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List: LGBTQ+ Voices in YA Fiction


A photo of The Sunbearer Trials

The Sunbearer Trials

Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. I'm just a Jade. I'm not a real hero." As each new decade begins, the Sun's power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the evil Obsidian gods at bay. Ten semidioses between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are selected by Sol himself as the most worthy to compete in The Sunbearer Trials. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser has the greatest honor of all they will be sacrificed to Sol, their body used to fuel the Sun Stones that will protect the people of Reino del Sol for the next ten years. Teo, a 17-year-old Jade semidi̤s and the trans son of Quetzal, goddess of birds, has never worried about the Trials...or rather, he's only worried for others. His best friend Niya daughter of Tierra, the god of earth is one of the strongest heroes of their generation and is much too likely to be chosen this year. He also can't help but worry (reluctantly, and under protest) for Aurelio, a powerful Gold semidi̤s and Teo's friend-turned-rival who is a shoo-in for the Trials. Teo wouldn't mind taking Aurelio down a notch or two, but a one-in-ten chance of death is a bit too close for Teo's taste. But then, for the first time in over a century, Sol chooses a semidi̤s who isn't a Gold. In fact, he chooses two: Xio, the 13-year-old child of Mala Suerte, god of bad luck, and...Teo. Now they must compete in five mysterious trials, against opponents who are both more powerful and better trained, for fame, glory, and their own survival.

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A photo of Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution

Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution

Lark Winters wants to be a writer, and for now that means posting on their social media accounts--anything to build their platform. When former best friend Kasim accidentally posts a thread on Lark's Twitter declaring his love for a secret, unrequited crush, Lark's tweets are suddenly the talk of the school--and beyond. To protect Kasim, Lark decides to take the fall, pretending they accidentally posted the thread in reference to another classmate. It seems like a great idea: Lark gets closer to their crush, Kasim keeps his privacy, and Lark's social media stats explode. But living a lie takes a toll--as does the judgment of thousands of Internet strangers. Lark tries their best to be perfect at all costs, but nothing seems good enough for the anonymous hordes--or for Kasim, who is growing closer to Lark, just like it used to be between them . . . In the end, Lark must embrace their right to their messy emotions and learn how to be in love.

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A photo of Fake Dates and Mooncakes

Fake Dates and Mooncakes

Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs--in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt's struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn. Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan's stomach do backflips. AKA a distraction. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons. In Theo's glittering world of pomp, privilege, and crazy rich drama, their romance is supposed to be just pretend . . . but Dylan finds himself falling for Theo. For real. Then Theo's relatives reveal their true colors--but with the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can't risk being sidetracked by rich-people problems. Can Dylan save his family's business and follow his heart--or will he fail to do both?

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A photo of Bitter

Bitter

After a childhood in foster care, Bitter is thrilled to have been chosen to attend Eucalyptus, a special school where she can focus on her painting surrounded by other creative teens. But outside this haven, the streets are filled with protests against the deep injustices that grip the city of Lucille. Bitter's instinct is to stay safe within the walls of Eucalyptus but her friends aren't willing to settle for a world that's so far away from what they deserve. Pulled between old friendships, her artistic passion, and a new romance, Bitter isn't sure where she belongs--in the studio or in the streets. And if she does find a way to help the revolution while being true to who she is, she must also ask: at what cost?

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A photo of Dear Wendy

Dear Wendy

Aromantic and asexual students Sophie and Jo, engaged in an online feud as the creators of popular relationship advice accounts "Dear Wendy" and "Sincerely Wanda," unwittingly become real-life friends and navigate their shared aroace identities as they face the challenges of college life.

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A photo of The Honeys

The Honeys

Mars has always been the lesser twin, the shadow to his sister Caroline's radiance. But when Caroline dies under horrific circumstances, Mars is propelled to learn all he can about his once-inseparable sister who'd grown tragically distant. Mars's genderfluidity means he's often excluded from the traditions--and expectations--of his politically-connected family. This includes attendance at the prestigious Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy where his sister poured so much of her time. But with his grief still fresh, he insists on attending in her place. What Mars finds is a bucolic fairytale not meant for him. Folksy charm and sun-drenched festivities camouflage old-fashioned gender roles and a toxic preparatory rigor. Mars seeks out his sister's old friends: a group of girls dubbed the Honeys, named for the beehives they maintain behind their cabin. They are beautiful and terrifying--and Mars is certain they're connected to Caroline's death. But the longer he stays at Aspen, the more the sweet mountain breezes give way to hints of decay. Mars's memories begin to falter, bleached beneath the relentless summer sun. Something is hunting him in broad daylight, toying with his mind. If Mars can't find it soon, it will eat him alive.

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A photo of Imogen, Obviously

Imogen, Obviously

Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she's got the World's Greatest Ally title locked down. She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen's biases in check. And then there's Lili--newly out and newly thriving with a cool new squad of queer college friends. Imogen's thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that she's finally visiting Lili on campus, she's bringing her ally A game. Any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in. Even if that means bending the truth, just a little. Like when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: she's told all her college friends that Imogen and Lili used to date. And none of them know that Imogen is a raging hetero--not even Lili's best friend, Tessa. Of course, the more time Imogen spends with chaotic, freckle-faced Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with...

