Maurice

Written by: E. M. Forster 

First Line: Once a term the whole school went for a walk--that is to say the three masters took part as well as all the boys. 

Why you should read this book: It's the early nineteen hundreds and Maurice Hall appears to be a typical suburban English boy--strong, snobbish, eager to conform--attending public school and then Cambridge, but within himself he recognizes a strange proclivity: Maurice is a homosexual, which, at the time was both a legal crime and an almost unspeakable moral offense. At Cambridge he carries on an emotionally intimate and romantic three-year relationship instigated by his friend Clive Durham, falls deeply in love, is eventually spurned when Durham determines to be "normal" and marries a nice girl. What's remarkable about this book is that, after grieving deeply and for more than a year, Maurice's heart heals and he is able to love again, passionately and without reserve, even knowing what fate may await a man of his desires in that time and place. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: It wasn't published for a half century after it was written because you couldn't publish a story about a gay person with a happy ending a hundred years ago; this is a story for people with intellectual sensitivity and without cruel prejudice. 

Reverie

Written by: Ryan La Sala

First line: This is where it happened. 

Why you should read this book: I think, at its core, it's a metaphor about maladaptive daydreaming, the kind where it's so easy to escape into your dissociative fantasy world that your coping mechanism becomes more real to you than the real world, and begins to impact your real life and all your relationships, but it's also a YA queer fantasy, so the daydreams are very, very real and if the characters can't control them, it could be the end of life as we know it. Kane doesn't have any real memories of the night he supposedly crashed his car and burned down a local landmark, but, as he heals, he starts to realize that he's missing a lot of memories, mostly those pertaining to close friendships he doesn't remember having, but also that he was the leader of a group of teens with superpowers and that other worlds are creeping out of people's imaginations and taking over reality. Kane has to figure out who to trust and who to protect, and to defeat a magical drag queen who wants to use him to create another world in place of the one Kane calls home. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: It took me a while to get into it.

Gay the Pray Away

Written by: Natalie Naudus

First line: I cannot be trusted.

Why you should read this book: This absolute gem of a YA-romance novel not only tells a heartwarming love story and an uplifting coming-out story, but also does its civic duty in warning the world what, exactly, is going on in the Christian Dominionist movement: how children are being abused spiritually and emotionally, intentionally kept ignorant, forced into obsolete gender roles and legalized servitude, and just generally harmed by fundamentalist religious beliefs. Valerie has been hiding her truth for so long, desperately trying to live up to her family's expectations, but when she meets the gorgeous, grapefruit-scented Riley, she realizes she can't keep pretending to be someone she's not. Valerie is bisexual, and absolutely in love with Riley, and definitely never going to follow the life plan her church claims is God's will for her, because that plan is horrible, and has nothing to do with who she is as a person and what she's going to do with her future. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't care what genders they have, you absolutely just despise seeing people happy. 

Two Different Worlds I've Lived in: The True Story of Being Intersex

Written by: Wilma Swartz

First line: What happened to me I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Why you should read this book: Born intersex and assigned male at birth, Wilma grew up in in a maelstrom of trauma from every direction: at home, at school, and at work, people sensed something off in her performance of masculinity and punished her relentlessly, in a time when gay people had little standing in society and trans people had no rights whatsoever. Despite doing her best to maintain a heteronormative facade, her marriage fails and subsequently she loses all rights to visitation with her son when she realizes that gender reassignment surgery is her only hope of ever living happily and authentically. Although she finds love and success as a woman, the heartbreak and scars of the past and her resonant anger still mar her memories, which she recalls in often excruciating detail, bringing her pain to light and providing a window to a little-known chapter of history.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's badly edited, often disjointed or vague, and includes some commentary that might be upsetting to secular and gender nonconforming readers, as well as graphic, sometimes violent depictions of homophobia and transphobia. 

The Woman in the Woods and Other North American Stories: A Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales Book

Edited by: Kel McDonald, Kate Ashwin, and Alina Pete

First line: Excuse me...Do you tell stories.

