In and Out of the Closet: Fiction and Nonfiction about GLBTQ Teens

Fiction and Nonfiction about Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Teens

Fiction

Bantle, Lee F.. David Inside Out. 2009. (YA Fiction Bantl.L)

 

 

Block, Francesca Lia. Weetzie Bat. 1989. (YA Fiction Block.F 1999)

This unique story follows hip L.A. flower-child Weetzie bat and her gay best friend, Dirk, as they seek true love in the fast world of Hollywood.

 

 

 

 

Burd, Nick. The Vast Fields Of Ordinary. 2009. (YA Fiction Burd.N)

The summer after graduating from an Iowa high school, eighteen-year-old Dade Hamilton watches his parents' marriage disintegrate, ends his long-term, secret relationship, comes out of the closet, and savors first love.

 

Cart, Michael, ed. How Beautiful The Ordinary : Twelve Stories Of Identity. 2009. (YA Fiction Stories Cart.M)

Presents twelve stories by contemporary, award-winning young adult authors, some presented in graphic or letter format, which explore themes of gender identity, love, and sexuality.

 

 

 

Cart, Michael. My Father's Scar : A Novel. 1998. (YA Fiction Cart.M)

In his freshman year at college, Andy begins his first gay relationship and recalls the tragedies of his past, growing up the son of an alcoholic father and passive mother in a homophobic community.

 

Cruse, Howard. Stuck Rubber Baby. 2003. (741.5973 Cruse.H)

Visuals and a storyline combine seamlessly in this graphic novel about a young man caught in the thick of the civil rights movement and a small-town community that is outwardly homophobic.

 

Crutcher, Chris. Ironman. 2004. (YA Fiction Crutc.C)

After troubled teen athlete Bo is placed in an anger management class, he meets Shelly, a woman with a penchant for physical challenge, and learns what it is to live at the heart of a struggle, standing up even after being knocked down.

 

Dijk, Lutz van. Damned Strong Love : The True Story Of Willi G. And Stefan K. : A Novel. 1995. (JrHigh Dijk.L)

Based on a true story of forbidden romance, readers meet a Polish boy who falls in love with a German soldier during World War II and the era of Nazi persecution of homosexuals.

 

Dole, Mayra L. Down To The Bone. 2008. (YA Fiction Dole.M)

Laura, a seventeen-year-old Cuban American girl, is thrown out of her house when her mother discovers she is a lesbian, but after trying to change her heart and hide from the truth, Laura finally comes to terms with who she is and learns to love and respect herself.

 

Donoghue, Emma. Kissing The Witch : Old Tales In New Skins. 1997. (YA Fiction Donog.E)

Thirteen tried and true tales are recast from a lesbian perspective – this time, Cinderella makes off with the fairy godmother.

 

Ferris, Jean. Eight Seconds. 2000. (YA Fiction Ferri.J)

Eighteen-year-old John must confront his own sexuality when he goes to rodeo school and finds himself strangely attracted to an older boy who is smart, tough, complicated, gorgeous, and gay.

 

Freymann-Weyr, Garret. My Heartbeat. 2002. (YA Fiction Freym.G)

As she tries to understand the closeness between her older brother and his best friend, 14-year-old Ellen finds her relationship with each of them changing.

 

Frost, Helen. Keesha's House. 2003. (YA Fiction Frost.H)

Seven teens facing such problems as pregnancy, closeted homosexuality, and abuse each describe in poetic forms what caused them to leave home and where they found home again.

 

Garden, Nancy. Annie On My Mind. 2007. (YA Fiction Garde.N 2007)

Liza and Annie are two teenage girls who fall in love with each other. But when someone discovers their relationship, Liza begins to doubt her feelings for Annie, only to realize later that their love trumps what others think of them.

 

Green, John & David Levithan. Will Grayson, Will Grayson. 2010. (YA Fiction Green.J)

Two characters, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover they share a name, and that's not all. Their worlds become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a high school musical that's really a celebration of life and young people figuring out what's important.

 

 

Harmon, Michael B. The Last Exit To Normal. 2008. (YA Fiction Harmo.M)

Yanked out of his city life and plunked down into a small Montana town with his father and his father's boyfriend, seventeen-year-old Ben, angry and resentful about the changed circumstances of his life, begins to notice that something is not quite right with the little boy next door and determines to do something about it.

 

Howe, James. Totally Joe. 2005. (YA Fiction Howe.J)

As a school assignment, a thirteen-year-old boy writes an alphabiography--life from A to Z--and explores issues of friendship, family, school, and the challenges of being a gay teenager.

 

Huser, Glen,. Stitches. 2003. (YA Fiction Huser.G)

Having learned to cope with the teasing that comes from having an unusual family situation, Travis is generally quite happy, until the school thugs go on the attack while Travis and his friends are trying to assemble a puppet production for school.

 

Hyde, Catherine Ryan. Becoming Chloe. 2006. (YA Fiction Hyde.C)

A gay teenage boy and a fragile teenage girl meet while living on the streets of New York City and eventually decide to take a road trip across America to discover whether or not the world is a beautiful place.

 

Johnson, Maureen. The Bermudez Triangle : A Novel. 2004. (YA Fiction Johns.M)

The friendship of three high school girls and their relationships with their friends and families are tested when two of them fall in love with each other.

 

Kerr, M. E. "Hello," I Lied : A Novel. 1997. (YA Fiction Kerr.M)

Lang knew his summer at a ritzy East Coast resort spot would change him, but he didn’t expect that he would come out to his childhood friends, examine his relationship with his boyfriend, or most surprisingly, fall in love with the beautiful daughter of a rock star.

