YA by Trope/Theme

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

Adoption

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway
Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
Epically Earnest by Molly Horan
How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters

Bisexual Discourse

Topics include biphobia and/or compulsory heterosexuality

Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
*Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales
Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
We Are Totally Normal by Naomi Kanakia
Deposing Nathan by Zack Smedley
Follow Your Arrow by Jessica Verdi

Body Swapping

Where I End and You Begin by Preston Norton

Celebrity

Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler~ (Amz)
If This Gets Out by Cale Dietrich and Sophie Gonzales
Acting the Part by Z.R. Ellor
Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram
I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee
Flip the Script by Lyla Lee
Bad at Love by Gabriela Martin
It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland
The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde

Colonialism

Mirage by Somaiya Daud
She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

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
*Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl by Brianna R. Shrum and Sara Waxelbaum
Dirty London by Kelley York

Gay

Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
*Time Out by Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, and Carlyn Greenwald
True Letters From a Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan
The Magic Fish by Trung Lê Nguyễn
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/Pansexual

Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
*Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett
Whatever. by S.J. Goslee
The (Un)popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez
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
The (Un)popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez

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 – B+
Immoral Code by Lillian Clark – AA+
Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos
Aces Wild by Amanda DeWitt
All Eyes on Us by Kit Frick
A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar
Blood Sport by Tash McAdam
People Like Us by Dana Mele
All the Things We Do in the Dark by Saundra Mitchell – P
A Good Idea by Cristina Moracho
Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig
White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig
Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig – B+
Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin
Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan
I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan
Far From You by Tess Sharpe
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe
Trust Me, I’m Trouble by Mary Elizabeth Summer
Sadie by Courtney Summers
I’m the Girl by Courtney Summers

Drag

Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju
*Becoming a Queen by Dan Clay
Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig
Drag Teen by Jeffery Self

Epistolary Communication

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
The One True Me and You by Remi K. England
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
Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
The Disasters by M.K. England
The Reckless Kind by Carly Heath
The Black Veins by Ashia Monet
Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig
The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen

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)
The Lost Coast by AR Capetta (group)
Top Ten by Katie Cotugno (M/F, 1)
When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey
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)
It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland (group)
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)
Golden Boys and Afterglow by Phil Stamper (M/M/M/M, 4)
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

This is What it Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland
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

Gentrification

By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery

Grieving/Mourning

Parent

The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott (Mother)
37 Things I Love (in No Particular Order) by Kekla Magoon (Father)
You Don’t Live Here by Robyn Schneider (Mother)
6 Times We Almost Kissed (and One Time We Did) by Tess Sharpe
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera (Father)

Sibling

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman (Sister)
The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver (Brother)
The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle (Amz) (Sister)
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala (Sister)
The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante (Brother)

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
The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl

HIV/Aids

Another Dimension of Us by Mike Albo
We Are Lost and Found by Helene Dunbar
Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen^
Poz by Christopher Koehler
The Porcupine of Truth by Bill Konigsberg^
Destination Unknown by Bill Konigsberg
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha
When You Call My Name by Tucker Shaw

Hollywood

Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler
Acting the Part by Z.R. Ellor
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Going Off Script by Jen Wilde

Immigration and/or Deportation

Indivisible by Daniel Aleman
*Kween by Vichet Chum
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)
How it Feels to Float by Helena Fox
*The Quiet and the Loud by Helena Fox
Love & Other Carnivorous Plants by Florence Gonsalves (eating disorder)
Paperweight by Meg Haston (eating disorder)
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)
*If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude (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)
Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro (PTSD)
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
If This Gets Out by Cale Dietrich and Sophie Gonzales
Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson
Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram
I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee
Bad at Love by Gabriela Martin
It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland
As Far As You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper
Coda by Emma Trevayne
Always the Almost by Edward Underhill
The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde

Poetry

*Kween by Vichet Chum (Slam)

Politics

The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson
*Something Like Possible by Miel Moreland
The (Un)popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez

Pregnancy/Reproductive Rights

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

Pride

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan
When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson

Prom

How to Ask a Boy to Prom by SJ Goslee
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
The Prom by Saundra Mitchell
Pumpkin by Julie Murphy

Queer History

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore
Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
Pulp by Robin Talley

Questioning (Gender)

Sasha Masha by Agnes Borinsky
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
This is How We Fly by Anna Meriano
Where I End & You Begin by Preston Norton
Birthday by Meredith Russo
And They Lived by Steven Salvatore
Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz
Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve

Questioning (Sexuality)

Female MC

Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
*Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
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
Odd One Out by Nic Stone

Male MC

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

Racism

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

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

Classic Literature

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)
Nothing Happened by Molly Booth (Much Ado About Nothing)
I Think I Love You by Auriane Desombre (Much Ado About Nothing)
Ruinsong by Julia Ember (The Phantom of the Opera)
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake (Twelfth Night)
Epically Earnest by Molly Horan (The Importance of Being Earnest)
A Clash of Steel by CB Lee (Treasure Island)
*Escaping Mr. Rochester by L.L. McKinney (Jane Eyre)
*Self Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore (The Great Gatsby)
Tell Me My Name by Amy Reed (The Great Gatsby)
Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim (The Count of Monte Cristo)
As I Descended by Robin Talley (Macbeth)
Two Winters by Lauren Emily Whalen (Winter’s Tale)
Take Her Down by Lauren Emily Whalen (Julius Caesar)

Fairy Tales

At Midnight ed. by Dahlia Adler (The Nutcracker, Rumpelstiltskin, Frau Trude, Cinderella, Snow White, The Little Mermaid)
Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (Snow White)
The Seafarer’s Kiss by Julia Ember (The Little Mermaid)
The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode (Cinderella)
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)

Historical Figures

Lizzie by Dawn Ius (Lizzie Borden)

Legend and Mythology

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust (Persian)
Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block (The Odyssey)
Once & Future by AR Capetta and Cori McCarthy (King Arthur)
The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer (Hades-Persephone myth)
About A Girl by Sarah McCarry (Amz)
Outrun the Wind by Elizabeth Tammi (Atalanta myth)
*Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood (The Odyssey)

Revenge

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender – T
Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales – B
People Like Us by Dana Mele
Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim
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
When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson

Royalty

Contemporary

A Tale of Two Princes by Eric Geron
Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins
Prince of the Palisades by Julian Winters

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

Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
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
Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin
Tonight We Rule the World by Zack Smedley

Sexual Education

Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa
Jack of Hearts (and other parts) by L.C. Rosen
Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

Siblings

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway~
Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake – B+
The Spy With the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
The Skybound Saga by Alex London
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson~

Sliding Doors (aka Parallel Timelines)

*Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler
Me Myself & Him by Chris Tebbetts

Social Justice

Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough
Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson
By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery
Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
I’m the Girl by Courtney Summers

Social Media

Includes books about blogs, vlogs, influencers, and podcasts

Gena/Finn by Kat Helgeson and Hannah Moskowitz
Tinfoil Crowns by Erin Jones
Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee
The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh
Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan
Sadie by Courtney Summers
Follow Your Arrow by Jessica Verdi

Space

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

Sports