LGBTQ: Teen Fiction

From a wheelchair user racing to save her kidnapped girlfriend and a little mermaid who loves her sisters more than suitors, to a slayer whose virgin blood keeps attracting monsters, the stories of this anthology are anything but conventional. Whether adventuring through space, outsmarting a vengeful water spirit, or surviving haunted cemeteries, no two aces are the same in these 14 unique works that highlight asexual romance, aromantic love, and identities across the asexual spectrum.

Oliver Bennet, trapped by societal expectations to live as female, discovers the possibility of love and freedom when he forms a connection with Darcy, but is faced with the choice of living a secure but inauthentic life or risking everything for true self-expression and love.

"Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him-the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world's population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can't get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with. But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC's leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji's darkest secret: the cult's bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all. Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick's terms...until he discovers the ALC's mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own."

"Moulin Rouge meets Holly Black in a thrilling sapphic friends-to-lovers romantasy! This lavish and decedent LGBTQ+ fantasy romance will leave fans of Divine Rivals and Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries utterly enchanted!"

" Teenage baker Syd sends ripples of heartbreak through Austin's queer community when a batch of post-being-dumped brownies turns out to be magical--and makes everyone who eats them break up. Syd (no pronouns, please) has always dealt with big, hard-to-talk-about things by baking. Being dumped is no different, except now Syd is baking at the Proud Muffin, a queer bakery and community space in Austin. And everyone who eats Syd's breakup brownies...breaks up. Even Vin and Alec, who own the Proud Muffin. And their breakup might take the bakery down with it. Being dumped is one thing; causing ripples of queer heartbreak through the community is another. But the cute bike delivery person, Harley (he or they, check the pronoun pin, it's probably on the messenger bag), believes Syd about the magic baking. And Harley believes Syd's magical baking can fix things, too--one recipe at a time."

"Everyone else in Rose Atkinson's family is Atypical, which means they manifested an ability that defies the limits of the human experience. Well past the average age of manifestation, she is working in the kitchen of a local restaurant, hoping to gain the experience she needs to become a chef. When an accident sends her to the hospital, she meets a girl she can't forget and she starts to feel like maybe her life isn't quite so small. Then she starts falling asleep mid-conversation-- diving into dreams makes her a part of her family in the way she always wanted. But the more time she spends in the dreamworld, the more complicated her ability becomes. And even her carefully constructed dreamworld isn't safe"

"Transgender teen and aspiring actor August lands a spot at a prestigious performing arts high school in New York City, but he struggles to move past the life he left behind, with conservative parents who wanted to send him to conversion therapy.Aspiring actor August Greene just landed a coveted spot at the prestigious School of Performing Arts in New York. There is only one problem: His conservative parents won't accept that he is transgender. And to stay with his aunt in the city, August must promise them he won't transition. Convinced he can play the part his parents want while acting cool and confident in the company of his talented new friends, August finds that the roles he is playing are hitting a little too close to home. Can he follow his dreams, and stay true to himself?"

"A coming-of-age story about transgender tween Obie, who didn't think being himself would cause such a splash"

"Sixteen stories celebrating fat teens with bodies of many shapes and from many communities, cultures, races, genders, and orientations in contemporary settings as well as fictional worlds"

""What if I played football?" I ask. As soon as it's out of my mouth, I feel stupid. Even suggesting it feels like I've overstepped some kind of invisible line we've all agreed not to discuss. We don't talk about how Mara is different from other girls. We don't talk about how Mara is gay but no one says so. But when I do stuff like this, I worry it gets harder for us all to ignore what's right in front of us. I direct my gaze to Quinn. "What do you think?" "I think it's frickin' genius," he says. After getting kicked off the basketball team for a fight that was absolutely totally not her fault (okay maybe a little her fault), Mara is dying to find a new sport to play to prove to her coach that she can be a team player. A lifelong football fan, Mara decides to hit the gridiron with her brother, Noah, and best friend, Quinn-and she turns out to be a natural. But joining the team sets off a chain of events in her small Oregon town-and within her family-that she never could have predicted."

