Welcome back to Around the Blogosqueer, where we take a closer look at a delightfully rainbow-y corner of the internet! Today we’re checking out #BiYABooks, a Twitter chat about YA books with bisexual main characters, run by three YA authors!

#BiYABooks grew out of an IRL discussion between authors Mackenzi Lee (@TheMackenziLee) and Rebecca Wells (@rebeccawriting) about the lamentable lack of young adult books featuring bisexual main characters. When they took this discussion to Twitter late last year, they got a ton of great responses pointing them toward bi representation in books. It was phenomenal to see what they had been missing, but it did make them think that maybe part of the problem was that while these books did exist, not enough people were hearing about them! So Mackenzi and Rebecca invited author Ashley Herring Blake (@ashleyhblake) to team up and started #BiYABooks as a way to showcase, examine, and celebrate that bisexual representation.

When selecting books to discuss for the chat, Mackenzi, Rebecca, and Ashley try to pick a variety, including contemporary, speculative, and historical. They also try to select books that feature bisexual main characters of all genders, color, varying religions, and abilities. They are hopeful that intersectional books will increase in number and availability and that, before too long, bisexual teens will have a much easier time finding themselves between the pages of a book.

• Far From You by Tess Sharpe
• Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
• Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz
• Adaptation by Malinda Lo
• Coda by Emma Trevayne

And what’s up next?

Over You by Amy Reed

Max would follow Sadie anywhere, so when Sadie decides to ditch her problems and escape to Nebraska for the summer, it’s only natural for Max to go along. Max is Sadie’s confidante, her protector, and her best friend. This summer will be all about them. This summer will be perfect.

And then they meet Dylan. Dylan is dark, dangerous, and intoxicating, and he awakens something in Max that she never knew existed. No matter how much she wants to, she can’t back away from him.

But Sadie has her own intensity, and has never allowed Max to become close with anyone else. Max doesn’t know who she is without Sadie, but she’d better start learning. Because if she doesn’t make a decision about Dylan, about Sadie, about herself it’s going to be made for her.

Tune in at 9 p.m EST on August 23rd to discuss!

And finally, get to know the authors behind the chat!

Rebecca Wells is an overly enthusiastic book peddler (otherwise known as a manager at an independent bookstore) specializing in children’s literature. When not shouting on the internet about her newest favorites, she writes (mostly) YA (mostly) fantasy books, which are represented by the fabulous Rebecca Podos at Rees Literary. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Simmons College and has too many books on her nightstand.

Mackenzi Lee is a reader, writer, bookseller, unapologetic fangirl, and fast talker. She holds a BA in history and an MFA from Simmons College in writing for children and young adults. Her young adult historical fantasy novel, This Monstrous Thing, which won the PEN-New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award, is out now from HarperCollins. Her second book, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, a historical adventure novel about boys in love, will be released in 2017. She loves Diet Coke, sweater weather, and Star Wars.

Ashley Herring Blake is a reader, writer, and mom to two boisterous boys. She holds a Master’s degree in teaching and loves coffee, arranging her books by color, and watching Buffy over and over again on Netflix with her friends. Her young adult contemporary novel, Suffer Love, is out now from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Her second book, How to Make a Wish, another contemporary about a bisexual girl in the throes of a toxic relationship with her mother all the while falling in love with another girl, will release in 2017. Girl Made of Stars, a book about a girl whose twin brother is accused of rape, will release in 2018.