June is Pride Month! In celebration of the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community, here are some books for teens featuring LGBTQ+ black characters. These books are available as ebooks from either Overdrive (Libby) or Hoopla. (If you need help getting started with ebooks, check out the tutorials available on this page or contact us with questions!) If you'd prefer print copies, you can also request curbside pickup for any titles currently available on the shelf at MHL.
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The weight of the stars (Available on Overdrive)
by Kayla Ancrum After a horrific accident brings loners Ryann and Alexandria together, Ryann learns that Alexandria's mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system. |
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The Black Flamingo (Available on Overdrive)
by Dean Atta A fierce coming-of-age novel about identity and the liberating power of drag follows the experiences of a mixed-race teen in London who struggles to connect with his heritage before coming out and establishing his place in Drag Society. |
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A phoenix first must burn : sixteen stories of black girl magic, resistance, and hope (Available on Hoopla)
by Patrice Caldwell Featuring contributions by best-selling and award-winning authors, an anthology of 16 science-fiction and fantasy stories explores the Black and gender nonconforming experience in worlds ranging from folktale environments to futuristic societies. |
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Felix ever after (Available on Overdrive)
by Kacen Callender Worrying that his combination of such marginalizing qualities as being black, queer and trans are too impossible to allow happiness, Felix turns vengeful in the face of transphobic hate messages before finding himself in a quasi-love triangle. |
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Hurricane child (Available on Hoopla)
by Kacen Callender Born on Water Island in the Virgin Islands during a hurricane, which is considered bad luck, twelve-year-old Caroline falls in love with another girl--and together they set out in a hurricane to find Caroline's missing mother. |
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Little & Lion (Available on Overdrive)
by Brandy Colbert Returning home to Los Angeles from boarding school, Suzette grapples with her bisexuality when she and her brother Lionel fall in love with the same girl. |
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I wish you all the best (Available on Hoopla)
by Mason Deaver After coming out as nonbinary, Ben must leave home and goes to live with their sister and her husband to finish the last year of high school. |
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Moonstruck. Vol 1, Magic to brew (Available on Hoopla)
by Grace Ellis In the town of Blitheton, where fantasy creatures and humans live side-by-side, Julie strives to be normal, but a disastrous first date ends with a horrible spell being cast on her friend Chet and the mythical pals team up to find the illicit magician responsible. |
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Pet (Available on Overdrive)
by Akwaeke Emezi In a near-future society that claims to have gotten rid of all monstrous people, a creature emerges from a painting seventeen-year-old Jam's mother created, a hunter from another world seeking a real-life monster. |
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Bingo love : Jackpot Edition (Available on Hoopla)
by Tee Franklin When Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray met at church bingo in 1963, it was love at first sight. Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both married young men and had families. Decades later, now in their mid-'60s, Hazel and Mari reunite again at a church bingo hall. Realizing their love for each other is still alive, what these grandmothers do next takes absolute strength and courage. This Jackpot Edition contains over SIXTY PAGES of bonus material. |
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We love you, Charlie Freeman (Available on Hoopla)
by Kaitlyn Greenidge When the Freeman family participates in a research study in which they live with Charlie, a chimpanzee orphan who can speak sign language, they feel isolated in an all-white community, and discover the truth about the research center's questionable studies. |
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Dread nation (Available on Hoopla)
by Justina Ireland Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg. In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. |
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You should see me in a crown (Available on Overdrive)
by Leah Johnson A black, underprivileged misfit from a wealthy, prom-obsessed midwestern community carefully plans to attend a prestigious medical college before the unexpected loss of her financial aid forces her to compete for her school’s prom-queen scholarship. |
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Let's talk about love (Available on Overdrive)
by Claire Kann After Alice's asexuality ended her last relationship, she has sworn off dating, until she becomes attracted to her new coworker and now Alice must decide if she's willing to risk their friendship for a love that may not be reciprocated or understood. |
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All out : The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages (Available on Hoopla)
by Saundra Mitchell An anthology of 17 historical and diverse short stories includes contributions by such leading LGBTQ authors as Alex Sanchez, Dahlia Adler and Kody Keplinger and includes such diverse tales as a retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" set in war-torn 1870s Mexico and a story of forbidden love in a 16th-century Spanish convent. 50,000 first printing. Simultaneous eBook. |
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A blade so black (Available on Overdrive)
by L. L. McKinney By day, Alice juggles a slipping GPA, a high-maintenance best friend, and an overprotective mom, but by night she heads to the dark realm known as Wonderland to battle monstrous creatures to save her mentor. |
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By any means necessary (Available on Overdrive)
by Candice Montgomery On the day Torrey officially becomes a college freshman, he gets a call that might force him to drop out before he's even made it through orientation: the bee farm his beloved uncle Miles left him after his tragic death is being foreclosed on. As the farm heads for auction, Torrey precariously balances choosing a major and texting Gabriel--the first boy he ever kissed--with the fight to stop his uncle's legacy from being demolished. But as notice letters pile up and lawyers appear at his dorm, dividing himself between family and future becomes impossible unless he sacrifices a part of himself. |
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The stars and the blackness between them (Available on Overdrive)
by Junauda Petrus Told in two voices, sixteen-year-old Audre and Mabel, both young women of color from different backgrounds, fall in love and figure out how to care for each other as one of them faces a fatal illness. |
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History is all you left me (Available on Overdrive)
by Adam Silvera Having lost his first boyfriend in a terrible accident, Griffin, a youth with OCD, forges a friendship with his lost love's ex-boyfriend, Jackson, who exhibits suspicious signs of guilt. |
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Odd one out (Available on Overdrive)
by Nic Stone High school juniors and best friends Courtney and Jupe, and new sophomore Rae, explore their sexuality and their budding attractions for one another. |
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How to be Remy Cameron (Available on Hoopla)
by Julian Winters Under pressure to write a flawless essay defining who he is and who he wants to be, Remy embarks on an emotional journey toward reconciling the outward persona everyone knows and the real Remy Cameron within. |