"When Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn't what she had in mind. That was before she met the perfect girl. Willow is gorgeous, glamorous, and...heartbroken? And when she enlists Nozomi to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi is a willing volunteer. Because Nozomi has a master plan of her own: one to show Willow she's better than a stand-in, and turn their fauxmance into something real. But as the lies pile up, it's not long before Nozomi's schemes take a turn toward disaster...and maybe a chance at love she didn't plan for"

"Branded by a middle school humiliation, fourteen-year-old Wilbur needs help from friends Alex, Fabrizio, and elderly neighbor Sal to impress Charlie, a French girl whose school band is doing an exchange with his.'

"At the end of her first semester of junior year June is expelled for drinking at a school dance. Her parents send her to Virginia to attend the all-girls boarding school where her grandmother teaches. Miles away from home, her life, and most importantly her best friend, Jess, June counts down the days until she can come back home for the summer. When she meets Sam, a boy she is drawn to, life in Virginia starts to feel more real. Her relationships with her friends, grandmother, and Sam get stronger as she learns more about them and herself through her photography assignments. As Jess pulls away, June begins to question her relationships"

"Graciela's whole world changes after she and a boy she barely knows are assaulted at the same party. She loses her gift for making enchanted pan dulce. Neighborhood trees vanish overnight, while mirrored glass appears, bringing reckless magic with it. Ciela is haunted by what happened to her, but when the boy, Lock, shows up at Ciela's school, he has no memory of that night, and no clue that a single piece of mirrored glass is taking his life apart. Ciela knows who assaulted her-- and him. And she knows that their survival depends on no one finding out what really happened"

"Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, either in her hometown or on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of college, but when her family is struck by tragedy she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, a new recruit on her brother Levi's hockey team. When Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, she reluctantly agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source of a new drug. How far will she go to protect her community, if it threatens to tear apart the only world she's ever known?"

"For centuries, the Eight Courts of Folk have lived among us, concealed by magic and bound by law to do no harm to humans. This arrangement has long kept peace in the Courts-- until a series of gruesome and ritualistic murders rocks the city of Toronto and threatens to expose faeries to the human world. Four queer teens, each who hold a key piece of the truth behind these murders, must form a tenuous alliance in their effort to track down the mysterious killer behind these crimes. If they fail, they risk the destruction of the faerie and human worlds alike. But there's a war brewing between the Mortal and Immortal Realms, and one of these teens is destined to tip the scales. The question is: which way?"

"Reeling from her father's coma and kissing a female teacher, seventeen-year-old Corazon suddenly finds herself in the Philippines with a half-brother she had never met.Corazon Tagubio is an outcast at her Catholic school. She's attending on scholarship, she keeps to herself, and her crush on her teacher Ms. Holden doesn't help anything. Cory's less-than-perfect grades disappoint her mom and dad, who are already working overtime to support her distant half brother in the Philippines. When an accident leaves her dad comatose, Cory feels like Ms. Holden is the only person who really sees her. After Cory's mother catches them kissing, she is sent to live with her half brother. Once there Cory begins to discover how the country that shaped her past might also change her future."

"When Victor finds himself getting tested for HIV for the first time, he can't help but question his entire relationship with Henrique, the guy he has-had-been dating."

"Four LGBTQ young adult romances, exploring friendship, family, and courage."

"Hazel knows a lot about the world. That's because when she's not hanging with her best friend, taking care of her dog, or helping care for the goats on her family's farm, she loves reading through dusty encyclopedias. But even Hazel doesn't have answers for the questions awaiting her as she enters eighth grade. What if no one at her new school gets her, and she doesn't make any friends? What's going to happen to one of her moms, who's pregnant again after having two miscarriages? Why does everything have to change when life was already perfectly fine? As Hazel struggles to cope, she'll come to realize that sometimes you have to look within yourself-- instead of the pages of a book-- to find the answer to life's most important questions."

Brimming with sarcasm, fifteen-year-old Jeff describes his stay in a psychiatric ward after attempting to commit suicide.

"The critically acclaimed author of Felix Yz crafts a bold, heartfelt story about a trans girl solving a cyber mystery and coming into her own. Zenobia July is starting a new life. She used to live in Arizona with her father; now she's in Maine with her aunts. She used to spend most of her time behind a computer screen, improving her impressive coding and hacking skills; now she's coming out of her shell and discovering a community of friends at Monarch Middle School. People used to tell her she was a boy; now she's able to live openly as the girl she always knew she was. When someone anonymously posts hateful memes on her school's website, Zenobia knows she's the one with the abilities to solve the mystery, all while wrestling with the challenges of a new school, a new family, and coming to grips with presenting her true gender for the first time. Timely and touching, Zenobia July is, at its heart, a story about finding home."

