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mountbooklympus · 5 years

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If you’ve ever searched for young adult books with gay protagonists, you’ve probably noticed a trend - a lot of them aren’t very happy. Even books with happy endings love to put you through an emotional wringer until the very last second. Don’t get me wrong, conflict is what drives a story. But how conflict is presented makes a hell of a difference. Sometimes you just want to laugh. So I present to you some of my favorite lighter gay/lesbian YA books.

I’m just so sick of straight people who can’t get their shit together.

1) Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, soon to be a movie. Simon’s humor is more on the cynical side but this is still a light book.

Perhaps in thirty or forty years, when both my parents were in nursing homes and I was living hundreds of miles away from Beaver Lake, I might possibly be ready to tell another person that I was gay.

2) Absolutely Positively Not by David LaRochelle, an older book but still relevant and painfully hilarious. The only one on this list that isn’t really a romance.

Straight people have it so much easier. They don’t understand. They can’t. There’s no such thing as openly straight.

3) Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg, which I avoided for a long time because the title is terrible. That was a mistake on my part because this book (series actually) is brilliant.

God, stop that! She’s probably straight. I wish I had gaydar. I wish it were something you could pick up in a store.

4) Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan, another “don’t judge a book by its cover” situation. For a long time I avoided it because the cover looked overly dramatic and serious. It’s not. At all.

Mary Carlson chooses the same moment to lift her pinky, and ever so slightly touch mine. I can’t breathe. This is the weirdest fucking moment in my life, but I want to die in it. Like if God above decided this was it, I’d say, Take me.

5) Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown, a story that features generally serious tropes (a rural town! a secret relationship! religion!) but isn’t doom and gloom about them.

He would marry a nice girl, maybe Sophie, maybe have a couple of kids one day, and not get divorced, or go AWOL. They would have money and a nice house. Neither he nor his wife would do a Beyoncé tribute act.

6) Noah Can’t Even by Simon James Green, a novel that had me in stitches. Noah is a beautifully naive narrator.

Bonus, not pictured:

- Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg, a sequel to Openly Straight. The tone is a bit more serious though. - M or F? by Lisa Papademetriou and Chris Tebbetts, hilarious but there are dual protagonists, one female (straight) and one male (gay) which makes it technically not a perfect fit for this list but is still so funny I have to mention it.

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mountbooklympus · 5 years

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🇬🇧75 YA Reads from the UK🇬🇧

Over on twitter the last few days there’s been a bit of discussion about a lull in UK YA publishing. While it’s most likely just a lull in the wonderful cycle that is capitalism, I thought I would write a recommendations post to boost some of the wonderful YA fiction coming from the UK 😊

I’ve put an asterisk (*) next to the ones I’ve read and recommend but don’t be afraid to reblog and add your own recommendations to give UK YA some love!

Recommendations are sorted alphabetically by author surname.

Floored: When Seven Lives Collide by multiple authors

Tender by Eve Ainsworth

Show Stopper series by Hayley Barker

A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard *

Beautiful Broken Things duology by Sara Barnard *

The Spinster Club series by Holly Bourne *

Witchborn by Nicholas Bowling

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Skin series by Alice Broadway

It’s About Love by Steven Camden

Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy *

To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo *

The Pants Project by Cat Clarke

Girlhood by Cat Clarke

Close Your Eyes by Nicci Cloke *

Follow Me Back by Nicci Cloke

Bookshop Girl by Chloe Coles

No Filter by Orlagh Collins

We Come Apart by Brian Conaghan & Sarah Crossan *

The Witch’s Kiss by Katharine and Elizabeth Corr

One by Sarah Crossan *

Proud, an anthology edited by Juno Dawson

Clean by Juno Dawson

Before I Die by Jenny Downham *

The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle

The Rosewood Chronicles by Connie Glynn

Dear Charlie by ND Gomes *

Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall *

Countless by Karen Gregory

Skylarks by Karen Gregory

Half Bad trilogy by Sally Green

The Smoke Thieves series by Sally Green

Noah Can’t Even duology by Simon James Green

Unconventional by Maggie Harcourt

Theatrical by Maggie Harcourt

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

Seed by Lisa Heathfield

Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield

The Next Together duology by Lauren James *

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James *

I Have No Secrets by Penny Joelson *

Read Me Like A Book by Liz Kessler

A Shiver of Snow and Sky by Lisa Lueddecke

Ariadnis series by Josh Martin

Flying Tips for Flightless Birds by Kelly McCaughrain

Room Empty by Sarah Mussi

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness *

Girls of Paper and Fire series by Natasha Ngan

The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill

Solitaire by Alice Oseman *

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman *

I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman *

Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman *

All the Lonely People by David Owen

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

Truth or Dare by Non Pratt

The Taste of Blue Light by Lydia Ruffles *

Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles

Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton *

The Sin Eater’s Daughter trilogy by Melinda Salisbury

On A Scale of One to Ten by Ceylan Scott *

Sunflowers in February by Phyllida Shrimpton

The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven

From Where I Stand by Tabitha Suzuma *

Flynn Laukonen duology by Tabitha Suzuma *

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma *

Hurt by Tabitha Suzuma *

Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

All About Mia by Lisa Williamson

Becoming Betty by Eleanor Wood

A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood

More of my recommendations are available on my blog

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