The following books are located in the (YA) Teen section,
alphabetical by author's last name unless noted.
Click on the book covers to access the library catalog.
Beam, Cris. I Am J
J, who feels like a boy mistakenly born as a girl, runs away from his best friend who has rejected him and the parents he thinks do not understand him when he finally decides that it is time to be who he really is.
Burd, Nick. The Vast Fields of Ordinary
It's Dade's last summer at home. He has a crappy job at Food World, a “boyfriend” who won’t publicly acknowledge his existence (maybe because Pablo also has a girlfriend), and parents on the verge of a divorce. College is Dade’s shining beacon of possibility, a horizon to keep him from floating away.
Then he meets the mysterious Alex Kincaid. Falling in real love finally lets Dade come out of the closet - and, ironically, ignites a ruthless passion in Pablo. But just when true happiness has set in, tragedy shatters the dreamy curtain of summer, and Dade will use every ounce of strength he’s gained to break from his past and start fresh with the future.
Cameron, Peter. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
t’s time for eighteen-year-old James Sveck to begin his freshman year at Brown. Instead, he’s surfing the real estate listings, searching for a sanctuary - a nice farmhouse in Kansas, perhaps. James’s sense of dislocation is exacerbated by his willfully self-absorbed parents, a disdainful sister, his Teutonically cryptic shrink, and an increasingly vague, D-list celebrity grandmother. Compounding matters is James’s growing infatuation with a handsome male colleague at the art gallery his mother owns, where James supposedly works at his summer job but where he actually plots his escape to the prairie.
Cohn, Rachel and David Levithan. Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List: A Novel
Naomi and Ely are best friends. Naomi loves and is in love with Ely, and Ely loves Naomi, but prefers to be in love with boys. So they create their "No Kiss List" of people neither of them is allowed to kiss. And this works fine - until Bruce. Bruce is Naomi's boyfriend, so there's no reason to put him on the List. But Ely kissed Bruce even though he is boring. The result: a rift of universal proportions and the potential end of "Naomi and Ely: the institution." Can these best friends come back together again?
Diaz, Alexandra. Of All the Stupid Things
When a rumor starts circulating that Tara's boyfriend Brent has been sleeping with one of the guy cheerleaders, the innuendo doesn't just hurt Tara. It marks the beginning of the end for an inseparable trio of friends. Told from their differing viewpoints, high schoolers Tara, an athlete, Whitney Blaire, a beauty, and Pinkie, a mother hen, face problems in various relationships but the most devastating occurs when Tara finds herself attracted to a girl Whitney Blaire hates. *2011 Rainbow Book
Doyle, Mayra Lazara. Down to the Bone
Laura, a seventeen-year-old Cuban American girl, is thrown out of her house when her mother discovers she is a lesbian, but after trying to change her heart and hide from the truth, Laura finally comes to terms with who she is and learns to love and respect herself.
Eagland, Jane. Wildthorn
Locked away in Wildthorn Hall - a madhouse - they take her identity. She is now called Lucy Childs. She has no one; she has nothing. But, she is still seventeen - still Louisa Cosgrove, isn't she? Who has done this unthinkable deed? Louisa must free herself, in more ways than one, and muster up the courage to be her true self, all the while solving her own twisted mystery and falling into an unconventional love . . . *2011 Rainbow Book
Green, John. Will Grayson, Will Grayson
When two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both.
*2011 Rainbow Book
Hartinger, Brent. The Order of the Poison Oak
Tired of being the school freak, gay 16 year old Russel tries to escape as a summer camp counselor in a rural summer camp only to be attracted to the same guy as his bisexual friend Min.
Horner, Emily. A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend
For months, Cass has heard her best friend, Julia, whisper about a secret project. When Julia dies in a car accident, her drama friends decide to bring the project - a musical called Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad - to fruition. But Cass isn't a drama person. She can't take a summer of painting sets, and she won't spend long hours with Heather, the girl who made her miserable all through middle school and has somehow landed the leading role. So Cass takes off. In alternating chapters, she spends the first part of summer on a cross-country bike trip and the rest swallowing her pride, making props, and - of all things - falling for Heather.
This is a story of the breadth of love. Of the depth of friendship. And of the most hilarious musical one quiet suburb has ever seen.
*2011 Rainbow Book
Howe, James. Totally Joe.