Why you should read this book: While it's a bit shorter than the other volumes in this series, there's still much to love in this book of Native American mythology, which features stories from the distant and not-so-distant past. One tale showcases the concept of "two-spirit," and discusses the acceptance of transgendered people in many indigenous cultures, while others show humans befriending monsters or tricksters getting tricked. Eight different nations are represented in this book.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're a transphobe. 

Flamer

Written by: Mike Curato

First line: Put that out before you burn the whole camp down!

Why you should read this book: Aiden is just trying to enjoy his summer at scout camp, far from his father's violence, his mother's depression, and his little twin siblings, but as the summer progresses, it's hard for him to hide two very important details from himself any longer: first, many of the guys in his patrol are ragingly homophobic, and second, Aiden is flamingly gay. Even though he's not quite ready to come out to himself, the other guys seem to know his secret no matter how hard he tries to act straight, and even that is increasingly difficult as he develops an intense relationship with the handsome and cool Elias, who seems to like him despite the other kids jokes. Set in the '90s, this book touches on the official anti-queer position of the Boy Scouts at the time, along with self-harm, the symbolism of Catholicism, and, of course, all the pleasure of summer camp including archery, basket weaving, and bears. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're ragingly homophobic.

Buy Flamer Here

Camp Spirit

Written by: Axelle Lenoir

First line: The legend of Bear Lake tells the story of the Spirit of the Forest.

Why you should read this book: It's 1994 and disaffected young adult Elodie is still reeling from the death of Kurt Cobain, and to make matters worse, her mother is forcing her to work as a counselor at an overnight camp the summer before she starts college, and she already hates all the other counselors, especially "Little Miss Perfect: Catherine," but off she goes to have the worst summer ever. Her campers are all crazy redheads, she can't poop in a public toilet, and there's definitely something very strange going on at Bear Lake, including all the camp songs being mildly satanic, the very strange camp chief being very strange, and also there might be an actual monster in the woods. But it turns out that Little Miss Perfect Catherine isn't any of the things Elodie thinks she is, and the camp chief is not dangerous to humans, and whatever is lurking in the woods can be handled, one way or another. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: This is like Lumberjanes for big kids, but it's probably too sexy for little ones.

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Rubyfruit Jungle

Written by: Rita Mae Brown

First line: No one remembers her beginnings.

Why you should read this book: Irrepressible Molly Bolt knows from an early age who she is—an independent, sexually liberated girl destined to follow her own path in a time when women simply aren't given space to be different—and what she wants—to make love to beautiful women without guilt or commitment or people freaking out about the L word. Unapologetically queer and nonmonogamous, her troubles always involve being betrayed by the people to whom she makes herself vulnerable, as if love in inextricably bound up in disappointment. But through it all, Molly remains true to her own values and follows her own compass, with the knowledge that as hard as her path is, it would be infinitely harder to walk any other. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't like to think about that time in college.

The Magic Fish

Written by: Trung Le Nguyen 

First line: They say we’re meant to go from here to there, but so much happens between those two places.

 Why you should read this book: Tien enjoys a close relationship with his mother but is having trouble coming out to her, primarily because they are Vietnamese refugees, and her English isn’t great, and he can’t find anyone who can tell him how to say, “I’m gay,” in Vietnamese. Reading fairy tales to each other in English is helping his mother improve her language skills and helping Tien find the words to talk to his mother about love, but it just seems like there’s always another obstacle to the one conversation he really wants to have. Much needed queer content for kids, a book that demonstrates the importance to of listening to and accepting a children's truths. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You'd rather have a dead child than a gay one, which is also an argument for why you shouldn't be allowed to have any child at all.

We Are Totally Normal

Written by: Rahul Kankia

First line: The music in the car was so loud that my teeth vibrated.

