June is Pride Month! What better way to celebrate than with books? These are some great YA books from this year that all feature LGBTQ+ characters. If you're looking for more to read, check out this list of 2021 LGBTQ+ Fiction for Adults as well as 2021 Notable LGBTQ+ Nonfiction.
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Ace of spades
by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé A contemporary thriller by a debut author follows two Niveus Private Academy students who, selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, are pitted against an anonymous bully who reveals all of their secrets. |
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Cool for the summer
by Dahlia Adler Anticipating a romantic summer with her football star crush, Lara struggles with confusing memories about her feelings for a girl who unexpectedly transfers to her school. By the author of Just Visiting. |
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Kate in waiting
by Becky Albertalli Best friends Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker share a love of theater and crushes on the same guys, but when one of their long-distance crushes shows up at their school, real feelings might end their friendship. |
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Indivisible
by Daniel Aleman An American-born teen and his younger sister scramble to keep their family together when they return home from school one day to find that their undocumented parents have been arrested by ICE and are facing possible deportation. A first novel. |
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The key to you and me
by Jaye Robin Brown Piper Kitts is spending the summer living with her grandmother, training at the barn of a former Olympic horseback rider, and trying to get over her ex-girlfriend. Her grandmother is making her face her fear of driving head-on by taking lessons from a girl in town. Kat Pearson has always suspected that she likes girls but fears her North Carolina town is too small to color outside the lines. Piper is not sure if she's ready to let go of her ex; Kat is navigating uncharted territory with her new crush. Will they be able to unlock a future together? |
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The Sky blues
by Robbie Couch Organizing an over-the-top invitation to ask his crush to the prom, an openly gay high school senior is targeted by an anonymous homophobic viral e-blast, before friends encourage him to fight back by exposing his attacker. A first novel. |
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The ghosts we keep
by Mason Deaver Everything happens for a reason. At least that's what everyone keeps telling Liam Cooper after his older brother Ethan is killed suddenly in a hit-and-run. Feeling more alone and isolated than ever, Liam has to not only learn to face the world without one of the people he loved the most, but also face the fading relationships of his two best friends in the process. Soon, Liam finds themself spending time with Ethan's best friend, Marcus, who might just be the only person that seems to know exactly what they're going through. |
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May the best man win
by ZR Ellor Jeremy Harkiss, cheer captain and student body president, won't let coming out as a transgender boy ruin his senior year. Instead of bowing to the bigots and outdate school administration, Jeremy decides to make some noise--and how better than by challenging his all-star ex-boyfriend, Lukas for the title of Homecoming King? Lukas Rivers, football star and head of the Homecoming Committee, is just trying to find order in his life after his older brother's funeral and the loss of his long-term girlfriend--who turned out to be a boy. But when Jeremy threatens to break his heart and steal his crown, Lukas kickstarts a plot to sabotage Jeremy's campaign. When both boys take their rivalry too far, the dance is on the verge of being canceled. To save Homecoming, they'll have to face the hurt they're both hiding--and the lingering butterflies they can't deny. |
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The passing playbook
by Isaac Fitzsimons Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother, and a David Beckham in training. He's also transgender. After transitioning at his old school leads to a year of isolation and bullying, Spencer gets a fresh start at Oakley, the most liberal private school in Ohio. At Oakley, Spencer seems to have it all: more accepting classmates, a decent shot at a starting position on the boy's soccer team, great new friends, and maybe even something more than friendship with one of his teammates. The problem is, no one at Oakley knows Spencer is trans--he's passing. So when a discriminatory law forces Spencer's coach to bench him after he discovers the "F" on Spencer's birth certificate, Spencer has to make a choice: cheer his team on from thesidelines or publicly fight for his right to play, even though it would mean coming out to everyone-- including the guy he's falling for. |
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Off the record
by Camryn Garrett Winning a contest to write a celebrity profile for a professional magazine, 17-year-old Josie enters a rising star’s world of tours, production stress and eccentric stylists before a young actress’s terrible secret leads to a difficult choice. |
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Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun
by Jonny Garza Villa With the one person who understands him fifteen hundred miles away, Jules must face his fears about coming out alone, which accidentally propels him into the life he’s always dreamed of. |
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Perfect on paper
by S. Gonzales Navigating a complicated love life in spite of the spot-on advice she gives her classmates, a bisexual anonymous relationship columnist is blackmailed by an attractive and popular classmate to help the latter win back his ex. |
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A complicated love story set in space
by Shaun David Hutchinson Sixteen-year-olds Noa, DJ, and Jenny awake on a spaceship, unaware of how they got there or what is coming, but soon Noa and DJ are falling in love. |
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The Marvelous
by Claire Kann Chosen to compete in a mystery treasure hunt at the private estate of the creator of a massively popular video-sharing app, three girls soon realize that they are playing for more than just money—they are playing for their lives. |