In 13 year old Joe’s alphabiography assignment - the story of his life from A to Z - he bares his soul about his parents, teachers, friends, and enemies - and his coming out.
Hurwin, Davida. Freaks and Revelations
This raw, moving novel follows two teenagers - one, a Mohawk-wearing 17 year old violent misfit; the other, a gay 13 year old cast out by his family, hustling on the streets and trying to survive. Acclaimed author Davida Wills Hurwin creates a riveting narrative told in alternating perspectives of their lives before and after the violent hate crime that changed both their futures. This tragic but ultimately inspirational journey of two polarized teens, their violent first meeting, and their peaceful reunion years later is an unforgettable story of survival and forgiveness.
This story is inspired by the real lives of Matthew Boger and Timothy Zaal, who have shared their story on The Oprah Winfrey Show and NPR.
Hyde, Catherine Ryan, Bill. Jumpstart the World
Sixteen-year-old Elle falls in love with Frank, the neighbor who helps her adjust to being on her own in a big city, but learning that he is transgendered turns her world upside-down.
*2011 Rainbow Book
Konisberg, Bill. Out of the Pocket
As Bobby Framingham, quarterback of his high school football team, finally acknowledges to himself that he is gay, events start to spin out of control when his sexual orientation is revealed in the student newspaper and then in the local press, and he learns that his father has cancer.
Klise, James. Love Drugged
What if there were a drug that could “cure” homosexuality? Fifteen-year-old Jamie Bates has a simple strategy for surviving high school: fit in, keep a low profile, and above all, protect his biggest secret - he's gay. But when a classmate discovers the truth, a terrified Jamie does all he can to change who he is.
*2011 Rainbow Book
Lieberman. Gravity
Afraid that there is no way to be both gay and Jewish, Ellie Gold, an orthodox Jewish teenager feels forced to either alter her sexuality or leave her Jewish community until her mother and sister offer alternative concepts of God that help Ellie find a place for herself.
Marino, Peter. Magic and Misery
TJ, a sturdy teenaged girl with little self-confidence, becomes best friends with a new, gay student in her high school, and when he is bullied and she tries to convince him to tell the authorities, he refuses. Presenting a raw, bitingly humorous portrait of high school school life, this novel shows how magic and misery weave through one special friendship.
Moore,Perry. Hero
Thom Creed, the son of superheroes, has to hide the fact that he’s gay if he’s going to fit into the League - but he finds a lot more problems than that facing him.
Peters, Julie Anne. Luna: A Novel
Fifteen-year-old Regan's life, which has always revolved around keeping her older brother Liam's transsexuality a secret, changes when Liam decides to start the process of "transitioning" by first telling his family and friends that he is a girl who was born in a boy's body.
Ryan, Sara. Empress of the World
Nicola Lancaster is spending the summer at the Siegel Institute Summer Program for Gifted Youth - a hothouse of smart, articulate, intense teenagers living like college students for eight weeks. Nic's had theater friends and orchestra friends, but never just friend friends. And she's certainly never had a relationship. Battle Hall Davies is a beautiful blonde dancer from North Carolina. She's everything Nic isn't. Soon the two are friends - and then, startlingly, more than friends. What do you do when you think you're attracted to guys and then you meet a girl who steals your heart?
Sanchez, Alex. Getting It
Hoping to impress a sexy female classmate, fifteen-year-old Carlos secretly hires gay student Sal to give him an image makeover, in exchange for Carlos's help in forming a Gay-Straight Alliance at their Texas high school.
St. James, James. Freak Show
Having faced teasing that turned into a brutal attack, Christianity expressed as persecution, and the loss of his only real friend when he could no longer keep his crush under wraps, seventeen-year-old Billy Bloom, a drag queen, decides the only to become fabulous again is to run for Homecoming Queen at his elite, private school near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Wittlinger, Ellen. Love and Lies: Marisol's Story
When Marisol, a self-confident eighteen-year-old lesbian, moves to Cambridge, Massachusetts to work and try to write a novel, she falls under the spell of her beautiful but deceitful writing teacher, while also befriending a shy, vulnerable girl from Indiana.
*The Rainbow Project is a joint project of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table and the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association. The Rainbow Project presents an annual bibliography of quality books with significant and authentic GLBTQ content, which are recommended for people from birth through eighteen years of age.
