Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler (YA)
For Her Consideration by Amy Spalding
The Hollywood Series by Jae
Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
Tag Archives: Under the Lights
Happy National Coming Out Day!
Happy National Coming Out Day! And what better way to celebrate than with featuring some Coming Out books?
Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig
Flynn’s girlfriend has disappeared. How can he uncover her secrets without revealing his own?
Flynn’s girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking questions he can’t answer, and her friends are telling stories that don’t add up. All eyes are on Flynn—as January’s boyfriend, he must know something.
But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January’s disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
George by Alex Gino
When people look at George, they see a boy. But George knows she’s a girl.
George thinks she’ll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte’s Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can’t even try out for the part … because she’s a boy.
With the help of her best friend Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte – but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.
George is a candid, genuine, and heartwarming middle grade about a transgender girl who is, to use Charlotte’s word, R-A-D-I-A-N-T!
Buy it: Laurel Bookstore * Powell’s * Books Inc * Oblong Books & Music * Indie Bound * iBooks * Google Play * Kobo * Barnes & Noble * Amazon
Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler
Josh Chester loves being a Hollywood bad boy, coasting on his good looks, his parties, his parents’ wealth, and the occasional modeling gig. But his laid-back lifestyle is about to change. To help out his best friend, Liam, he joins his hit teen TV show, Daylight Falls…opposite Vanessa Park, the one actor immune to his charms. (Not that he’s trying to charm her, of course.) Meanwhile, his drama-queen mother blackmails him into a new family reality TV show, with Josh in the starring role. Now that he’s in the spotlight—under everyone’s terms but his own—Josh has to decide whether a life as a superstar is the one he really wants.
Vanessa Park has always been certain about her path as an actor, despite her parents’ disapproval. But with all her relationships currently in upheaval, she’s painfully uncertain about everything else. When she meets her new career handler, Brianna, Van is relieved to have found someone she can rely on, now that her best friend, Ally, is at college across the country. But as feelings unexpectedly evolve beyond friendship, Van’s life reaches a whole new level of confusing. And she’ll have to choose between the one thing she’s always loved…and the person she never imagined she could.
Buy it: Amazon | B & N | The Book Depository | The Ripped Bodice
True Letters From a Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan
If you asked anyone in his small Vermont town, they’d tell you the facts: James Liddell, star athlete, decent student and sort-of boyfriend to cute, peppy Theresa, is a happy, funny, carefree guy.
But whenever James sits down at his desk to write, he tells a different story. As he fills his drawers with letters to the people in his world—letters he never intends to send—he spills the truth: he’s trying hard, but he just isn’t into Theresa. It’s a boy who lingers in his thoughts.
He feels trapped by his parents, his teammates, and the lies they’ve helped him tell, and he has no idea how to escape. Is he destined to live a life of fiction
Buy it: Amazon * B&N * IndieBound * Books-A-Million
Style by Chelsea Cameron
Kyle Blake likes plans. So far, they’re pretty simple: Finish her senior year of high school, head off to a good college, find a cute boyfriend, graduate, get a good job, get married, the whole heterosexual shebang. Nothing is going to stand in the way of that plan. Not even Stella Lewis.
Stella Lewis also has a plan: Finish her senior year as cheer captain, go to college, finally let herself flirt with (and maybe even date) a girl for the first time and go from there.
Fate has other plans for Kyle and Stella when they’re paired up in their AP English class and something between them ignites. It’s confusing and overwhelming and neither of them know what to do about it. One thing they do know is that their connection can’t be ignored. The timing just isn’t right.
But is there ever a good time for falling in love?
Buy it: Amazon
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
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 Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.
With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. 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.
One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva
Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshman year of high school. He never could’ve predicted that he’d meet someone like Ethan.
Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he’s barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it’s time to think again.
Buy it: Amazon
Fave Five: F/F YA to Read if You Loved Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan
A&B by JC Lillis
Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde
The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in LA) by Amy Spalding
Bonus: Seemed a little obvious to include in the five, but: Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
Double Bonus: This is literally just more recommendations; so sue me: Dating Sarah Cooper by Siera Maley, Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler, Style by Chelsea M. Cameron, and Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley.
Fave Five: Hollywood F/F
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler
The Hollywood Series by Jae
The Gravity Between Us by Kristen Zimmer
And Playing the Role of Herself by K.E. Layne
LGBThanksgiving!
I asked people to tell me the LGBTQIAP+ books they’re most thankful for, in honor of American Thanksgiving coming up this week, and here’s what they had to say! (And if these happen to encourage you to do some holiday shopping, all the better!)
Only one? Quicksilver by RJ Anderson. Read it when I was feeling uncertain about being ace; it was validating to see it named.
— Miriam Joy (@miriamjoywrites) November 20, 2016
#SimonvsTheHomoSapiensAgenda because this book can make me smile when I’m sad and stressed, and I love it so much.
