LGBT characters in YA?

PoppysInARow · Aug 3, 2011

Hey everyone, its been a while. I'm looking for recs with YA books with LGBT characters. They can be major or minor characters, just as long as they play a part. If there are any previously made rec lists out there, itd be awesome if you could direct me there as well. Thanks guys!

Parametric · Aug 3, 2011

Quick links: Gay YA and the young adult category of the Lambda Literary Awards.

suki · Aug 3, 2011

Another link: ALA's Rainbow Books lists (best of the lgbtq books for kids and teens - annual list). If you go to the home page, you will see this year's nominees, so far.

I'd personally reccommend:

Sister Mischief, by Laura Goode
Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by Green and Levithan
With You or Without You, by Brian Farrey
Freak Show, by James St. James
After Tupac & D Foster, Jacqueline Woodson (technically, upper MG, I think, but a fabulous book with a great gay character, deftly handling societal issues about being gay).
Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List, by Cohn & Levithan
King of the Screwups, by K.L.Going
Hard Love, by Ellen Wittlinger

~suki

Kyla Laufreyson · Aug 3, 2011

I'm personally in love with Levithan's Boy Meets Boy.

Becca C. · Aug 3, 2011

David Levithan's Boy Meets Boy is probably one of my all-time favourite gay books ever. Other books that represent the G in LGBT are The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd, Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan, Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green, lots of others.

For the L, I love Ash by Malinda Lo (haven't read the sequel, Huntress, yet but I'm sure it's also awesome), Julie Anne Peters's books, and they're not YA but Sarah Waters writes amazing Victorian books about lesbian characters.

I can't think of any books about bisexual characters. Somebody able to fill in this gap?

For the T, Julie Anne Peters's Luna is really good, as well as Cris Beam's I Am J.

Alexandra Little · Aug 3, 2011

Lee Wind's website: http://www.leewind.org/

Kitty Pryde · Aug 3, 2011

www.leewind.org is far and away the best source of LGBT YA and kid books. Seriously go there!

more T books:
Parrotfish
Jumpstart the World
almost perfect
Eon: Dragoneye something something

some B books:
Beauty Queens (actually has L, G, B, T, and Q, so hurray)
Split Screen
Pink
Very LeFreak

Becca C. · Aug 3, 2011

I forgot about Beauty Queens! The cast was so refreshingly diverse, I loved it!

Kitty Pryde · Aug 3, 2011

Becca C. said:
I forgot about Beauty Queens! The cast was so refreshingly diverse, I loved it!

Yeah, I was very pleasantly shocked. They were all in there just being themselves and doing their thing, not Teaching Important Lessons About Tolerance. It was a great book for breaking down stupid cliches. I also loved the two brown girls who keep almost dying, and then realizing that they always kill off the people of color, and then getting all pissed off and surviving.

EndlessDestiny · Aug 3, 2011

Mine if I ever get it finished.

Kitty Pryde · Aug 3, 2011

Couple more linkies:

Queer YA http://daisyporter.org/queerya/

Diversity in YA http://www.diversityinya.com/

Kathleen42 · Aug 3, 2011

Boy Meets Boy - David Levithan (also, David Levithan has a great short story with a gay protagonist in the Geektastic anthology)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green & David Levithan
Beauty Queens - By Libba Bray
Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
Witch Eyes - Scott Tracey (this one only comes out next month)

AmyJay · Aug 3, 2011

Becca C. said:
I can't think of any books about bisexual characters. Somebody able to fill in this gap?

Although this doesn't count as a book with a bi character, if you've read Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon's Lexicon series (which has a gay character, Jamie), she wrote some companion short stories for it, and one of them was an awesome portrayal of a bi guy: http://sarahtales.livejournal.com/185853.html#cutid1

I definitely agree that there's a gap. I do think part of the problem is lingering biphobia, even in the gay community or in gay-friendly circles (I'm looking at you, Glee). And I wonder if part of it is that it just simplifies things to make a character only interested in one gender, whether they're gay or straight. Especially if they only have one love interest in the story.

Not that that's any reason not to include a bi character, though, if that's who your character is. My novel's a romance between two boys, but my MC is bi, and his relationship with his last girlfriend is a part of the story too.

