Celebrate Pride Month and the LGBTQIA+ community with this list of Young Adult books from a variety of genres and experiences.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the feeling took root—it definitely bloomed the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. But America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand), Eaudiobook (Overdrive Media on Demand)
The Girl from the Sea by Molly Ostertag
Morgan has a secret: She can’t wait to escape the perfect little island where she lives. She’s desperate to finish high school and escape her divorced mom, her volatile little brother, and her great group of friends. Then one night, Morgan is saved from drowning by a mysterious girl named Keltie. The two become friends and suddenly life on the island doesn’t seem so stifling anymore. But Keltie has some secrets of her own, and everything they’re each trying to hide will find its way to the surface. A graphic novel about first love, family, and finding your way.
Available formats: Book, Ecomic (Overdrive Media on Demand), Eaudiobook (Hoopla)
The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros
Chicago, 1893. For Alter Rosen, this is the land of opportunity, and he dreams of the day he’ll have enough money to bring his mother and sisters to America, freeing them from the oppression they face in his native Romania. But then Alter’s best friend, Yakov, becomes the latest victim in a long line of murdered Jewish boys. Alter is now possessed by Yakov’s dybbuk and plunged into a world of corruption and deceit. Now, with only days to spare until the dybbuk takes over Alter’s body completely, the two boys must race to track down the killer–before the killer claims them next.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand), Eaudiobook (Overdrive Media on Demand)
The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters
Girls have been going missing in the woods…When Natasha’s sister disappears, Natasha desperately turns to Della, a local girl rumored to be a witch, in the hopes that magic will bring her sister home. But Della has her own secrets to hide. She thinks the beast who’s responsible for the disappearances is her own mother–who was turned into a terrible monster by magic gone wrong. Natasha is angry. Della has little to lose. Both are each other’s only hope.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand), Eaudiobook (Overdrive Media on Demand)
My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham
Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student to the ultra-competitive Ulalume Academy… but she’s also not what she seems. Months before school started, Finch and her parents got into an accident that should have left her dead at the bottom of the river. Finch doesn’t know why she woke up after her heart stopped, but since dying she’s felt a constant pull from the school. Selena St. Clair sees right through Finch, and she knows something is seriously wrong with her. But despite Selena’s suspicion, she feels drawn to Finch. One night Finch, Selena, and her friends accidentally summon a carnivorous creature of immense power in the depths of the school. It promises to grant every desire the girls have kept locked away in their insecure hearts–beauty, power, adoration–in exchange for a price: human body parts. But as the cost of their wanting becomes more deadly, Finch and Selena must learn to work together to stop the horror they unleashed, before it consumes the entire island.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand), Ebook (Hoopla)
Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore
Everyone who lives near the lake knows the stories about the world underneath it, an ethereal landscape rumored to be half-air, half-water. But Bastián Silvano and Lore Garcia are the only ones who’ve been there. Bastián grew up both above the lake and in the otherworldly space beneath it. Lore’s only seen the world under the lake once, but that one encounter changed their life and their fate. Then the lines between air and water begin to blur. The world under the lake drifts above the surface. If Bastián and Lore don’t want it bringing their secrets to the surface with it, they have to stop it, and to do that, they have to work together. There’s just one problem: Bastián and Lore haven’t spoken in seven years, and working together means trusting each other with the very things they’re trying to hide.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand)
Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
When Becca transfers to a high school in an elite San Francisco suburb, she’s worried she’s not going to fit in. To her surprise, she’s immediately adopted by the most popular girls in school. At first glance they are perfect. But turns out Becca’s new friends are werewolves. Their prey? Slimy boys who take advantage of unsuspecting girls. Eager to be accepted, Becca allows her friends to turn her into a werewolf, and finally, for the first time in her life, she feels like she truly belongs. But then things get complicated. As their pack begins to buckle under the pressure, their moral high ground gets muddier and muddier–and Becca realizes that she might have feelings for one of her new best friends.
