These are some of our favourite titles — in no particular order of preference (except alphabetical by the author’s surname, of course!) — that feature LGBTQIA+ characters or themes. Of course, there’s way more than just this in our collection. Check the Out On The Shelves booklists for more titles — if you find any that we don’t have, please let us know!
Updated February 2024
- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (series) / Albertalli, Becky (reps: gay, bisexual, lesbian)
- One Man Guy / Barakiva, Michael (reps: gay)
- The Darkest Part of the Forest / Black, Holly (reps: gay)
- Basil and Oregano / Capriglione, Melissa (reps: lesbian)
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (series) / Chambers, Becky (reps: lesbian, gay, bisexual, diverse genders)
- Jay’s Guide to Crushing It / Clyde, Ruby (reps: gender diverse)
- Dreadnought (series) / Daniels, April (reps: trans, lesbian, bisexual, nonbinary)
- I Wish You All the Best / Deaver, Mason (reps: nonbinary)
- Everything Under the Moon / Earp, Michael (reps: gay, bisexual, aromantic, nonbinary)
- Pet (companion novel)/ Emezi, Akwarke (reps: trans)
- Symptoms of Being Human / Garvin, Jeff (reps: genderfluid)
- Picture Us in the Light / Gilbert, Kelly Loy (reps: gay)
- Perfect on Paper / Gonzales, S. (reps: bisexual)
- How (Not) to Ask a Boy to Prom / Goslee, S. J. (reps: gay)
- Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating / Jaigirdar, Adiba (reps: bisexual)
- That Inevitable Victorian Thing / Johnston, E. K. (reps: intersex, bisexual)
- Magical Boy: A Graphic Novel (series) / Kao (reps: trans)
- Girls Like Girls / Kiyoko, Hayley (reps: lesbian)
- The Extraordinaries (series) / Klune, T. J. (reps: gay, bisexual, lesbian)
- Fake Dates and Mooncakes / Lee, Sher (reps: gay)
- Ryan and Avery / Levithan, David (reps: trans, gay)
- Wide Awake / Levithan, David (reps: gay)
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club (companion novel)/ Lo, Malinda (reps: lesbian)
- The Many Half-lived Lives of Sam Sylvester / MacGregor, Maya (reps: nonbinary, asexual, aromantic)
- Every Heart a Doorway (series) / McGuire, Seanan (reps: asexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, trans)
- I Kissed Shara Wheeler / McQuiston, Casey (reps: bisexual, lesbian, nonbinary)
- Invisibly Breathing / Merriman, Eileen (reps: gay)
- Ramona Blue / Murphy, Julie (reps: bisexual)
- Most Ardently : a Pride and Prejudice Remix / Novoa, Gabe Cole (reps: trans, gay)
- Heartstopper (series) / Oseman, Alice (reps: gay, bisexual, lesbian, trans, demisexual, asexual)
- Loveless / Oseman, Alice (reps: asexual)
- Juliet Takes a Breath / Rivera, Gabby (reps: lesbian)
- Carry On: The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow (series) / Rowell, Rainbow (reps: gay)
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (sequel) / Sáenz, Benjamin Alire (reps: gay)
- Down Comes the Night / Saft, Allison (reps: bisexual)
- Lumberjanes (series) / Stevenson, ND (reps: gay, lesbian, trans, nonbinary)
- Cold / Tamaki, Mariko (reps: lesbian, gay)
- The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea / Tokuda-Hall, Maggie (reps: genderfluid, nonbinary, bisexual, lesbian)
- Dodge City / Trujillo, Josh (reps: gay, lesbian)
- On a Sunbeam / Walden, Tillie (reps: lesbian)
- Shatter the Sky (sequel) / Wells, Rebecca (reps: bisexual, lesbian)
- Paper Planes / Wood, Jennie (reps: asexual, nonbinary)
vanessa
Great to see this list on here! A couple of suggestions to add – ‘Dare Truth or Promise’by Paula Boock (one of the best NZ YA books ever)and ‘Annie on my Mind’ by Nancy Garden ( a classic, and way better than her other two on the list!).
Simon
Thanks for the suggestions – I have added them to the list. Cheers!