Celebrating LGBTQIA+ Pride – Book Picks for Teens

Mal Flowers expected fall of senior year to be full of cozy sweaters, good coffee, and copyediting. As the new editor-in-chief of their school’s literary magazine, they just want to follow The Plan to graduate and get out of their small midwestern town–a place where, as a broke, fat, queer person with ADHD, they’ve never really fit in. But when budget cuts result in the lit mag’s cancellation, Mal is suddenly left scrambling for something to replace it.

Eighteen-year-old Cam bounces between houses in Texas and Scotland and has always thought that’s why they don’t feel at home in either place. A recent Autism diagnosis followed by a fight with their Mothers add an extra layer of real-life stress, only amplifying their struggle to belong. However, things take an unexpected turn when they cross paths with members of the fae deep in a Scottish forest.

A teen mystic will do anything to solve a series of love-related magical mishaps plaguing her high school, including fake dating her boss’s daughter.

Historical fantasy about three queer teens and their found family of queer pirates facing down a secret magical society.

Fight AIDS! is a gripping narrative of the AIDS epidemic for young readers, told through the lens of the activism it fostered. Focusing on the people most directly affected by the crisis and on the individuals who fought for justice, it is an intimate and humane account of one of the most devastating eras in United States history and an electrifying celebration of the power ordinary citizens have to enact meaningful change.

Seventeen-year-old Cesar Flores is finally ready to win back his ex-boyfriend. Since breaking up with Jamal in a last-ditch effort to stay in the closet, he’s come out to Mami, his sister, Yami, and their friends, taken his meds faithfully, and gotten his therapist’s blessing to reunite with Jamal. Everything would be perfect if it weren’t for The Thoughts–the ones that won’t let all his Catholic guilt and internalizations stay buried where he wants them.

A 1920s Black reimagining of the Great Gatsby, seventeen-year-old Nick Carrington wants nothing more than to leave Greenwood, Oklahoma, behind and make a name for himself in the papers. But when tragedy strikes, dreams turn into a twisted reality.

A figure skater grapples with the pressure to perform and her changing feelings when her competitor starts training at the same rink.

Two girls in their senior year of high school, who are opposites in personality, start to develop romantic feelings for each other as one teaches the other how to cook.

A Muslim teenager named Ramin Abbas begins to question long-held beliefs about religion, identity, and personal expectations when he develops romantic feelings for a male classmate. As he navigates family dynamics, religious teachings, and social pressures, Ramin reflects on how these aspects of his life intersect.

This graphic novel that’s an apocalyptic fantasy meets queer love story turns the classic Little Red Riding Hood fairytale on its head.

Astrophysics student Silas Turner is an anomaly. He’s thrown back in time uncontrollably, each episode forcing him into his pre-transition body for hours to days at a time. These “time trips” leave Silas overwhelmed and isolated until brash, guitar-playing Jude Forrester barges into his life exhibiting the same symptoms.

A young adult fantasy novel about a competitive magical dueling circuit in which two teenagers become rivals and unexpected allies.