The intersection of Queer Literature and Young Adult literature is at the best it has ever been as authors are finally catering to the belief that love is love is love is love.
Here are 10 YA Queer novels you should be reading right now.
1. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
Two Boys Kissing follows the based-on-true-events story of Craig and Harry, two 17-year-olds who are trying to set the new Guinness World Record for longest marathon kiss—over 32 hours. As the focal point, the lives of other teen boys are reflected in coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling in and out of love.
2. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Have you ever wondered what might happen if the Chosen One is the worst? In Carry On, Simon Snow just might be that. Or at least, that’s what his evil vampire roommate, Baz, says. Simon’s life is full of drama and if it’s not a monster threatening the very world he knows, it’s that his girlfriend broke up with him. But the one thing really on his mind? The fact that Baz didn’t show up to their last year at school...
3. As I Descended by Robin Talle by Robin Talley
In this modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Maria and Lily run their school and they’re willing to do anything to keep it that way. The power couple will even go as far as to dethrone Acheron Academy’s prized golden child, Delilah Dufrey. But when madness and murder ensue, where will the girls draw the line?
4. Will Grayson/Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green
Everyone’s lives collide and change forever on one cold night in Chicago when Will Grayson meets Will Grayson. With the background of a high school musical, the Will Graysons from different Chicago suburbs—that might as well be across the world from each other—find their lives upended and fate delivering them to respective romantic turns they never would have dreamed of.
5. Everyday by David Levithan
Every day is different when you’re in high school, but for A, every day has been different their whole life because every day they wake up in a different body. A different life. The routine is simple: don’t get attached, don’t get noticed, don’t interfere. But everything changes when A falls in love with Rhiannon; day after day after day.
6. Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston
The Jedi have all been wiped out and Ahsoka Tano, former Padawan is left to fend for herself in a galaxy full of enemies. Ahsoka starts to build the bridge between the end of The Clone Wars and the titular character’s re-emergence as Rebel Alliance operative “Fulcrum” in Rebels. In this YA novel Ahsoka teams up with local farm girl Kaeden Larte and she will go to great lengths to protect her and her people from the evil Galactic Empire...
7. A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Constantly under the disapproval of his father, born-and-bred gentleman “Monty” gambles and drinks his way through boarding schools, often waking up in the arms of women or men. He is expected to take over the family estate when he returns, however, everything changes on his Grand Tour of Europe as he gets caught in the middle of a manhunt, all while trying to win the affections of the boy he adores, his best friend, Percy.
8. Dreadnought by April Daniels
The first in the Nemesis series, Dreadnought is an exploration of gender identity in a world where superheroes and supervillains are part of everyday life. Danny has been trying to keep it a secret that she’s transgender, but when famed superhero Dreadnought falls from the sky and his powers transfer to her, her body transforms into that that she always felt it should be. Between family drama, her best friend now wanting to date her, and navigating her ranks among the other heroes, Danny’s journey has only just begun.
9. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Trying to keep all of his junior year drama tied solely to the school musical, Simon Spier finds his life on the line when a flirtatious email ends up in the wrong hands. Simon now has to work as a wingman or find his sexual identity and the privacy of the most amazing guy he’s never met is the hottest gossip.
10. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is teen angst at its best as Aristotle, a teen with a brother and prison, and Dante, the be-all-know-it-all meet one day at a swimming pool. As the outcasts spend more time together, their relationship blossoms to change their fates forever.