Why you should read this book: Nandan hangs out with the popular kids, even though he doesn't really like any of them except Avani, who he used to hook up with but doesn't anymore because sex is weird; right now, while his bro-friends are trying to get Nandan laid, Nandan is really focused on helping out his weird buddy Dave, who is totally adorable and knows less about girls than Nandan does. But Nandan's efforts to help Dave get a girlfriend lead to Nandan having drunken sex with Dave, and now he has to figure out whether he's actually gay or what, because he loves Dave, but he doesn't really love having sex with him, and he doesn't want people to think he's just being queer to get attention, or to get closer to Avani. This is a very inwardly-focused story, rife with Nandan's dissection of high school social dynamics, relationships, and, of course, sex, which covers honest ground about sex and queerness that doesn't often hit the page in YA novels.

Drama

Written by: Raina Telgemeier

First line: Do you think Mr. Madera will let me operate the spotlight again?

Why you should read this book: Callie's middle school life revolves around the theater—stage crew set design, to be precise—but that doesn't mean that she isn't distracted by boys. When the guy she likes can't see that she's the one, she consoles herself with the company of twins, talented boys who help her find a little more confidence and joy. Even if she never gets that confetti canyon to work on stage, she still has the hope of romance in the air.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's been targeted by the censorship crowd for depicting teenagers who are—gasp—gay! Of course, for many of us, this is a bonus.

Everfair

Written by: Nisi Shawl

First line: Lisette Toutournier sighed.

Why you should read this book: What if indigenous Africans had technological superiority over Europeans at the turn of the last century, and what if this reality existed within a society that allowed open discussion of race and sexuality in the same time period? This vast, populous steampunk alternate-history narrative follows an unlikely cast of Fabians, missionaries, escaped slaves, and oppressed native peoples in their attempts to build a socialist paradise in the wake of Leopold II's colonization of the Congo. Beginning with young Lisette Tourournier's love affair with a bicycle in France, the story criss crosses continents and decades, proposes complex love polygons among people with multiple loyalties, and introduces fabulous technologies and solutions in a dense and nuanced story that operates as science fiction and social commentary and a few other things.

Why you shouldn't read this book: I guess this book is not for unabashed racists, but they probably don't read interesting steampunk novels anyway.

Openly Straight

Written by: Bill Konigsberg

First line: If it were up to my dad, my entire life would be on video.

Why you should read this book: After three years of having his life defined by his sexual orientation (validated by his mother's involvement in PFLAG and his father's constant documentation), Rafe decides to start over somewhere he can just present as "normal" and chooses an Ivy League-style boarding school halfway across the country from home as the setting for his new, not-openly-queer lifestyle. On the one hand, his plan works perfectly, and Rafe is soon ensconced among the ranks of the school's popular jocks who wouldn't have given the time of day to an openly gay guy, but on the other hand, Rafe is still gay, and now he has to deal with the question of how to deal with the kinds of kids who used to be his friends (who the jocks dislike), when to tell people from his old life he's in the closet, and what to do with his burgeoning bromance with one of his straight teammates. The friendship between Rafe and Ben develops in an honest, loving, and believable sequence as one character works through their sexuality and the other through their handling of the truth.

Why you shouldn't read this book:  Your wife will never, ever know that you're gay.

Intro to Alien Invasion

Written by: Owen King, Mark Jude Poirier, and Nancy Ahn

First line: What is that you have.

Why you should read this book: A deeply tongue in cheek graphic novel that really puts the comic in comic book, this is the story of a socially awkward college student and the spring break of terror that results when her gross, inappropriate astrobiology professor illegally smuggles alien-infested soil samples from Russia back to America, resulting in a bunch of kids getting impregnated by extra-terrestrials. Stranded on campus during a hurricane, Stacey and her rapidly dwindling peer group must avoid being infected by tiny blue ladybugs who turn humans into enormous jelly-filled bags before erupting from their bodies to eat and infect more students. It's both silly in its depiction of B-movie horror tropes and touching in its depiction of young adult relationships.

