important lessons about life, family, being your true self, and how to navigate in a world that is not always just or fair.
Thirteen-year-old nonbinary tiger spirit Sebin must decide where their loyalties lie when their traitorous uncle hijacks the battle cruiser that happens to be Sebin's first assignment in the Cadet Program.
The first LGBTQA+ anthology for middle-graders featuring stories for every letter of the acronym, including realistic, fantasy, and sci-fi stories.
After Brian and his brother are placed in foster care, Brian starts having panic attacks. Ezra wants to help, but he worries if he's too nice to Brian, his friends will realize that he has a crush on him. But when Brian and his brother run away, Ezra has no choice but to take the leap and reach out. Both boys have to decide if they're willing to risk sharing parts of themselves they'd rather hide. Told in a dual point-of-view and a moving story, this is about finding your community and learning to trust your heart.
After the death of his best friend and the only other trans boy at school, Noah starts writing letters expressing his feelings to the humanoid creature Mothman and risks everything when he treks into the woods to prove Mothman's existence.
While twelve-year-old Andi has suffered from anxiety attacks ever since her mother died ten months ago, Zora starting hurting herself whenever she feels out of control; they are both at Camp Harmony, an elite summer music camp, trying to deal with their problems and also the stress of competition--but as the summer passes they find themselves increasingly drawn to each other, and maybe not just as friends.
Trapped in a rigid hierarchy where girls learn magic and boys train as knights, twelve-year-old nonbinary Callie, who dreams of becoming a knight, and their new friends find themselves embedded in an ancient war, but in order to defeat the threats outside the kingdom they must first defeat the bigotry within.
Middle Grade Graphic Novels
Damian is the new kid at school, and he has a foolproof plan to avoid the bullying that's plagued him his whole childhood: He's going to stop talking. Starting on the first day of seventh grade, he won't utter a word. If he keeps his mouth shut, the bullies will have nothing to tease him about, right?
Shy thirteen-year-old Lilla discovers a book of magic that reveals she is a witch, but also draws the attention of an ancient evil hidden in the woods.
Twelve-year-old goblin and witch-in-training Beetle enlists her former best friend, Kat Hollowbones, to help stop Kat's sorceress aunt from demolishing the mall where Beetle's friend Blob Ghost is trapped.
After a terrible political coup usurps their noble house, Hawke and Grayson flee to stay alive and assume new identities, Hanna and Grayce. Desperation and chance lead them to the Communion of Blue, an order of magical women who spin the threads of reality to their will.
In this modern retelling, Anne is fostered into the West Philly home of siblings Marilla and Matthew, and while she initially has a hard time at school, she ends up joining the robotics team and competes for a spot in an elite STEM program.
From indie-pop twin-sister duo Tegan and Sara comes a contemporary middle grade graphic novel that explores growing up, coming out, and finding yourself through music and sisterhood.
The first in a new graphic novel series, this is a coming-of-age story about the transformative power of friendship and an immortal demon with the power to take over the world. It's going to be up to Val, Lanie, and their small group of friends to return things to normal--if "normal" is even something they want to return to.
YA Titles
High school seniors Aristotle and Dante find ways to spend time together despite being at different schools, having to keep their love secret, and nightly news of gay men dying from AIDS.
Seventeen-year-old Aziza El-Amin, the only hedgewitch in Blackthorn, Massachusetts, teams up with a cursed boy looking for answers and a young necromancer in order to eradicate a new threat in the woods and take back her hometown.
Shireen Malik is still reeling from the breakup with her ex-girlfriend, Chris, when she receives news that she's been accepted as a contestant on a new televised baking competition show. This is Shireen's dream come true! Things get complicated because Chris is also a contestant on the show. Then there's the very outgoing Niamh, a fellow contestant who is becoming fast friends with Shireen. Things are heating up between them, and not just in the kitchen.