— Priscilla (@brokebackjoker) November 20, 2016
#SimonvsTheHomoSapiensAgenda -A real lightbulb ‘oh that’s totally me there on the page’ book.
— Ian Cann (@thebeercolonel) November 20, 2016
“Patience and Sarah” because the LGBT community deserves happy endings 🙂
— Agata Weronika (@Aqueda_Veronica) November 20, 2016
ROLLER GIRL by @VanessaNWrites. Having a trans woman/cis woman relationship in a book means a lot to me.
— Caissa Casarez (@cmcasarez) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Thankful for Lumberjanes because it’s an all ages comic with Queer and Trans kids that I’d wish I’d been able to read as a kid.
— Susan Rose (@bookishsusan) November 20, 2016
The QoLV series by Kris Ripper. LGTBQ+ chars, a queer community that doesn’t ignore POCs, and v. entertaining MCs.
— Ariadna (@mazingergirlie) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads @MikalebRoehrig‘s Last Seen Leaving bc it deals w/ realizing love exists in many different ways & understanding love is complex
— Katja (@BastiansMom) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads @audwrites Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. Queer all the way through: characters, world, the lot. Charming too.
— Justina Robson (@JustinaRobson) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads it’s NSFW but the 2012 edition of Smut Peddler anthology. Sex positivity and happy endings for queer folks.
— hiding in a fridge (@adrianfridge) November 20, 2016
Kindness for Weakness by Shawn Goodman. It really opened my eyes to the juvenile justice system and its flaws. https://t.co/cCCjm4FCWI
— Kira Hawke (@kira_hawke) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, because I related to it so well, and even the side characters are well rounded.
— Roya Hellbender (@RoyaHellbender) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads DUH, Under the Lights, the book of my heart.
— serena (@serenareads13) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Suicide Notes it was the first lgbt book i have ever read
— . (@M1CHAEL_T1LLMAN) November 20, 2016
.@LGBTQReads By The Light of my Father’s Smile by Alice Walker. Helped me figure myself out as a teenager. Showed me there could be joy.
— Sarah Kay Moll (@skmoll) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads it’s NSFW but the 2012 edition of Smut Peddler anthology. Sex positivity and happy endings for queer folks.
— hiding in a fridge (@adrianfridge) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit because I think I’m in love with Mary Carlson and it was feel-good, Christian, & f/f
— Rebecca (@rebeccasteele_) November 20, 2016
JULIET TAKES A BREATH by @QuirkyRican-related so much to being disillusioned by white feminism+being token brown person in some rooms. https://t.co/n9dzeBPej2
— Janani (@TheShrinkette) November 20, 2016
Dating Sarah Cooper by Siera Maley. It’s fun & adorable & bi rep & I love it. https://t.co/gQDUObdQew
— Ashley Herring Blake (@ashleyhblake) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads ARI & DANTE bc it explores the intersections b/w queer and Hispanic identities and shows that it’s normal to doubt yourself 🌈
— Adriana (@perpetualpages) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Radio Silence by Alice Oseman because there are queer characters but their story isn’t focused on romantic/sexual relationship.
— Katja (@Xitty) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads The Merro Tree by Katie Waitman. Queer+survivor+art+struggle+joy, shelved in SFF like all this could actually be “normal.” 1997.
— Kate De Groot (@kilkennykat_9) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Ash by @malindalo I am obsessed with fresh spins on classic fairy tales and this delivers. A beautifully told, delicate jewel
— braveandreckless (@Christabelle666) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Ahh so hard! NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED because I really identified with not fitting neatly into any one box.
— 🍁Sarah Kettles🍂 (@sfkettles) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads EVERYTHING LEADS TO YOU, because friendship, romance, fairytale situations, and beautiful storytelling.
— Jaye Robin Brown (@JayeRobinBrown) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Stygian by santino hassell-bc i love paranormal, and never got to see myself in it as a voracious teen reader ❤️
— not normalizing shit (@SaraTheBeth) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Try by @EllaFrank2012 because it was my first and recommended to me by a mormon.Made me see how powerful (and HOT) the genre is.
— Lucy Lennox (@lucylennoxMM) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads, Gives Light by Rose Christo for its beautiful storytelling and wonderfully real characters & setting. Great #ownvoices YA read
— Gay Romance NW (@GayRom_NW) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads SUNDAY YOU LEARN HOW TO BOX by Bil Wright bc it was the 1st book with a queer black protag that mirrored my experience
— Wes Kennedy (@heyweskennedy) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads #BadBoy by @ElliotWake (coming soon). Trans rep by a trans author. Such a good thing to see in books.
— Eli (@elknight20) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Riley Redgate’s SEVEN WAYS WE LIE will always hold a special place in my heart for the explicit pansexual rep in YA.
