A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo
The Wicker King by K. Ancrum
Temper by Layne Fargo
The Better Liar by Tanen Jones
After the Eclipse and The Final Child (September 8) by Fran Dorricott
A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo
The Wicker King by K. Ancrum
Temper by Layne Fargo
The Better Liar by Tanen Jones
After the Eclipse and The Final Child (September 8) by Fran Dorricott
Continuing in the tradition that’s been happening on this blog since…last year, I’m documenting some of the many literary accolades that’ve been heaped on incredible LGBTQIAP+ works this year, partly to help you find great books but mostly just so we can bask in the joyous glory. Without further ado, check out what’s been deemed this year’s best of the best!
The Pants Project by Cat Clarke: Kirkus’s Best Middle-Grade School and Friendship Stories of 2017
Felix Yz by Lisa Bunker: NPR’s Best Books of 2017
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater: a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017, a B&N Best Book of 2017, School Library Journal‘s Best Nonfiction of 2017, a Kirkus Best Teen Nonfiction of 2017,
The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller: NPR’s Best Books of 2017
At the Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library
Dreadnought by April Daniels: a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017, a Kirkus Best Teen Fantasy of 2017
Sovereign by April Daniels, a Kirkus Best Teen Fantasy of 2017
Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens: a Kirkus Best Contemporary Teen Reads of 2017
Far From the Tree by Robin Benway: National Book Award winner, New York Times bestseller, Publishers Weekly Best YA of 2017, one of Bustle‘s 17 Best YA Novels of 2017, a Kirkus Best Contemporary Teen Reads of 2017, Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, a B&N Best Book of 2017, B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017, NPR’s Best Books of 2017
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee: New York Times bestseller, Publishers Weekly Best YA of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017, a Kirkus Best Teen Books of 2017 with a Touch of Humor, Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, one of Bustle‘s 17 Best YA Novels of 2017, a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017, a B&N Best Book of 2017, NPR’s Best Books of 2017, New York Magazine‘s 10 best YAs of 2017
Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard: Lambda Literary Award for YA Fiction
History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera: one of Time‘s best YAs of 2017
Ida by Alison Evans: shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2018
I Hate Everyone But You by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo: Stonewall Award (YA)
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan: B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017
It’s Not Like it’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura: a Kirkus Best Teen Romances of 2017
Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, School Library Journal Best YA of 2017, B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017
Like Water by Rebecca Podos: B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017
A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, a Kirkus Best Teen Mysteries and Thrillers of 2017, New York Magazine‘s 10 best YAs of 2017
Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert: a Kirkus Best Teen Romance of 2017, one of Bustle‘s 17 Best YA Novels of 2017, New York Magazine‘s 10 best YAs of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017
Noteworthy by Riley Redgate: a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017
Now I Rise by Kiersten White: B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017
Pride: Celebrating Diversity & Community by Robin Stevenson: Stonewall Honor (YA)
Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager: a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, a Kirkus Best Teen Romance of 2017
Release by Patrick Ness: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, a Kirkus Best Teen Romance of 2017
Spinning by Tillie Walden: Publishers Weekly Best YA of 2017, a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017, a B&N Best Book of 2017, Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2017 via Autostraddle,
Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera: New York Times bestseller, School Library Journal Best YA of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017, one of Bustle‘s 17 Best YA Novels of 2017, a Kirkus Best Teen Sci-Fi of 2017
This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp: New York Times bestseller
Unbecoming by Jenny Downham: Stonewall Honor (YA)
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour: Publishers Weekly Best YA of 2017, B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017, one of Bustle‘s 17 Best YA Novels of 2017, a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017, a B&N Best Book of 2017: Teens
When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore: Stonewall Honor (YA)
Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore: School Library Journal Best YA of 2017, a Kirkus Best Teen Romance of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017, Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi: a B&N Best Book of 2017, NPR’s Best Books of 2017
Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly: B&N Sci-Fi’s Best SFF Books of 2017
The Angel of History by Rabih Alameddine: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney: Elle‘s Best Books of 2017, Slate‘s Best Books of 2017, one of Buzzfeed’s 24 Best Fiction Books of 2017
Cottonmouths by Kelly J. Ford: a Los Angeles Review‘s Best Book of the Year
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado: National Book Award finalist, a Los Angeles Review‘s Best Book of the Year, winner of the Bard Fiction Prize, Kirkus Prize finalist, #1 Indie Next Pick for October 2017, Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2017 via Autostraddle, one of New York Times’ Critics’ Top Books of 2017, one of Washington Post‘s 50 Notable Works of Fiction in 2017, Los Angeles Times’ Best Books (Fiction) of 2017, Publishers Weekly Best Fiction of 2017, Chicago Tribune‘s Best Books of 2017, Kirkus’s Best Fiction of 2017, Boston Globe‘s Best Books of 2017, Elle‘s Best Books of 2017, NPR‘s Best Books of 2017, Slate‘s Best Books of 2017, Library Journal‘s Best Books (Short Stories) of 2017, Bustle‘s Best Fiction Books of 2017, Entropy Magazine‘s Best of 2017: Fiction Books, Huffington Post‘s The Best Fiction Books of 2017, one of Buzzfeed’s 24 Best Fiction Books of 2017, Commonweal‘s Top Books of 2017
Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn: Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction
Into the Blue by Pene Hanson: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Romance
Marrow Island by Alexis M. Smith: Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Fiction
Not One Day by Anne Garréta (trans. by Emma Ramadan): Entropy Magazine‘s Best of 2017: Fiction Books, Albertine Prize 2018 nominee
Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg: Kirkus’s Best Fiction to Get Your Book Club Talking of 2017
Small Beauty by jia qing wilson-yang: Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction
Soul to Keep by Rebekah Weatherspoon: Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Erotica
The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley: B&N Sci-Fi’s Best SFF Books of 2017, Kirkus’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2017
Wanted, a Gentleman by KJ Charles: a B&N Best Book of 2017
Thief in the Interior by Philip B. Williams: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry
play dead by francine j. harris: Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry (tie)
The Complete Works of Pat Parker edited by Julie R. Enszer: Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry (tie)
Reacquainted with Life, KOKUMO: Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Poetry
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen: Library Journal‘s Best Books of 2017 (Poetry)
How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS, David France: Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Nonfiction
Black Dove: Mama, Mi’jo, and Me by Ana Castillo: Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction
Life Beyond My Body: A Transgender Journey to Manhood in China by Lei Ming and Lura Frazey: Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction
Mean by Myriam Gurba: Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2017 via Autostraddle, Library Journal‘s Best Books of 2017 (Memoir)
To My Trans Sisters, ed. by Charlie Cregg: Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2017 via Autostraddle
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life: Essays by Samantha Irby: Autostraddle’s Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2017, one of New York Times’ Critics’ Top Books of 2017, Chicago Tribune’s Best Books of 2017, Elle‘s Best Books of 2017, NPR’s Best Books of 2017,
Pretty sure this month’s author needs no introduction to anyone who’s been reading queer lit in the past decade! I’m delighted to welcome Malinda Lo to the site as this month’s featured author, and to discuss her work past and present! Of course, she’s also familiar to many as one of YA’s biggest diversity advocates, and just published a new installment in her famous examination of LGBTQ publishing statistics (looking at 2015-16) that I encourage you to view if you haven’t yet. Now, let’s get to the books!
Let’s jump right to your new book, A Line in the Dark, which I think has probably pleasantly stunned a whole lot of your fans who might’ve thought they knew what to expect from a Malinda Lo book and now realize they have no clue. What about that story still really felt like You even though it’s outside of SFF?
Maybe the lesbians? 🙂 For me, crime fiction is my first love. I started devouring Nancy Drews when I was six years old and I’ve never looked back. This sounds evil, but murder mysteries are my go-to escape and relaxation reads. So even though I hadn’t written a mystery before A Line in the Dark, I knew how it was supposed to go from everything I’ve read over the years.
You’re definitely one of YA’s most prolific genre jumpers, debuting in fantasy and then moving on to sci-fi, then to a psychological thriller, and next up with historical! What genre(s) do you most see yourself continuing to write in, and why?
Lesbians. Is that a genre? Because I want to see queer women in every single genre there is.