When sixteen-year-old Sadie, a Black bisexual recluse, develops agoraphobia the summer before her junior year, she relies on her best friend, family, and therapist to overcome her fears.
Stevie and Nora had a love. A secret, epic, once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. But then Stevie has a terrible fall. And when she comes to, she can remember nothing of the last two years--not California, not coming to terms with her sexuality, not even Nora. Can the two beat the odds a second time and find their way back together when "together" itself is just a lost memory?
Clark is stuck in a time loop that is endlessly monotonous until he meets Beau, the boy of his dreams. When shy, reserved Clark decides to throw caution to the wind and join effusive and effervescent Beau on a series of "errands" across the Windy City, he never imagines that anything will really change, because nothing has in such a long time. He definitely doesn't expect to fall this hard or this fast for someone in just one day.
Sy, a seventeen-year-old gay Muslim boy, travels the world for a second chance at love after a possibly magical heiress grants him three wishes.
Pedro and Daniel are Mexican-American brothers growing up in 1970s Ohio. Their mom doesn't like that Pedro is a spitting image of their darker-skinned father, that Daniel plays with dolls, that neither of the boys love sports like the other kids in their neighborhood. Life at home can be rough-but the boys have an unshakable bond that will last their entire lives,
When seventeen-year-old Avery moves to rural Georgia to live with her ailing grandmother, she encounters decades-old family secrets and a mystery surrounding the town's racist past.
Seventeen-year-old Valentina jeopardizes her future when she gets into an altercation with her rival, Leticia, during a soccer game, so the two girls must co-captain a soccer team to redeem themselves and what starts as a shaky alliance of necessity blossoms into something more.
YA Graphic Novels
It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes--but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
What does someone do when they're born as one gender, but feel themselves to be another? With this graphic novel, Maison boldly shares her story of transitioning, so that other kids with gender dysphoria and related conditions will no longer feel so isolated, hopeless, or lost.
With nowhere else to go, Dez is living in a group home. On top of everything else, Dez is navigating her identity as a Two-Spirit person alongside a new relationship. Unfortunately, Miikwan doesn't really understand what her best friend is going through. Will Dez be comfortable expressing her full identity? And will her community be able to celebrate her for who she is?
Five best friends spending the summer at Lumberjane scout camp defeating yetis, three-eyed wolves, and giant falcons: what's not to love? There are additional volumes plus bonus editions.
Tié̂n still enjoys reading his favorite stories with his parents from the books he borrows from the local library. It's hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tié̂n, he doesn't even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he's going through? Is there a way to tell them he's gay?
Morgan's biggest secret is that she has a lot of secrets, including the one about wanting to kiss another girl.Then one night, Morgan is saved from drowning by a mysterious girl named Keltie. The two become friends and suddenly life on the island doesn't seem so stifling anymore. But Keltie has some secrets of her own. As the girls start to fall in love, everything they're each trying to hide will find its way to the surface.
Author-illustrator Lewis Hancox takes readers on the hilarious, heartbreaking, and healing path he took to make it past trauma, confusion, hurt, and dubious fashion choices in order to become the man he was meant to be.
In this bilingual, inventive, and heartfelt debut, graphic novel talent Christine Suggs explores a trip they took to Mexico to visit family, embracing and rebelling against their heritage and finding a sense of belonging.
Tony Price is a popular high school track star and occasional delinquent aching for his dad's attention and approval. Eli Hirsch is a quiet boy with a chronic autoimmune disorder that has ravaged his health and social life. What happens when these two become unlikely friends (and a whole lot more) in the spooky town of Blackwater, Maine?
High-school senior and notorious wallflower Belle Hawkins finally works up the courage to remove her mascot mask and ask out her longtime crush, Regina Moreno. There's only one teensy little problem: Regina is already dating Chloe Kitagawa, athletic all-star...and middling English student. Regina sees a perfectly self-serving opportunity here, and asks the smitten Hawkins to tutor Chloe free of charge, knowing Hawkins will do anything to get closer to her.