— Chasia Lloyd (@WriterCMLloyd) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads WHEN THE MOON WAS OURS, for portraying a transboy as a desirable hero and showing the uh, result of that desire on the page!
— Chase Night (@TheChaseNight) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads JULIET TAKES A BREATH because it manages to be Queer 101, Intersectional Feminism 101, and a plain good book all at once.
— fae af (@alyssakeiko) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads I’m thankful for YOU KNOW ME WELL for giving us hope in a dark time
— Stephanie Autry (@autry_stephanie) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads TELL ME AGAIN by Farizan. For having a lesbian of color that tackles cultural identity, supportive but complicated family.
— Sue (@SueYAHollywood) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads not your sidekick by cb lee! bc i finally saw myself & my culture in this book 🌸
— d i e p 🌻 (@rykemeadovvs) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads #georgiapeaches by @JayeRobinBrown bc it has real queer girls & shows the struggle & compromise b/n queerness & faith
— MacYork’s (@hlmacyork) November 20, 2016
@kj_charles‘s Society of Gentlemen series, because even in the face of this election it helped me escape. #bestever
— Alicia (@zootlet2) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads I an thankful for Hold by @RDavidsonLeigh exploring grief and letting me really start to process it in my life.
— Emily Jan (@janecdotes) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Girl Mans Up by @ME_Girard for having a protagonist who looks like me.
— Gwen C. Katz (@gwenckatz) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads @avongalewrites Making Gay History – a fantastic collection of first-hand accounts from the early LGBT civil rights movement
— Winter Tashlin (@wintersong) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads my students and I loved One Man Guy by @mibarakiva – it was one of our summer reading choices this year.
— Ms. Elisabeth Yucis (@MsYucis) November 20, 2016
Tipping the Velvet bc it was the first lesbian romance I ever read that was 100% concerned w queer women’s’ experiences https://t.co/J5Y24oa8eA
— K Lucas McKay (@KLucasMcKay) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Curious Wine, because it forced me to accept that I was queer and because it’s a amazing book!!! #LaneAndDianaForever
— Crystal Dawn Roby (@Roby32888) November 21, 2016
@LGBTQReads Reading Delta of Venus by Anais Nin at sixteen mapped my understanding of nonbinary desire.
— Michelle Ruiz Keil (@MichelleRKeil) November 21, 2016
How I Paid For College. 1st book I read where friends were still friends when one came out. https://t.co/R5xKPIkKA2
— Weezie (@bookstorebae) November 21, 2016
Juliet Takes a Breath by @QuirkyRican for being all the words I needed as a teen, but still changed everything at 29. https://t.co/fYbLsy9GtO
— Tehlor Kay Mejia (@tehlorkay) November 21, 2016
@LGBTQReads True Letters from a Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan bc it goes through the process of accepting being gay and it’s beautiful
— A. Ali (@jujo026) November 21, 2016
@LGBTQReads Almost Like Being in Love bc it shows how easy it is to write queer love stories without angst and is just a romcom in book form
— Tasha (@tashpaula) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Purple Prose: Bisexuality in the UK, cos there’s been nothing like it for 20+ years. Plus its a fab book, edited by @katyha
— Black Mystery Month (@applewriter) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology because it allowed me to reclaim my identity as a native bisexual man
— Sahoni #NoDAPL (@Sahoni_Stuff) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads So glad I read Eli Clare’s Exile and Pride, it was one of the core books that politicized me around disability. (Thats nonfic)
— Corey Alexander (@TGStoneButch) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads The Traitor Baru Cormorant for incorporating anti-imperialism and for having such complex and memorable queer characters.
— Maya Chhabra (@mayachhabra) November 20, 2016
.@LGBTQReads The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle because sexual ID is just one of the things teens/ YAs are exploring.
— KenyaIsTheBossOfYou (@BookedUpBoss) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads Clancy of the Undertow by @furioushorses. Flawed, normal, likeable characters. SO Australian. It’s the book I needed 15yrs ago.