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Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating
by Adiba Jaigirdar Everyone likes Humaira 'Hani' Khan--she's easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can't be bi if she's only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she's in a relationship...with a girl her friends absolutely hate--Ishita 'Ishu' Dey. Ishu is the complete opposite of Hani. She's an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. But Ishita agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become more popular so that she stands a chance of being elected head girl. Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But relationships are complicated, and some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after. |
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Aetherbound
by E. K. Johnston Rejected by her family for an undesirable mutation in her genes, a girl growing up on an interstellar freighter escapes during a space-station layover and forms a lucky bond with the station’s teen heirs. By the best-selling author of Star Wars: Ahsoka. |
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Jay's gay agenda
by Jason June Moving to Seattle with his family, Jay Collier starts his senior year at a high school with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community and finally has a chance to cross items off of his Gay Agenda—a romance to-do list. |
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Zara Hossain is here
by Sabina Khan Enduring racism when her Pakistani family moves to Texas, 17-year-old Zara resolves to keep her head low while her family awaits green-card approval, before a bullying classmate vandalizes her home, leading to a crime that puts Zara’s entire future at risk. |
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Meet cute diary
by Emery Lee Noah Ramirez thinks he's an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There's just one problem; all the stories are fake...When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah's world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn't have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah's life, and the pieces fall into place. |
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The mirror season
by Anna-Marie McLemore After Ciela and Lock are sexually assaulted at the same party, they develop a cautious friendship through her family's possibly-magical pastelería and his secret forest of otherworldly trees. |
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It goes like this
by Miel Moreland Eva, Celeste, Gina, and Steph used to think their friendship was unbreakable. After all, they've been though a lot together, including the astronomical rise of Moonlight Overthrow, the world-famous queer pop band they formed in middle school. But after a sudden falling out leads to the dissolution of the teens' band, their friendship, and Eva and Celeste's starry-eyed romance, nothing is the same. |
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Pumpkin
by Julie Murphy Creating a drag-show audition tape that culminates in an unkind nomination for prom queen, an openly gay teen of size partners with a girl who has been nominated for prom king to embrace their true selves. By the best-selling author of Dumplin’. |
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The girl from the sea
by Molly Ostertag Fifteen-year-old Morgan has a secret: She can't wait to escape the perfect little island where she lives. Because really, 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. |
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Any way the wind blows
by Rainbow Rowell This finale of the highly popular Simon Snow trilogy follows Simon and his friends as they are taken back to England where they are forced to make difficult decisions about how to move forward. |
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When You Get the Chance
by Tom Ryan Growing up on opposite ends of the country in the aftermath of a family estrangement, queer cousins Mark and Talia embark on a road trip to Toronto to find themselves and participate in the city’s Pride events. |
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Can't take that away
by Steven Salvatore When Carey Parker, a genderqueer teen who dreams of being a diva like their hero Mariah Carey, is cast as the female lead in the school musical, they must fight against discrimination and injustice from their closed-minded school administration. |
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All kinds of other
by James Sie Two boys are starting over at a new high school. Jules is still figuring out what it means to be gay and just how out he wants to be. Jack is reeling from a fall-out with his best friend and isn't ready to let anyone else in just yet. When Jules and Jack meet, the sparks are undeniable. But when a video linking Jack to a pair of popular trans vloggers is leaked to the school, the revelations thrust both boys into the spotlight they'd tried to avoid. |
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Fire with fire
by Destiny Soria Raised to kill dragons along with her sister, Dani Rivera unexpectedly forges a rare and magical bond with one who makes her question everything she thought she knew about dragons, which pits her against her sister. |
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Between perfect and real
by Ray Stoeve After being cast as Romeo in the school play, Dean realizes he wants everyone to see him as he really is, a man, and not just play one on the stage, despite the risk of losing everything. |
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Love & Other Natural Disasters
by Misa Sugiura When the gorgeous and glamorous Willow enlists her to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi Nagai plans to show Willow that she’s better than a stand-in and turn their fauxmance into something real. |
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Follow your arrow
by Jessica Verdi For the last several years teenager CeCe Ross has been in a serious relationship with her girlfriend Silvie, enjoying their career as social media influencers with thousands of fans, posting about fashion and relationship goals, and totally abandoning the liberal politics that were the subjects of her original social media profile; than suddenly in their senior year Silvie breaks up with her, and CeCe meets Josh, a new boy who is not interested in online profiles but is interested in her--and while CeCe has always known she is bisexual, she is not prepared to find herself in the middle of an online storm where her public and private lives collide. |