Becca C. · Aug 3, 2011

I have a kind-of bi character in my WIP. I used to think of him as bi, but realized in later drafts that he's probably gay. But that's not how he thinks of himself. His outlook on his own sexuality is more just "I don't care what it's called, this is who I love."

He's kind of lazy about defining his own sexuality XD

AmyJay · Aug 3, 2011

Becca C. said:
He's kind of lazy about defining his own sexuality XD

Haha, so is mine, in that he doesn't bother correcting people when they assume he's gay because he's with another guy. Explaining that he's bi would take too much effort for him.

Ty.D. · Aug 3, 2011

I wrote a coming-of-age type book with a bisexual male lead. One of the agents who read it, who shall remain nameless, told me that I should just make him gay so that it was less confusing.

Uh...

Becca C. · Aug 3, 2011

Ty.D. said:
I wrote a coming-of-age type book with a bisexual male lead. One of the agents who read it, who shall remain nameless, told me that I should just make him gay so that it was less confusing.

Uh...

:/ wow.

Although I kind of see where she's coming from. To someone who doesn't understand it, I could see how it might seem like a wishy-washy character trait. It could easily come off as confusing to someone that didn't really know what it was about.

Kitty Pryde · Aug 3, 2011

Oh yah! One more good book w a bi character: Gemini Bites. A vampire moves in and starts flirting with our hero and his twin sister. Hilarious antics ensue.

Becca C. · Aug 3, 2011

Kitty Pryde said:
Oh yah! One more good book w a bi character: Gemini Bites. A vampire moves in and starts flirting with our hero and his twin sister. Hilarious antics ensue.

I really want to read this book! Sounds like a riot.

Katallina · Aug 3, 2011

Kitty Pryde said:
Oh yah! One more good book w a bi character: Gemini Bites. A vampire moves in and starts flirting with our hero and his twin sister. Hilarious antics ensue.

I just looked this up on Amazon and it sounds awesome. Welcome to the TBR list, Gemini Bites.

Becca_H · Aug 4, 2011

Kitty Pryde said:
Oh yah! One more good book w a bi character: Gemini Bites. A vampire moves in and starts flirting with our hero and his twin sister. Hilarious antics ensue.

*adds to list* Kitty, you are amazing with your recs.

Whenever someone requests LGBT recs, I always see the same titles come up. Rarely is there a new release someone can mention. Hopefully the frequency of LGBT YA titles will increase.

eyeblink · Aug 4, 2011

I have a vested interest in hoping so, as I'm writing one! (see sig)

Two oldies but goodies, both from 1982:

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden (lesbian)
Dance on My Grave by Aidan Chambers (gay male)

suki · Aug 4, 2011

Becca C. said:
I can't think of any books about bisexual characters. Somebody able to fill in this gap?

Empress of the World, Sara Ryan
The Bermudez Triangle, Maureen Johnson
Very LeFreak, Rachel Cohn (though the character is probably more pan-sexual)

~suki

Kitty Pryde · Aug 4, 2011

Oh, for some books that get recommended infrequently:

Just came out:
Shadow Hunters (gay boy must figure out how to do astral projection to find his kidnapped little brother)
shine (girl must figure out what happened to her gay bff who is in a coma after a vicious hate crime in a dire small town)
Putting Makeup On The Fat Boy (nice gay latino fat kid wants to be a famous makeup artist)
Not new releases:
Wildthorn: in old timey England a girl is sent to an insane asylum because she wants to go to medical school and seems to have a crush on her female cousin--her quest to escape is extremely powerful. Not based on a true story, but based on how independent-thinking girls were often treated in that time period.
I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip: the first EVAR YA novel with a gay character (that doesn't involve tragedy and total condemnation of gay people). It's 40+ years old but totally timeless. If you love great voice it's a must read.

Shady Lane · Aug 4, 2011

Great recs, everyone. *claps*

LGBT characters in YA?

PoppysInARow

Parametric

suki

Opinionated

Kyla Laufreyson

Oops

Becca C.

Alexandra Little

What a desolation.

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue

Becca C.

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue

EndlessDestiny

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue

Kathleen42

crushing on fictional characters

AmyJay

Becca C.

AmyJay

Ty.D.

Becca C.

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue

Becca C.

Katallina

Becca_H

Where am I again?

eyeblink

Barbara says hi

suki

Opinionated

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue

Shady Lane

my name is hannah