Book Recommendations: LGBT Summer Reads

Celebrate 20BiTeen, With These 10 LGBTQ-Friendly Novels to Read This Summer

By Rachel Rivenbark 

Summer is the perfect time for fun in the sun and to catch up on all the reading you missed out on during the other three seasons. In honor of 20BiTeen, here is a round-up of 10 of the best LGBT YA reads to devour during your next vacation:
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​1. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Becky Albertalli)

Harper Collins Publishing

“Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he's pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he's never met.

Incredibly funny and poignant, this twenty-first-century coming-of-age, coming out story—wrapped in a geek romance—is a knockout of a debut novel by Becky Albertalli.”

Absolutely rife with millennial humor that can both appeal to the younger generations, and provide interesting social insight for older readers, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda has reached enormous popularity, particularly since the 2018 release of its movie adaptation, Love, Simon. This is a lighthearted novel whose main source of drama comes from the pressure LGBTQ youth feel to come out of the closet, and the fears and consequences that can come from your "coming out" being less than ideal. Many have described it and its movie adaption as "the happy rom-com that the community has always deserved."
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​2. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Sáenz)

Simon and Schuster Publishing

“Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.”

While not what could exactly be described as a "happy" novel, certainly through the majority of it, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a beautiful, captivating coming-of-age story which has resonated with many readers. Very simple in its progression, with no great over-complexity of plot overshadowing the narration at any point, it leaves plenty of room for Sáenz's depiction of Ari's first person perspective to truly shine, as he learns to navigate love and life and the nuances of his own identity, touching readers and keeping them invested in his story right to the very last tear-jerking page. 

​3. Lumberjanes Series (Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh, and Faith Erik Hicks)

Boom! Studios

“At Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams.

Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together…and they’re not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way!”

While not exactly fitting into the traditional box of "novel," the comic book series Lumberjanes has nevertheless earned itself a place of honor on this list as a beautiful representation of what "girl power" truly means. Inclusive, progressive values are presented all throughout the series, oftentimes by the strong female role models that play a significant part through the entirety of it. It lovingly and respectfully depicts a girl-loving-girl relationship and a much-loved, well-respected transgender protagonist whose place among the Lumberjanes is never once brought into question. It's a bright, colorful, fantasy camping adventure that any cartoon fan is liable to love, and that can happily be recommended even to much younger audiences.

​4. Ash (Malinda Lo)

Little, Brown, and Co.

“In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Their friendship, as delicate as a new bloom, reawakens Ash’s capacity for love–and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Entrancing and empowering, Ash beautifully unfolds the connections between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.”

While not perhaps the most thrilling or enthralling of books, Ash nevertheless deserves an honorable mention due to the fact that it's one of the few novels that has attempted to take LGBTQ representation into the realm of fairy tales. There isn't very much conflict to this novel, particularly related to Ash's sexuality, in the knowledge that she doesn't appear to live in a world where homosexuality is considered taboo. However, there's a certain charm and beauty to that ease of the matter of sexuality in this novel, in that it completely and utterly normalizes the idea that Ash may fall in love with a woman? We should all be so lucky, to live to see a world where nobody has to think twice about such a matter. But in the meantime, we can stop and take comfort in the relative ease with which the topic is handled, in this novel. 
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5. How to Repair a Mechanical Heart (J.C. Lillis)

“Eighteen-year-old Castaway Planet fans Brandon and Abel hate bad fan fiction—especially when it pairs their number-one TV crushes of all time, dashing space captain Cadmus and dapper android Sim. As co-runners of the Internet’s third most popular Castaway Planet vlog, they love to spar with the “Cadsim” fangirls who think Cadmus will melt Sim’s mechanical heart by the Season 5 finale. This summer, Brandon and Abel have a mission: hit the road in an RV to follow the traveling Castaway Planet convention, interview the actors and showrunner, and uncover proof that a legit Cadsim romance will NEVER, EVER HAPPEN.

A Brandon and Abel romance: also not happening. Brandon’s sick of his struggle to make “gay and Catholic” compute, so it’s safer to love a TV android. Plus Abel’s got a hot new boyfriend with a phoenix tattoo, and how can Brandon compete with that? But when mysterious messages about them start popping up in the fan community, they make a shocking discovery that slowly forces their real feelings to the surface. Before they get to the last Castaway Planet convention, Brandon’s going to find out the truth: can a mechanical heart be reprogrammed, or will his first shot at love be a full system failure?”

Described by readers as being the middle ground between Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl and Becky Albertalli's Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, this novel acts as a colorful, entertaining ode to fandom and fanfiction, in a neatly wrapped "roadtrip fic" package. At the same time, it tackles well-crafted internal conflict through the main character's struggle to find a balance between his faith and his sexuality, in a beautiful tale of growth and self-acceptance. 
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6. Carry On (Rainbow Rowell)

“Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen.

That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.

Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here — it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up.”

Although its conceptual inspiration was largely taken from the Harry Potter series, well before it was ever known that it would be a real novel of its own, this fantasy spinoff of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl has gained a cult following with contemporary youth as a hit in its own right. This is a novel that knows it's a borderline parody of another franchise, and the boldness and the ease with which it then approaches doing whatever the hell it likes (spoiler alert: “Bohemian Rhapsody” is used as a spell) makes this sweetly wacky novel an excellent choice for anyone who's just in it for a good, entertaining time.
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​7. If I Was Your Girl (Meredith Russo)

“Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret, and she's determined not to get too close to anyone. 