— Jessica Walton (@JessHealyWalton) November 20, 2016
the art of being normal by @lisa_letters. it’s the first and only book i’ve read with a trans character i could relate to https://t.co/38WiCQddo1
— miki 🙋🏾♂️ (@Ieepark) November 20, 2016
@LGBTQReads THE ABYSS SURROUNDS US bc it proves that it’s easily possible to include poc & lgbt in fantasy books without too much effort
— Avery☕️ (@bookdeviant) November 20, 2016
.@LGBTQReads ‘Tim & Pete’ by James Robert Baker. A stunning burst of rage and radicalism, the antithesis of “it gets better” homonormativity
— Snow Pulse Buoy (@nanayasleeps) November 21, 2016
Demon Road series by Derek Landy. In a year where lesbians keep dying in media they finally found a happy ending. In a horror book. https://t.co/uHWXOxyP5m
— T.D.K (@LethargicWonder) November 20, 2016
Definitely @MissDahlELama‘s UNDER THE LIGHTS because Asian rep + amazing F/F love story ❤️ https://t.co/AnYnacDzeO
— Hazel Ureta (@staybookish) November 22, 2016
Ash by Malinda Lo. I read it and was… YOU CAN DO THIS?? You can write queer girls in fantasy novels?? And I’ve been doing just that since. https://t.co/VoGicMa4Rn
— Jaylee James ✨ (@thewritingj) November 21, 2016
Annie on My Mind-really sad but is the first book that made me go OH 😮 https://t.co/AcAlYmT5U9
— Amy Michelle (@GeminiDragonAM) November 22, 2016
The God Eaters, by Jesse Hajicek. All day, every day. https://t.co/DJdnSDZ5IT
— Agatha Bitchy (@oddmonstr) November 22, 2016
Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger. It was intensely relatable and eye-opening at a rather pivotal time in my life. https://t.co/NjIfBTE1tb
— Andy Pennell (@TheWarQueer) November 22, 2016
oranges are not the only fruit because it opened my brain up to new ways of being, loving and seeing!! https://t.co/yZzWvw3T2s
— internet saint (@_Lily_Luna_) November 22, 2016
SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by @beckyalbertalli. It’s the novel I needed at 16 and am so damn happy having at 26. So happy it exists! https://t.co/x4BBDlTq6Z
— ADAM SILVERA (@AdamSilvera) November 22, 2016
@LGBTQReads #WeAreTheAnts because this book shows grief/loss in different way, but can still show people can get through it being happy.
— Israel Leon (@IsraelL26630520) November 22, 2016
@LGBTQReads THE HOUSE OF HADES BC COMING OUT STORIES NEED NOT BE TRAGIC ALL THE TIME BUT ACCEPTING AND AWKWARD
— +Sarah+ (@SarahSecret666) November 22, 2016
More Happy Than Not by @AdamSilvera because even though it devastated me, it’s expertly written and the characters are great https://t.co/ezS9ZVDoPW
— #THWg (@LeNoirAuteur) November 22, 2016
@LGBTQReads Dare, Truth or Promise – Paula Boock. The only one that got into the school library under the Section 28 radar.
— Kathleen Jowitt (@KathleenJowitt) November 22, 2016
I’m damn happy I read “I’ll Give You The Sun” and “We Are The Ants”. Lovable characters who encouraged me in any way in my life. https://t.co/k1MqOqlJ2m
— clemi 🌚 (@deafpope) November 22, 2016
@LGBTQReads MY HEARTBEAT by Garret Freymann-Weyr was my introduction to bisexuality. So honest and sweet and doesn’t pander.
— hannah moskowitz (@hannahmosk) November 22, 2016
IF I WAS YOUR GIRL (@Mer_Squared) bc it’s the kind of book that’s going to save lives thru validation and empathy. https://t.co/ZTgiM5s6nl
— Preeti Chhibber (@runwithskizzers) November 22, 2016
@LGBTQReads The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd ❤️💛💚💙💜
— Khoshekh (@AJerund) November 22, 2016
@LGBTQReads HowToBeANormalPerson @tjklune. Friend recently came out as Ace. Having read the book, I could talk to, support & understand them
— Di Lancaster (@Di_Lanc) November 22, 2016
Fave Five: Queer BFF YAs
These are all dual-POV books in which at least one POV belongs to a queer character and the other belongs to a close friend, not a love interest.
Run by Kody Keplinger
You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan
Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler
Meg & Linus by Hanna Nowinski
Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde
Bonus: Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa is tri-POV, and two of those POVs belong to BFFs who are a gay guy and a straight girl;
Bonus #2: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman is single POV, but the BFFship is the core relationship of the story, and both BFFs are queer (bi and demi, respectively)
Fave Five: Contemporary f/f YA with Sex on the Page
Far From You by Tess Sharpe
Style by Chelsea M. Cameron
Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler
Cherry by Lindsey Rosin
Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen
Bonus: Coming in 2017, Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley and How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake
Fave Five: LGBTQ YA with East Asian Female MCs
Huntress by Malinda Lo (B, Chinese)
Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler (L, Korean)
Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace (B, Chinese)
The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie (L, Chinese)
A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith (B, Japanese)
Bonus: out in 2017 – It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura (L, Japanese)
Double bonus: graphic novel – Skim by Mariko Tamaki (Q, Japanese)
Fave Five: Contemp f/f NA
Black Iris and Cam Girl by Elliot Wake w/a Leah Raeder
Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon
The Good Girls by Teresa Mummert
Take Them by Storm by Marie Landry
Out on Good Behavior and Under the Lights (YA/NA) by Dahlia Adler