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A photo of Magical Boy: A Graphic Novel. Volume 1

Magical Boy: A Graphic Novel. Volume 1

Although he was assigned female at birth, Max is your average trans man trying to get through high school as himself. But on top of classes, crushes, and coming out, Max's life is turned upside down when his mom reveals an eons old family secret: he's descended from a long line of Magical Girls tasked with defending humanity from a dark, ancient evil! With a sassy feline sidekick and loyal gang of friends by his side, can Max take on his destiny, save the world, and become the next Magical Boy? A hilarious and heartfelt riff on the magical girl genre made popular by teen manga series, Magical Boy is a one-of-a-kind fantasy series that comic readers of all ages will love.

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A photo of Out There : Into the Queer New Yonder

Out There : Into the Queer New Yonder

A collection of seventeen short stories from young adult authors, includes a story in which an alien helps a girl decide if she should tell her best friend how she feels.

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A photo of The Lonely Book

The Lonely Book

A warm and loving novel-in-verse about how a non-binary person comes to understand and accept themselves by an award-winning queer author. Every morning, when Annie’s moms open up their bookshop, there’s a pile of books on the counter, waiting for the right reader to come and find them. But one day, there’s a book nobody comes for. Nobody ever comes, and each day the book gets lonelier, and the bookshop becomes an unhappy place. Who can the book be for, and why don’t they come? Eventually, the book finds the reader who needs Annie’s sister, Charlotte. Charlotte asks the family to call her Charlie now, and to use ‘they/them’ pronouns. The bookshop cheers up. Customers start buying books again.

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A photo of If I Can Give You That

If I Can Give You That

Seventeen-year-old Gael, a trans boy, learns to let his walls down while finding community, discovering his sexuality, falling in love, and navigating difficult family situations.

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A photo of The Wicked Bargain

The Wicked Bargain

On Mar León de la Rosa's sixteenth birthday, el Diablo comes calling. Mar is a transmasculine nonbinary teen pirate hiding a magical ability to manipulate fire and ice. But their magic isn't enough to reverse a wicked bargain made by their father, and now el Diablo has come to collect his payment: the soul of Mar's father and the entire crew of their ship. When Mar is miraculously rescued by the sole remaining pirate crew in the Caribbean, el Diablo returns to give them a choice: give up their soul to save their father by the harvest moon, or never see him again. The task is impossible--Mar refuses to make a bargain, and there's no way their magic is a match for el Diablo. Then Mar finds the most unlikely allies: Bas, an infuriatingly arrogant and handsome pirate--and the captain's son; and Dami, a gender-fluid demonio whose motives are never quite clear. For the first time in their life, Mar may have the courage to use their magic. It could be their only redemption--or it could mean certain death.

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A photo of I Wish You All the Best

I Wish You All the Best

After coming out as nonbinary, Ben must leave home and goes to live with a sister and her husband to finish the last year of high school.

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A photo of Milo and Marcos at the End of the World

Milo and Marcos at the End of the World

Milo's high school career has gone relatively smoothly, so he figures he's overdue for an Epic Teenage Disaster. He never thought that when Marcos returns to their Florida high school for the first time since freshman year, resolving their feelings for each other will trigger actual natural disasters which could become an extinction-level event.

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A photo of Transmogrify!: 14 Fantastical Tales of Trans Magic

Transmogrify!: 14 Fantastical Tales of Trans Magic

Transness is as varied and colorful as magic can be. In Transmogrify!, you'll embark on fourteen different adventures alongside unforgettable characters who embody many different genders and expressions and experiences--because magic is for everyone, and that is cause for celebration.

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A photo of The Dos and Donuts of Love

The Dos and Donuts of Love

This pun-filled YA contemporary romance finds a teenage girl competing in a televised baking competition, with contestants including her ex-girlfriend and a potential new crush.

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A photo of Lucha of the Night Forest

Lucha of the Night Forest

One girl caught between the freedom she always wanted and a sister she can't bear to leave behind. Under the cover of the Night Forest, will Lucha be able to step into her own power ... or will she be consumed by it? This gorgeous and fast-paced fantasy novel from acclaimed author Tehlor Kay Mejia is brimming with adventure, peril, romance, and family bonds--and asks what it means for a teen girl to become fully herself.

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A photo of Belle of the Ball

Belle of the Ball

High-school senior and notorious wallflower Hawkins finally works up the courage to remove her mascot mask and ask out her longtime crush: Regina Moreno, head cheerleader, academic overachiever, and all-around popular girl. 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.

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A photo of Man O' War

Man O' War

River McIntyre has grown up down the street from Sea Planet, an infamous marine life theme park slowly going out of business in small-town Ohio. When a chance encounter with a happy, healthy queer person on the annual field trip lands River literally in the shark tank, they must admit the truth: they don't know who they are--only what they've been told to be. This sets off a wrenching journey of self-discovery, from internalized homophobia and gender dysphoria, through layers of coming out, affirmation surgery, and true freakin' love.

