YA by Trope/Theme

*Upcoming
^Allocishet protag
For Romance tropes, click here.

Coming Out

Lesbian

Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler~ (Amz)
Style by Chelsea M. Cameron
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters
Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen
Dirty London by Kelley York

Gay

Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
True Letters From a Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan
Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis
Date Me, Bryson Keller! by Kevin van Whye

Bisexual/Queer

*Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
Whatever. by S.J. Goslee
Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

Transgender/Non-Binary

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

Asexual/Demisexual

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann
Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee
Loveless by Alice Oseman (aroace)

Conversion Therapy

Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth (Amz)
All Eyes on Us by Kit Frick
*The Meadows by Stephanie Oakes
Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass
The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi

Crime

Echo After Echo by Amy Rose Capetta
Immoral Code by Lillian Clark – AA+
Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos
All Eyes on Us by Kit Frick
People Like Us by Dana Mele
All the Things We Do in the Dark by Saundra Mitchell
A Good Idea by Cristina Moracho
Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig
White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig
Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig – B+
Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan
I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan
Far From You by Tess Sharpe
Trust Me, I’m Trouble by Mary Elizabeth Summer
Sadie by Courtney Summers

Drag

Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju
Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig
Drag Teen by Jeffery Self

Epistolary

Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
I Hate Everyone But You by Gaby Dunn and Alison Raskin
Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson

Fandom

Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst and Paula Garner
How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by J.C. Lillis
Ship It by Britta Lundin
Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson
The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston
Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde – B+,~ (Amz)

Found Family

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum
Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

Friendship

Parentheticals are genders of friends in central friendship + number of queer characters in said friendship, e.g. (M/F, 2) means it’s about a male-female friendship and both are queer.

Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler (M/F, 1)
This is What it Feels Like by Rebecca K. Barrow (F/F/F, 1)
Top Ten by Katie Cotugno (M/F, 1)
The Resolutions by Mia Garcia (M/M/F/F, 1M1F)
Run by Kody Keplinger (F/F, 1)
The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis (M/M/M, 1)
You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan (M/F, 2)
Being Fishkill by Ruth Lehrer (F/F, unclear)
Meg & Linus by Hanna Nowinski (M/F, 2)
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (M/F, 2)
Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen (group)
Cherry by Lindsey Rosin (F/F/F/F, 1F)
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (M/M, 2)
The Rainbow Trilogy by Alex Sanchez (M/M/M, 3)
Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa (F/M/M, 2M)
Our Year of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon (M/F, 1M)
Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas (M/F, 2)
Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde (F/F/M, 1)
The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters (group)

Friendship Breakups

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
Over You by Amy Reed
We Used to Be Friends by Amy Spalding

Gaming

My Year Zero by Rachel Gold
Even if We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

Gender Identity

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
Birthday by Meredith Russo

Gentrification

By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery

Grieving/Mourning

Parent

37 Things I Love (in No Particular Order) by Kekla Magoon (Father)
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

Sibling

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman – A
The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle (Amz)
The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

Partner

The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown
Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters
Far From You by Tess Sharpe
History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (Amz)
Who I Was With Her by Nita Tyndall

Grandparent

The Confusion of Laurel Graham by Adrienne Kisner (Grandmother)
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour (Grandfather)
I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain by Will Walton (Grandfather)

Friend

A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner
Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

HIV/Aids

We Are Lost and Found by Helene Dunbar
Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen^
Poz by Christopher Koehler
The Porcupine of Truth by Bill Konigsberg^
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha

Hollywood

Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Going Off Script by Jen Wilde

Immigration

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

Intergenerational

Unbecoming by Jenny Downham

Mental Health

Female Protag

Top Ten by Katie Cotugno – B+ (anxiety)
10 Things I Can See From Here by Carrie Mac (anxiety)
Let’s Call it a Doomsday by Katie Henry (anxiety)
Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp (bipolar disorder)
Scars by Cheryl Rainfield (self-harm tw for cover) (depression, suicidal ideation)

Male Protag

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum
The Bridge by Bill Konigsberg (Depression w/suicidal ideation)
The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller (ED)
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera (Depression)
History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (OCD)

Non-Binary Protag

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (anxiety)
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin (anxiety)
Somebody Told Me by Mia Siegert (PTSD)

Music

This is What it Feels Like by Rebecca K. Barrow
I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee
It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland
The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde

Politics

The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson

Pregnancy

Belly Up by Eva Darrows
Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Hepperman
Girls Like Me by Nina Packebush

Pride/Stonewall

*Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackson
You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan
*When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson

Questioning (Gender)

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Birthday by Meredith Russo
Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz

Questioning (Sexuality)

Female MC

*Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman – A
Look Both Ways by Alison Cherry (Amz)
The Sky Always Hears Me: And the Hills Don’t Mind by Kirstin Cronn-Mills
Let’s Call it a Doomsday by Katie Henry
Ask the Passengers by AS King
Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

Male MC

We Are Totally Normal by Rahul Kanakia
Deposing Nathan by Zack Smedley

Religion

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown (Amz)
Let’s Call it a Doomsday by Katie Henry
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
Autoboyography by Christina Lauren
How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by JC Lillis
Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen

Retelling/Reimagining

His Hideous Heart ed. by Dahlia Adler (various works by Edgar Allan Poe)
*That Way Madness Lies ed. by Dahlia Adler (various works by Shakespeare)
Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (Snow White)
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block (The Odyssey)
Nothing Happened by Molly Booth (Much Ado About Nothing)
Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (King Arthur)
The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer (Hades-Persephone myth)
The Seafarer’s Kiss by Julia Ember (The Little Mermaid)
Ruinsong by Julia Ember (The Phantom of the Opera)
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake (Twelfth Night)
The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode (Cinderella)
Lizzie by Dawn Ius (Lizzie Borden)
About A Girl by Sarah McCarry (Amz)
*Escaping Mr. Rochester by L.L. McKinney (Jane Eyre)
Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore (Snow White and Rose Red)
Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore (The Red Shoes)
Sometime After Midnight by L. Philips (Cinderella)
Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim (The Count of Monte Cristo)
As I Descended by Robin Talley (Macbeth)
Outrun the Wind by Elizabeth Tammi (Atalanta myth)

Revenge

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender – T
People Like Us by Dana Mele
A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith – B+

Road Trip

Looking for Group by Rory Harrison
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee – B

Royalty

Contemporary

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

Fantasy

The Rules of Ever After by Killian Brewer
Of Fire and Stars and Of Ice and Shadows by Audrey Coulthurst – B (Amz)
The Impostor Queen, The Cursed Queen, and The True Queen by Sarah Fine – B
Rule by Ellen Goodlett
Empirium by Claire Legrand

School Violence

That’s Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger – A+
This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Secret Relationships

Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters
Who I Was With Her by Nita Tyndall

Sexual Assault

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake – B+
Just Girls by Rachel Gold
*The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore – P

Social Media

Includes books about blogs, vlogs, and podcasts

Gena/Finn by Kat Helgeson and Hannah Moskowitz
Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

Space

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum
The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper

Sports