01 | August | 2016 | LGBTQ Reads

For those of you who feel like you’ve already read every LGBTQIAP+ book in existence, not to worry – there’s plenty still to come! Every TBRainbow Alert will have a mix of five LGBTQIAP+ titles to make sure are on your radar, along with three reasons why you should know them. If you missed the earlier alerts, you can check out those titles here. And now, a few more coming up in 2016!

Title: Tattoo Atlas (October 18)
Author: Tim Floreen
Genre/Category: YA Near-Futuristic Thriller
Rainbow details: gaaaaay
Why put it on your radar?
1. Well, I it got on mine because Shaun David Hutchinson effusively recommended it, which is a pretty good reason.
2. The first three words of the blurb are “A teenage sociopath,” which, honestly, is about all it takes to get me to read something.
3. I was promised kissing. We were all promised kissing. Let’s read kissing.

Title: Looking for Group (August 29)
Author: Alexis Hall
Genre/Category: Contemporary Romance
Rainbow details: m/m
Why put it on your radar?
1. Hi, this is Alexis Hall, author of For Real? That little book that just won a RITA?
2. Nerd books are my crack, and I know I’m not alone. I’m not even into gaming but somehow gaming romances are just the best.
3. It’s reportedly fairly light on the romance aspects, so if you’ve been looking for that (as I know many of you have), you can feel safe about picking this one up!

Title: Beast (October 11)
Author: Brie Spangler
Genre/Category: Contemporary YA
Rainbow details: trans LI
Why put it on your radar?
1. Trans romance in YA! Yeah, needless to say, those are not common, even with a cishet MC. (And I personally like that the MC is decidedly straight rather than further reinforcing that only queer people date trans people.)
2. It’s an interesting look at dysphoria all around and the many different ways it manifests.
3. Retelling alert! Beast is actually a Contemp YA Beauty and the Beast, with the exceedingly large, hirsuite MC as the Beast and the LI as Beauty.

Title: The Other Boy (September 20)
Author: M.G. Hennessey
Genre/Category: Contemporary MG
Rainbow details: Trans boy MC
Why put it on your radar?
1. Not to be predictable, but…it’s a trans boy MG, which is practically nonexistent. (And it’s really heartening not to see a deadname in the title or blurb, besides.)
2. The main character, Shane, is already out to his family and on hormones, which is something we’re only just starting to get in YA, but really did not have in MG.
3. Has a supportive parent and a therapist. Bless.

Title: Labyrinth Lost (September 6)
Author: Zoraida Cordova
Genre/Category: YA Fantasy
Rainbow details: bi female MC
Why put it on your radar?
1. Bi girl of color! Bi girl of color! And there’s an interracial f/f romance where neither character is white.
2. This book is so vividly drawn, it feels like a Brooklyn Brujas version of Alice in Wonderland.
3. So. Much. Cultural infusion. And it is awesome.

Two things that are seriously rare in LGBTQIAP+ YA are intersectionally diverse books and lighter contemporary with happy endings, especially for queer girls. In her sophomore novel, the awesome Sara Farizan brings both, making this a Must Read of the highest order.
High-school junior Leila has made it most of the way through Armstead Academy without having a crush on anyone, which is something of a relief. Her Persian heritage already makes her different from her classmates; if word got out that she liked girls, life would be twice as hard. But when a sophisticated, beautiful new girl, Saskia, shows up, Leila starts to take risks she never thought she would, especially when it looks as if the attraction between them is mutual. Struggling to sort out her growing feelings and Saskia’s confusing signals, Leila confides in her old friend, Lisa, and grows closer to her fellow drama tech-crew members, especially Tomas, whose comments about his own sexuality are frank, funny, wise, and sometimes painful. Gradually, Leila begins to see that almost all her classmates are more complicated than they first appear to be, and many are keeping fascinating secrets of their own.