It’s been a few years since your last YA novel, but some YA fans might not realize you’ve also been writing for Tremontaine. For those who aren’t familiar with the serial, what can you share about it and your role in it?
I actually only wrote for Season 1 of Tremontaine. It’s the prequel to Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint novels, which are set in a very bisexual place that feels Dangerous Liaisons meets The Three Musketeers. I was a staff writer, working with a bunch of other wonderful writers, and we plotted out the whole season together and then wrote our episodes (we called them episodes but they’re basically novelettes) individually.
I think it’s pretty safe to say that you’re basically the godmother of queer YA SFF, which I imagine is wild considering you debuted less than a decade ago. What was it like to be The Only One for the stretch that you were? What did you recommend to readers who asked, “I read and loved all your books; now what?”
Wow, yes that is wild. I did not enjoy being the only one! I kept (and still keep) a list of books I’ve read and loved that are about queer women, and that list includes plenty of stuff beyond SFF or YA. In fact, you can see it here: https://www.malindalo.com/recommended-reads/
What would you recommend for your fans now that there are some more options out there?
Audrey Coulthurst’s Of Fire and Stars! I’m biased, but she was in my Lambda Emerging Writers Workshop in 2013 and that’s the book we workshopped. I love it and can’t wait for the follow-up, Inkmistress. Also, C. B. Lee’s Not Your Sidekick and its follow-up, Not Your Villain, which I haven’t read yet but have heard such great things about. C. B. Lee was in my 2017 Lambda workshop and I know she’s a kickass writer so I have no doubt her books also kick ass.
In addition to your novels and the serial, you’ve also got contributions coming up in a bunch of anthologies. What can you share about your stories in All Out and Lift Off?
The short story in All Out was actually the basis for the novel I’m currently writing, which is a historical novel set in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 1950s. The story is about the moment a girl sees a queer woman and recognizes her as queer — and begins to recognize her own queerness, too. The story for Lift Off is titled “Meet Cute” (and has no relation to the anthology of the same name) and is a light romance about two girls who meet at a comic con.
Of all the work you’ve had in other venues and volumes, what’s your favorite that you wish reached more of your fans?
Oh, good question! I have a very soft spot for my story “The Twelfth Girl,” which is a retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” in the anthology Grim (Harlequin Teen). I got an email from a reader recently who read it completely unsuspecting that the story was queer, and she was so excited to discover that I’ve written more things. So I think people are reading it, but maybe not my typical audience. I want my typical readers to know I wrote them another queer fairy tale. And it’s urban fantasy!
In additional to writing, you’ve also been a faculty member at the Lambda Literary Foundation. What’s the experience of working there like, and what should anyone aspiring to be a student there know about it?
It’s a really intense week because you’re spending it living in a dorm with dozens of queer writers. For many writers it might be the first time they’ve been in this kind of environment, so it can be overwhelming, but also very supportive. It’s so rewarding for me to give back to the queer community, and I love to work with queer writers. If you’re a queer writing thinking of applying, I suggest you polish up your best piece of writing and go for it. Don’t self-reject!
Your next book, Last Night at the Telegraph Club, is historical YA set in 1950s San Francisco, and releases in 2019. Anything you can tease us with about it until then?
Everybody can get a sneak peek at it when All Out is published in 2018!
With all the accomplishments you have under your belt, what at this moment is your proudest?
Surviving! So many writers from my debut year aren’t publishing anymore. This is a difficult industry, and I’m proud of myself for still being here and still writing. I hope people will enjoy my psychological thriller, and will stick around for all the genres I intend to write in.
***
(Yes, there’s already a Fave Five dedicated to queer YAs with East Asian female leads, but those are largely by non-Asian/Hapa authors, because it predated the announcements of a few of these books. There’s no overlap in titles, so make sure you check out both posts!)
A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo (Thriller)
Noteworthy by Riley Redgate (Contemp)
Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee (Sci-Fi)
Serpentine and Sacrifice by Cindy Pon (Fantasy)*
*Queer character is secondary in Serpentine, primary in Sacrifice
Seven Tears at High Tide by C.B. Lee (Fantasy)
Bonus: In NA, check out Hold Me by Courtney Milan (Contemp Romance)