"In 1719, seventeen-year-old Mary Reade, who has spent most of her life disguised as a boy, decides to sail with the infamous pirates Anne Bonny and Calico Jack.There’s no place for a girl in Mary's world; and now as a sailor aboard a Caribbean merchant ship, Mary's livelihood-- and her safety-- depends on her ability to disguise her gender. Then pirates attack the ship, and in the midst of the gang of cutthroats Mary spots something she never could have imagined: a girl pirate, gun and sword in hand. In a split-second decision, Mary earns herself the chance to become a pirate alongside Calico Jack and Anne Bonny. When Mary finds herself falling for the captain's mistress, she risks everything-- her childhood love, her place among the crew, and even her life."

"Bloomington High School Lions' star goalie Sebastian Hughes should be excited about his senior year: His teammates are amazing, and he's got a coach who doesn't ask anyone to hide their sexuality. But when his estranged childhood-best-friend Emir Shah shows up at summer training camp, Sebastian realizes the team's success may end up in the hands of the one guy who hates him. Determined to reconnect with Emir for the sake of the Lions, he sets out to regain Emir's trust. But to Sebastian's surprise, sweaty days on the pitch, wandering the town's streets, and bonding on the weekends spark more than just friendship between them"

In 1955, eighteen-year-old Janet Jones keeps the love she shares with her best friend Marie a secret. It’s not easy being gay in Washington, DC, in the age of McCarthyism, but when she discovers a series of books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in Janet. As she juggles a romance she must keep hidden and a newfound ambition to write and publish her own story, she risks exposing herself--and Marie--to a danger all too real. Sixty-two years later, Abby Zimet can’t stop thinking about her senior project and its subject: classic 1950s lesbian pulp fiction. Between the pages of her favorite book, the stresses of Abby’s own life are lost to the fictional hopes, desires and tragedies of the characters she’s reading about. She feels especially connected to one author, a woman who wrote under the pseudonym "Marian Love," and becomes determined to track her down and discover her true identity. The story of two young women connected across generations through the power of words.

" In this young adult novel, Alice, afraid of explaining her asexuality, has given up on finding love until love finds her.Alice's last girlfriend, Margo, ended things when Alice confessed she's asexual. Now Alice is sure she's done with dating... and then she meets Takumi. She can't stop thinking about him or the rom-com-grade romance feelings she did not ask for. When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge, Alice has to decide if she's willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated-- or understood."

"Moving to a new city and joining an evangelical church despite his own reluctance, artistic Mike is bullied by a father who wants him to play sports and toughen up, a situation that is complicated by Mike's growing feelings for another newcomer."

"We Got the Beat is the perfect queer friends-to-enemies-to-lovers tale. With romance, fat representation, and a meaningful exploration on how past hurts can affect our future, Jenna Miller's novel is sure to deliver all the feels."

Dash & Lily meets Ferris Bueller's Day Off in Edward Underhill's new whirlwind rom-com about two queer teens who spend one life-changing day together in New York City.

"On a field trip to SeaPlanet, seventeen-year-old Arab-American high school swimmer River McIntyre has a chance encounter with Indy, a happy, healthy queer person, which sets off a wrenching journey of self-discovery, from internalized homophobia and gender dysphoria, through layers of coming out, affirmation surgery, and true love."

"Aristotle and Dante continue their journey to manhood in this achingly romantic, tender tale set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic in 1980s America. In Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, two boys fell in love. Now they must learn what it means to stay in love-and to build their relationship in a world that doesn't seem to want them to exist. In their senior year at two different schools, the boys find ways to spend time together, like a camping road trip they take in the desert. Ari is haunted by his incarcerated older brother and by the images he sees on the nightly news of gay men dying from AIDS. Tragedy feels like his destiny, but can he forge his own path and create a life where he can not only survive, but thrive?"--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."

