- Links to booklists, reviews and other things to do with YA lesbian literature
- Some quick reviews of books we've read
- List of recommended Nonfiction and Anthologies
- Misc 'see more' links.
This is a selection of recommended titles for lesbian teens. Most GLBT books for teenagers focus on coming out, although a few other storylines are starting to be written and published.
All these book lists focus on lesbian YA fiction, unless otherwise stated.
- Full list of lesbian young adult fiction
- Contemporary Fiction
- Fiction by Country/State
- Fantasy & Science Fiction
- Historical Fiction
- With A Non-Lesbian Main Character
- Transgender Fiction
- Yuri manga (all books published in English)
- Award-winning young adult lesbian books
- Browse all young adult reviews
- Shop for Young adult lesbian books on Amazon
Some Quick Reviews:
Ash by Malinda Lo is a young adult fantasy version of Cinderella, with more fairies, nominated for several awards. Malinda Lo recently published another lesbian romance set in the same world, called Huntress, which follows a standard quest storyline and is a much better book. But they'd make a very good pair to read together.Read the review of Ash
Read the review of Huntress
Buy Ash on Amazon
Buy Huntress on Amazon
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden is a landmark young adult book. Written in 1982, it is now a classic that has never been out of print and has received several awards. Nancy Garden specialises in young adult coming out stories, and this was arguably her greatest. It follows two seventeen year old girls in New York as they fall in love and learn they have options.
Read the review of Annie on My Mind
More about Nancy Garden
Buy Annie on My Mind on Amazon
Hey, Dollface by Deborah Hautzig is an incredibly sweet book that I remember reading and re-reading when I was younger. It follows two 15 year old girls as they become best friends and start blurring the edges of intimacy.
Read the review of Hey, Dollface
Buy Hey, Dollface on Amazon
About A Girl by Joanne Horniman is a passionate, lively read for older teens about a ... well, about two girls in Australia. The narrator, Anna, a bright moody redhead, and the lovely and unpredictable bisexual Flynn who forms a chapter of love and loss in Anna's life between parental divorce, depression, jobs and university.
Read the review of About A Girl
Buy About A Girl on Amazon
Skim by Mariko & Jillian Tamaki is a black and white graphic novel that charts the coming of age of a teenage girl, amidst LGBT suicide, teen lesbian crushes and depression. It has been nominated for and won, numerous awards.
Read the review of Skim
Buy Skim
on Amazon
Gravity
by Leanne Lieberman (2008)A sweet, serious Jewish girl who goes through a year of internal conflict, coming to terms with herself, her future, her Judaism, and her crush on another girl, who doesn't love her back.
Read the review of Gravity
Buy Gravity on Amazon
Recommended Nonfiction & Anthologies for all Libraries:
Reader guides that cover GLBTQ teen literature:
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Teen Literature: A Guide to Reading Interests by Carlisle K. Webber (2010)
- Over the Rainbow: Queer Children's and Young Adult Literature by by Kenneth B. Kidd & Michelle Ann Abate (2011)
- Am I Blue?: Coming Out from the Silence
- Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth and Their Allies
by Ellen Bass
- The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities
- Gay America: Struggle for Equality
by Linas Alsenas
- GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens
- Hear Us Out!: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope, 1950 to the Present
by Nancy Garden
- The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-2004
- Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws
by Kate Bornstein
- How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity by various authors
- It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living
by Dan Savage
- Lesbian and Gay Youth
- One Teacher in Ten: Gay and Lesbian Educators Tell Their Stories
- OutSpoken: Role Models from the Lesbian and Gay Community
by Michael Thomas Ford
- Passages Of Pride
by Kurt Chandler
- Queer 13: Lesbian And Gay Writers Recall Seventh Grade
by Clifford Chase
- Rhythm and Blues
by Jill Murray
- The Shared Heart: Portraits and Stories Celebrating Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young People
by Adam Mastoon
- Straight Parents, Gay Children: Keeping Families Together
by Michael Thomas Ford
- Telling Tales Out of School
- Two Teenagers in 20: Writings by Gay and Lesbian Youth (Transworld)
by Ann Heron (Editor)
- The World Out There: Becoming Part of the Lesbian and Gay Community
The Full List of Lesbian YA Fiction
This the most complete list of YA lesbian fiction we know of - most GLBT teen fiction doesn't distinguish the lesbian fiction from the rest, so while there are some very good resources... they don't help if you're only looking for lesbian fiction. The titles below have been gathered from lists, reviews, recommendations, actually reading them and randomly searching the internet for mentions!
Malinda Lo recently analysed the numbers of published queer young adult fiction in the USA and found that less than 1% of young adult novels have queer characters - and only a quarter of those feature lesbian characters. So we feel safe in saying this is pretty much all of them.
For more specific lists (e.g. by genre) check the links at the start of this page.
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