Available formats: Book, Ecomic (Overdrive Media on Demand)
Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June
There’s one thing Jay Collier knows for sure–he’s a statistical anomaly as the only out gay kid in his small rural Washington town. Jay dreams of his own firsts, compiling a romance to-do list of all the things he hopes to one day experience–his Gay Agenda. Then, against all odds, Jay’s family moves to Seattle and he starts his senior year at a new high school with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community. For the first time ever, Jay feels like he’s found where he truly belongs. But as Jay begins crossing items off his list, he’ll soon be torn between his heart and his hormones, his old friends and his new ones . . . because after all, life and love don’t always go according to plan.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand), Eaudiobook (Overdrive Media on Demand)
Love & Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura
When Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn’t what she had in mind. That was before she met the perfect girl. Willow is gorgeous, glamorous, and…heartbroken? And when she enlists Nozomi to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi is a willing volunteer. Because Nozomi has a master plan of her own: one to show Willow she’s better than a stand-in, and turn their fauxmance into something real. But as the lies pile up, it’s not long before Nozomi’s schemes take a turn toward disaster…and maybe a chance at love she didn’t plan for.
Available formats: Book
Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier
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 to keep 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.
Available formats: Book, Ecomic (Hoopla)
Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith
Pony just wants to fly under the radar during senior year. Tired from all the attention he got at his old school after coming out as transgender, he’s looking for a fresh start at Hillcrest High. Georgia is beginning to think there’s more to life than cheerleading. She plans on keeping a low profile until graduation…which is why she promised herself that dating was officially a no-go this year. Then, on the very first day of school, the new guy and the cheerleader lock eyes. How is Pony supposed to stay stealth when he wants to get close to a girl like Georgia? How is Georgia supposed to keep her promise when sparks start flying with a boy like Pony?
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand), Ebook (Hoopla), Eaduiobook (Hoopla)
Icebreaker by A. L. Graziadei
Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman, a brother to five sisters, and a hockey legacy. With a father and a grandfather who have gone down in NHL history, Mickey is almost guaranteed the league’s top draft spot. The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey’s infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he really wants, and what he’s willing to risk for it.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand)
Infinity Son by Adam Silvera
Growing up in New York, brothers Emil and Brighton always idolized the Spell Walkers–a vigilante group sworn to rid the world of specters. While the Spell Walkers and other celestials are born with powers, specters take them, violently stealing the essence of endangered magical creatures. Brighton wishes he had a power so he could join the fray. Emil just wants the fighting to stop. Then, in a brawl after a protest, Emil manifests a power of his own–one that puts him right at the heart of the conflict and sets him up to be the heroic Spell Walker Brighton always wanted to be.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand), Ebook (Hoopla), Ebook (cloudLibrary), Eaudiobook (Overdrive Media on Demand), Eaudiobook (Hoopla)
Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
Tien loves his family and his friends…but Tien has a secret he’s been keeping from them, and it might change everything. It’s hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tien, he doesn’t even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he’s going through? Is there a way to tell them he’s gay? A beautifully illustrated that follows a young boy as he tries to navigate life through fairytales.
Available formats: Book, Ecomic (Overdrive Media on Demand)
Witchlight by Jessi Zabarsky
Lelek is a witch. That’s all Sanja knows when she meets Lelek in the marketplace. But Lelek is hiding something — and as her life begins to intersect with Sanja’s, all that she’s kept to herself starts to come to light. Secrets, friendship, and magic all come together as Lelek gets closer and closer to uncovering the truth about her past.
Available formats: Book, Ecomic (Overdrive Media on Demand)
Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan
Morgan, an elite track athlete, is forced to transfer high schools late in her senior year after it turns out being queer is against her private Catholic school’s code of conduct. There, she meets Ruby, who has two hobbies- tinkering with her baby blue 1970 Ford Torino and competing in local beauty pageants. The two are drawn to each other and can’t deny their growing feelings. But while Morgan–out and proud, and determined to have a fresh start–doesn’t want to have to keep their budding relationship a secret, Ruby isn’t ready to come out yet. With each girl on a different path toward living her truth, can they go the distance together?
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand)
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
Briseis has a gift: with a single touch she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms. When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents hope that surrounded by plants and flowers, she will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they never expected–it comes with a mysterious set of instructions, a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world, and generations of secrets. There is more to Bri’s sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it.
Available formats: Book, Ebook (Overdrive Media on Demand)
We love helping people find books, movies, and more.
Tell us about your preferences, and our librarians will create a list of titles selected specifically for you.