"There's always been a hole in Gio's life. Not because he's into both guys and girls. Not because his father has some drinking issues. Not because his friends are always bringing him their drama. No, the hole in Gio's life takes the shape of his birth mom, who left Gio, his brother, and his father when Gio was nine years old. For eight years, he never heard a word from her . . . and now, just as he's started to get his life together, she's back"

Dani's best friend, Sarah, is a ghost. Maybe that's normal when you've spent your childhood running from an abusive parent. Dani is afraid that if he tells Sarah he's trans, she won't bother haunting him anymore. Sarah's got good reason to distrust boys, having been strangled by one. When they come across another ghost haunted by her own brutal murder, they set out to bring peace and safety to spirits like her. As Dani starts to find his place in the living world, he'll need to let go of his ghosts"

Ivy K. Harlowe is a lot of things. She's my best friend. She's the center of attention. She is, without fail, the hottest girl in the room. Anytime. Anyplace. She has freckles and dimples and bright green eyes, and with someone else's energy she'd be adorable. But there is nothing cute about Ivy. She is ice and hot metal and electricity. She is the girl who every lesbian wants, but she has never been with the same person twice. She's one-of-a-kind but also predictable, so I will always be Andie, her best friend, never Andie, her girlfriend. Then she meets Dot, and Ivy does something even I would have never guessed--she sees Dot another day. And another. And another. Now my world is slowly going up in smoke, and no matter what I do, the flames grow higher. She lit that match without knowing who or what it would burn. Ivy K. Harlowe is a lot of things. But falling in love wasn't supposed to be one of them...unless it was with me."

" 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. Shita '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."

"War and oppression are everyday constants for the people of the Badlands, who live under the thumb of their cruel Godolia overlords. Their rule is aided by giant mechanized weapons known as Windups. Eris Shindanai is a Gearbreaker, a rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside. When Eris finds herself in a Godolia prison she meets Sona Steelcrest, a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. Sona has a secret: She has intentionally infiltrated the Windup program to destroy Godolia from within. Facing a direct attack to end Godolia's reign once and for all, Eris and Sona grow closer as comrades, friends, and perhaps something more"

"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"

"For the last several years CeCe Ross has been in a serious relationship with her girlfriend Silvie. They enjoy 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. During their senior year Silvie breaks up with her, and CeCe meets Josh. He is not interested in online profiles but is interested in her. 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"

""Bobby, who is bullied by the kids at school for living in a home with a front yard that is filled with garbage, meets a young artist who teaches him to see himself as more than "Junk Boy.""--Junk. That’s what the kids at school call Bobby Lang. Trying desperately to live under the radar at school-- and at the home he shares with his angry, neglectful father-- Bobby develops a sort of proud loneliness. The only buffer between him and the uncaring world is his love of the long, wooded trail between school and home. Then he meets Rachel. She is an artist who sees him in a way no one ever has. Maybe it's because she has her own kind of junk, and a parent who hates what Rachel is: gay. Together the two embark on journeys to clean up the messes that fill their lives, searching against all odds for hope and redemption."

"When she's not hanging out with her two best friends, Matt and Ches, Faith Herbert is volunteering at the local animal shelter or obsessing over the long-running teen drama The Grove. So far, her senior year has been spent trying to sort out her feelings for her maybe-crush Johnny and making plans to stay close to Grandma Lou after graduation. And there's the small matter of recently discovering she can fly. Then the fictional world of The Grove relocates to her town, and TV heroine Dakota Ash takes a romantic interest in Faith. But when animals, then people, begin to vanish, only Faith seems able to connect the dots to a new designer drug infiltrating her high school."

"It's summer 1977 and closeted lesbian Tammy Larson can't be herself anywhere. Not at her strict Christian high school, not at her conservative Orange County church and certainly not at home, where her ultrareligious aunt relentlessly organizes antigay political campaigns. Tammy's only outlet is writing secret letters in her diary to gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk--until she's matched with a real-life pen pal who changes everything."

"Her show is a modern adaption of Anna Karenina--written by Tash's literary love Count Lev Nikolayevich "Leo" Tolstoy. Tash is a fan of the 40,000 new subscribers, their gushing tweets, and flashy Tumblr gifs. Not so much the pressure to deliver the best web series ever. And when Unhappy Families is nominated for a Golden Tuba award, Tash's cyber-flirtation with a fellow award nominee suddenly has the potential to become something IRL--if she can figure out how to tell said crush that she's romantic asexual. Tash wants to enjoy her newfound fame, but will she lose her friends in her rise to the top?"