Why you shouldn't read this book: People's bodies swell up and then explode, coating survivors in itchy alien goo, so if that's not your thing, you're going to have a bad time with this book.

The Answer

Written by: Rebecca Sugar and Elle Michalka and Tiffany Ford

First line: This is the story of Ruby and Sapphire's time on the planet Earth.

Why you should read this book: For fans of Steven Universe, the world's only children's television program about gay space rocks, the love story of Ruby and Sapphire is central to an understanding of the show's larger thesis about love. This book recreates the episode of the same name, illustrating and lingering in the  moments of the characters' first association and the beginning of their relationship, with some additional commentary by the characters themselves regarding the way people on earth can change perspective, take control of their own destinies, and express powerful emotions that may also be forbidden. A sweet little love story (and New York Times bestseller), which has been compared to a fairy tale, but with gay space rocks.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It probably doesn't make any sense if you're not familiar with the first two seasons of the show. Or, I suppose, if you're a raging homophobe.

Body Music

Written by: Julie Maroh

First line: Whenever people talk about love/It's always "never" and "always"

Why you should read this book: A graphic novel in the form of a collection of flash fictions about sex, love, and relationships that transcend the banal, heteronormative Hollywood ideals, it's the emotional equivalent of a series of swift one-two punches to the heart. Queer, trans, disabled, polyamorous, young, old, fat, confused, uncertain, the characters that tumble through this volume feel fully fleshed and really realized, despite having only the space of a few pages to play through their romantic dramas. Lovely, fast-paced, honest, raw, warm, and rewarding, this is book for people who believe in love in whatever form it takes and maybe don't mind shedding a tear or two for the sake of literature.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think heteronormative Hollywood ideals are the only romantic ideals. 

Stone Butch Blues

Written by: Leslie Feinberg

First line: Dear Theresa, I'm lying on my bed tonight missing you, my eyes all swollen, hot tears running down my face.

Why you should read this book: Jess Goldberg has always known herself to be different, assigned female at birth but never fulfilling the expectations the world around her held for girls. As a teenager, Jess discovers there are other people like her, and she begins frequenting gay bars and coming to understand her identity: she is a stone butch, a woman who loves women but doesn't present in a feminine way. In the years before the Stonewall Riot, and the decades before the AIDS crisis mobilized the community, Jess suffers every violation society has to offer women like her, but learns, through the pain, how to love others and, finally, how to love herself.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Violence, rape, homophobia, transphobia. It's a brutal narrative.

To Drink from the Silver Cup: From Faith through Exile and Beyond

Written by: Anna Redsand

First line: I left before the church could excommunicate me.

Why you should read this book: Born to Dutch reform missionary parents and raised on the Navajo reservation, Anna Redsand was a devout follower of her family’s Christian beliefs until the day that she heard her mother condemn a lesbian couple and Redsand began to realize that her faith community would never make room for her sexuality. Thus began her own journey through forty years of exile, engagement with Judaism and Buddhism, civil rights activism and personal introspection, questioning and seeking a home that could accommodate her as a complete person. Redsand’s story, powerful and personal, offers something for all of us searching for home.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You should totally read this book, and not just because I’m personally thanked by name in the acknowledgments. 

Fat Angie

Written by: E.E. Charlton-Trujillo

First line: This was the beginning.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Fat Angie hasn't recovered from her big sister's decision to enlist in the Air Force, let alone her sister's public capture by the enemy shortly thereafter, or her own public freak out slash suicide attempt at a school pep rally last year, and she's definitely not prepared to deal with her second attempt at finishing the school year. The popular girls seem determined to make her reentry into society rough, and Angie doesn't even know how to feel about the beautiful newcomer, KC Romance, a girl who inexplicably wants to be friends, and maybe more, with her. Angie and KC's relationship never does run smooth, but in the end, Angie will find a path through her own disconnection and make her own way in the world.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't need help mourning the death of your sister.