But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can't help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past. But Amanda's terrified that once she tells him the truth, he won't be able to see past it. 

Because the secret that Amanda's been keeping? It's that at her old school, she used to be Andrew. Will the truth cost Amanda her new life, and her new love? 

Meredith Russo's If I Was Your Girl is a universal story about feeling different and a love story that everyone will root for.”

There is generally quite a bit of controversy surrounding books which attempt to tackle what it’s like to be a transgender person, as it seems a lot of the books out there aren’t actually written by people who are transgender, themselves. However, Meredith Russo’s novel If I Was Your Girl is not only authored by a trans woman, and not only features a trans model on the front cover, but has gained quite a bit of love and support from the trans community for its faithful, firsthand depiction of life as a young trans woman. While it isn’t always a terribly easy or engaging book to read, it’s been described by many readers - cis and trans alike - as being an extremely important book to read, and an excellent segue into media surrounding life as a transgender person. For anyone who wants to broaden their understanding about the trans community, or who wants to learn how to provide better support as an ally, this thought-provoking book is a must. 

​8. Less (Andrew Sean Greer)

“You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can't say yes--it would be too awkward--and you can't say no--it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of invitations to half-baked literary events around the world.

QUESTION: How do you arrange to skip town?

ANSWER: You accept them all.

What would possibly go wrong? Arthur Less will almost fall in love in Paris, almost fall to his death in Berlin, barely escape to a Moroccan ski chalet from a Saharan sandstorm, accidentally book himself as the (only) writer-in-residence at a Christian Retreat Center in Southern India, and encounter, on a desert island in the Arabian Sea, the last person on Earth he wants to face. Somewhere in there: he will turn fifty. Through it all, there is his first love. And there is his last.

Because, despite all these mishaps, missteps, misunderstandings and mistakes, LESS is, above all, a love story.
A scintillating satire of the American abroad, a rumination on time and the human heart, a bittersweet romance of chances lost, by an author The New York Times has hailed as "inspired, lyrical," "elegiac," "ingenious," as well as "too sappy by half," LESS shows a writer at the peak of his talents raising the curtain on our shared human comedy.”

It's a rare novel in the LGBTQ section which takes the approach of having an aging protagonist - particularly a male one. Those of us who have read A Single Man may find themselves more than a little bit wary of the concept, particularly as there's an even smaller percentage of these novels which end in any remotely happy manner. But Andrew Sean Greer's Less is nothing if not a comfort book. Almost naive in its sheer optimism, it entirely subverts the "tragedy porn" stereotype associated with media surrounding older gay characters, relentlessly pursuing the idea that love and happiness will always win out, no matter how bleak things may look. Less is an absolutely lovely novel, with an absolutely lovely protagonist, who makes the book well worth reading time and time again. 
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​9. Carol / The Price of Salt (Patricia Highsmith)

“Patricia Highsmith's story of romantic obsession may be one of the most important, but still largely unrecognized, novels of the twentieth century. First published in 1952 and touted as "the novel of a love that society forbids," the book soon became a cult classic.

Based on a true story plucked from Highsmith's own life, Carol tells the riveting drama of Therese Belivet, a stage designer trapped in a department-store day job, whose routine is forever shattered by a gorgeous epiphany—the appearance of Carol Aird, a customer who comes in to buy her daughter a Christmas toy. Therese begins to gravitate toward the alluring suburban housewife, who is trapped in a marriage as stultifying as Therese's job. They fall in love and set out across the United States, ensnared by society's confines and the imminent disapproval of others, yet propelled by their infatuation. Carol is a brilliantly written story that may surprise Highsmith fans and will delight those discovering her work.”

Particularly given the repressive post-war era that it was written in, it's little wonder that this novel has gone down as a classic ever since its modern rise to popularity. Although it falls perhaps more into the category of "strange obsession story" than "love story," Carol is nevertheless an enticingly nuanced story about the intensity of new love between two women, in an era where it's considered shameful. While it doesn't perhaps have the entertainment or the flare of contemporary LGBTQ literature, and there's discourse about whether the ending can be considered "happy" or not, it is an old and rare example of literature in this category that doesn't end on a positively tragic note. For those who are interested in period pieces, particularly those written during the time frame they depict, this is an excellent choice. 

10. Everything Leads to You (Nina LaCour)

“A wunderkind young set designer, Emi has already started to find her way in the competitive Hollywood film world.
 
Emi is a film buff and a true romantic, but her real-life relationships are a mess. She has desperately gone back to the same girl too many times to mention. But then a mysterious letter from a silver screen legend leads Emi to Ava. Ava is unlike anyone Emi has ever met. She has a tumultuous, not-so-glamorous past, and lives an unconventional life. She’s enigmatic…. She’s beautiful. And she is about to expand Emi’s understanding of family, acceptance, and true romance.”
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If you're looking for a novel that features an LGBTQ romance that doesn't completely dominate the entire narrative, this one's for you. Although both of the main characters are unashamed in their mutual love of women, this story is much more prominently about the process of learning to fight for the kind of life and love that you deserve. Despite its somewhat slow pace, this is an extremely visual novel in which each scene seems to practically play out before your eyes like the very same movies the characters work on. If you're a fan of films, the in-depth description of the world of movie making will surely appeal to you.