"Set against the tumultuous backdrop of life in 1973, when homosexuality is still considered a mental illness, two boys defy all the odds and fall in love"

"Eleven-year-old (nearly twelve) Celi Rivera, who is a mix of Black-Puerto Rican-Mexican Indian is uncomfortable about her approaching period, and the changes that are happening to her body; she is horrified that her mother wants to hold a traditional public moon ceremony to celebrate the occasion--until she finds out that her best friend Magda is contemplating an even more profound change of life."

"Fifteen-year-old Eleanor Fromme just chopped off all of her hair. How else should she cope after hearing that her bully, James, has taken his own life? When Eleanor’s English teacher suggests students write letters they’ll never send, Eleanor writers to James. With each letter she writes, Eleanor discovers more about herself, even while trying to make sense of his death. And, with the help of a unique cast of characters, Eleanor not only learns what it means to be inside a body that does not quite match what she feels on the inside, but also comes to terms with her own mother’s mental illness."

"Sixteen-year-old Bart Lively desperately wants to feel comfortable in his own skin. Sure, he's a competitive swimmer, but being a jock doesn't mean he isn't the target of gay jokes, and the macho culture of his swim club is wearing him down. At the same time, he becomes drawn to the art and athleticism of synchronized swimming, the idea of the human form moving to music under water. He jumps at the opportunity to become the first boy on the synchro swimming team, even if it means others start questioning his masculinity even more. Ultimately, Bart will have to give in to his intuition that leads him to realize there are many ways to be a boy."

"New York. Rumors have always swirled about Jack's unapologetically queer sex life. Jack has a lot of sex-- and he's not ashamed of it. While he's sometimes ostracized, and gossip constantly rages about his sex life, Jack always believes that "it could be worse." When Jack starts writing a teen sex advice column for an online site, he begins to receive creepy and threatening love letters that attempt to force Jack to curb his sexuality and personality. Now it's up to Jack an his best friends to uncover the stalker-- before their love becomes dangerous"

"Who are the Sawkill Girls? Marion: The newbie. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she's sure she'll never find. Zoey: The pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she's broken--or maybe everyone else is. Val: The queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives; a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies. Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires. Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight...until now."

"Seventeen-year-old Jack has lived in the troubled California town his entire life. He hides the truth about his sexuality from everyone, including his best friend Jess and his childhood rival and drug dealing partner, Toby. Keeping your head down, Jack knows, is the best way to survive."

"Leah Burke is an anomaly in her friend group: the only child of a young, single mom; her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she's bisexual, she hasn't mustered the courage to tell her friends-- not even her openly gay BFF, Simon. When her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways, it's hard for Leah to strike the right note. And with prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. If only real life was as rhythmic as her drumming..."

"In Hawaii, seventeen-year-old Jaya Mehta is a transgender outsider with depressive tendencies and the stunningly beautiful Rasa Santos thinks sex is her only power. Will their love transcend and pull them forward or will they remain stuck, separate, in the chaos of their pasts?"

Eighteen months ago Vivien, Miles' beloved transgender girlfriend, slipped into a coma after a suicide attempt. As Miles begins healing, he continues to instant message her. His parents, concerned about his obsession with Vivien, send him to Iceland. There he begins photographing her empty shoes against the stark landscapes, mourning her absence while trying to find himself again.

"Secrets are revealed as OCD-afflicted Griffin grieves for his first love, Theo, who died in a drowning accident. Griffin must confront his past in order to move on with life before it's to late."

"In a dead-end town like Barwen a girl only has to be a little different to feel like a freak. And Clancy, a typical sixteen-year-old misfit with a moderately dysfunctional family, a genuine interest in Nature Club and a major crush on the local hot girl, is packing a capital F. As the summer begins, Clancy's dad is involved in a road smash that kills two local teenagers. While the family is dealing with the reaction of a hostile town, Clancy meets someone who could possibly - at last - become a friend. Not only that, the unattainable Sasha starts to show what may be a romantic interest. In short, this is the summer when Clancy has to figure out who the hell she is."

"Danny Tozer has a problem: she just inherited the powers of Dreadnought, the world's greatest superhero. Until Dreadnought fell out of the sky and died right in front of her, Danny was trying to keep people from finding out she's transgender. But before he expired, Dreadnought passed his mantel to her, and those secondhand superpowers transformed Danny's body into what she's always thought it should be. Now there's no hiding that she's a girl. It should be the happiest time of her life, but Danny's first weeks finally living in a body that fits her are more difficult and complicated than she could have imagined."