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A photo of The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

Set in an alternate Victorian England where mediums control the dead, sixteen-year-old autistic transgender boy Silas must expose a power-hungry secret society while confined to a cruel finishing school designed to turn him into the perfect wife.

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A photo of Cheer Up!: Love and Pompoms

Cheer Up!: Love and Pompoms

Annie is a smart, antisocial lesbian starting her senior year of high school who's under pressure to join the cheerleader squad to make friends and round out her college applications. Her former friend BeBe is a people-pleaser, a trans girl who must keep her parents happy with her grades and social life in order to maintain their support of her transition. Through the rigors of squad training and amped up social pressures (not to mention micro-aggressions and other queer youth problems), the two girls rekindle a friendship they thought they'd lost and discover there may be other, sweeter feelings springing up between them.

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A photo of Dreadnought

Dreadnought

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 dies 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. Between her father's dangerous obsession with 'curing' her girlhood, her best friend suddenly acting like he's entitled to date her, and her fellow superheroes arguing over her place in the ranks, Danny feels like she's in over her head. She doesn't have time to adjust. Dreadnought's murderer -a cyborg named Utopia- still haunts the streets of New Port City, threatening destruction. If Danny can't sort through the confusion of coming out, master her powers, and stop Utopia in time, humanity faces extinction.

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A photo of The Never Tilting World

The Never Tilting World

After an ancient prophecy is betrayed, a world ruled by a long line of goddesses is split in two--one half in perpetual day, and the other in an endless night--and two young twin goddesses set out on separate and equally dangerous journeys to the Breach that divides them, hoping to save their broken world.

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A photo of The One True Me and You

The One True Me and You

Fanfic author Kay and beauty pageant contestant Teagan learn what it means to be--and to stand up for--yourself when they find love at a small fandom convention.

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A photo of Girl Haven

Girl Haven

Three years ago, Ash's mom left home and never returned, leaving behind a husband and child and a shed full of mystical curiosities related to the all-girl fantasy world she'd created as a child -- Koretris. One day Ash invites a new group of friends from Pride Club over, and they try one of the spells to enter Koretris. To their amazement, they're all transported to a magical realm filled with human-sized talking animals who are fiercely protective of their world and are ready to fight to protect it. But if Koretris is real, why is Ash there? Everyone has always called Ash a boy -- shouldn't the spell have kept Ash out? And what does it mean if it let Ash in?

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A photo of Act Cool

Act Cool

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.

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A photo of A Million Quiet Revolutions

A Million Quiet Revolutions

Two seventeen-year-old trans boys in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, struggling to understand themselves and their love for each other, are inspired by an online story about trans soldiers who fell in love during the American Revolution.

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A photo of Only on the Weekends

Only on the Weekends

The son of a film director, Mack grows up on set and into a hopeless romantic -- one who falls hard for the handsome and popular Karim, who eventually notices him back, right before Mack has to relocate to Scotland. Not wanting to lose his first love, Mack asks Karim to be long-distance, but while they're trying, fearless and confident Finlay shows up on set, and Mack's world turns upside down yet again.

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A photo of Firebird

Firebird

Caroline Kim is feeling the weight of sophomore year. When she starts tutoring infamous senior Kimberly Park-Ocampo--a charismatic lesbian, friend to rich kids and punks alike--Caroline is flustered . . . but intrigued Their friendship kindles and before they know it, the two are sneaking out for late-night drives, bonding beneath the stars over music, dreams, and a shared desire of getting away from it all. A connection begins to smolder. . . but will feelings of guilt and the mounting pressure of life outside of these adventures extinguish their spark before it catches fire?

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A photo of Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh

Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh

What if you found a once-in-a-lifetime love...just not in your lifetime? Audrey Cameron has lost her spark. But after getting dumped by her first love and waitlisted at her dream art school all in one week, she has no intention of putting her heart on the line again to get it back. So when local curmudgeon Mr. Montgomery walks into her family's Pittsburgh convenience store saying he can help her, Audrey doesn't know what she's expecting...but it's definitely not that she'll be transported back to 1812 to become a Regency romance heroine. Lucy Sinclair isn't expecting to find an oddly dressed girl claiming to be from two hundred years in the future on her family's estate. But she has to admit it's a welcome distraction from being courted by a man her father expects her to marry--who offers a future she couldn't be less interested in. Not that anyone has cared about what or who she's interested in since her mother died, taking Lucy's spark with her. While the two girls try to understand what's happening and how to send Audrey home, their sparks make a comeback in a most unexpected way. Because as they both try over and over to fall for their suitors and the happily-ever-afters everyone expects of them, they find instead they don't have to try at all to fall for each other. But can a most unexpected love story survive even more impossible circumstances?

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A photo of Mooncakes

Mooncakes

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmother's bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town. One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

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