 

Koertge, Ronald. The Arizona Kid. 2005. (YA Fiction Koert.R 2005)

Sixteen-year-old Billy comes to terms with his own values when he is sent to live with his gay uncle in Tucson and is introduced to the world of rodeos where he falls in love with an outspoken racehorse rider named Cara.

 

Koja, Kathe. Talk. 2005. (YA Fiction Koja.K)

Hoping to escape from himself for awhile, Kit auditions for a controversial school play and discovers his talent for acting, struggles with coming out, and both he and his costar face crises in their view of themselves and in their close relationships. Told from two points of view.

 

 

 

Kluger, Steve. My Most Excellent Year : A Novel Of Love, Mary Poppins, & Fenway Park. 2008. (YA Fiction Kluge.S)

Good friends T.C., Augie, and Alejandra experience an earth-shattering year of musical theatre, baseball, community activism, and pursuing their dreams. During this year, Augie comes to accept what his friends already suspect about his sexual orientation.

 

Koertge, Ron. Boy Girl Boy. 2005. (YA Fiction Koert.R)

Three high school seniors, who plan to run away together from Illinois to California after graduation, try to figure out who they are who they want to be.

 

 

LaRochelle, David. Absolutely, Positively Not. 2005. (YA Fiction Laroc.D)

A teenage boy attempts to fit in at his Minnesota high school by becoming a macho, girl-loving, "Playboy" pinup-displaying heterosexual.

 

Lecesne, James. Absolute Brightness. 2008. (YA Fiction Leces.J)

In the beach town of Neptune, New Jersey, Phoebe's life is changed irrevocably when her gay cousin moves into her house and soon goes missing.

 

Levithan, David. Boy Meets Boy. 2003. (YA Fiction Levit.D)

Paul finds himself on an emotional rollercoaster as he tries to establish a new relationship with Noah while at the same time caring for Kyle.(see also Levithan's other books also, such as "Wide Awake" and "How They Met.")

 

Lo, Malinda. Ash. 2009. (YA Fiction Lo.M)

In this variation on the Cinderella story, Ash grows up believing in the fairy realm that the king and his philosophers have sought to suppress, until one day she must choose between a handsome fairy cursed to love her and the King's Huntress whom she loves.

 

Manning, Sarah. Pretty Things. 2005. (YA Fiction Manni.S)

While rehearsing for a production of "The Taming of the Shrew," four English teenagers explore their relationships and sexuality, while also discovering some surprising truths about themselves.

 

Moore, Perry. Hero. 2007. (YA Fiction Moore.P)

Thom Creed, son of a disowned superhero, finds that he, too, has special powers and is asked to join the very League that rejected his father, and it is there that Thom finds other misfits whom he can finally trust.

 

Myracle, Lauren. Kissing Kate. 2003. (YA Fiction Myrac.L)

Sixteen-year-old Lissa’s relationship with her best friend changes after they kiss at a party and Lissa does not know what to do, until she gets help from an unexpected new friend.

 

Peck, Dale. Sprout : Or, My Salad Days, When I Was Green In Judgment. 2009. (YA Fiction Peck.D)

Moving from Long Island to Kansas after his mother dies, a teenaged boy nicknamed Sprout is surprised to find new friends, a fascinating landscape, and romantic love.

 

 

Peters, Julie Anne. Keeping You A Secret : A Novel. 2003. (YA Fiction Peter.J 2005)

This witty story tells the tale of two teenage girls falling in love – though only one is open about her sexuality. Against the odds, both work to embrace their lifestyles and surmount the cruelty of high school.

 

Peters, Julie Anne. Luna : A Novel. 2004. (YA Fiction Peter.J)

Fifteen-year-old Regan's life, which has always revolved around keeping her older brother Liam's transsexuality a secret, changes when Liam decides to start the process of "transitioning" by first telling his family and friends that he is a girl who was born in a boy's body.

 

Ryan, Patrick. In Mike We Trust. 2009. (YA Fiction Ryan.P)

As fifteen-year-old Garth is wrestling with the promise he made his mother to wait a while before coming out, his somewhat secretive uncle shows up unexpectedly for an extended visit.

 

 

Ryan, Sara. Empress of the World. 2003. (YA Fiction Ryan.S)

While spending a summer at an institute for gifted youth, Nic, who has previously only had eyes for boys, falls in love with another young woman, a dancer.

 

Sanchez, Alex. Rainbow Boys. 2001. (YA Fiction Sanch.A)

Three very different high school seniors who are gay shoulder the difficulties of coming out in high school and the problems it poses for students out of the closet (First of a series)

 

St. James, James. Freak Show. 2007. (YA Fiction Stjam.J)

Having faced teasing that turned into a brutal attack, Christianity expressed as persecution, and the loss of his only real friend when he could no longer keep his crush under wraps, 17-year-old Billy Bloom, a drag queen, decides the only way to become fabulous again is to run for Homecoming Queen at his elite, private school near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

 

Sinclair, April. Coffee Will Make You Black. 1994. (Fiction Sincl.A 1995)

Follow Stevie, a studious African American girl growing up on the South Side during the 1960s. Stevie befriends a white woman who may be a lesbian, raising an interesting dilemma of racial and sexual politics.

 

 

 

Wilson, Martin. What They Always Tell Us. 2008. (YA Fiction Wilso.M)

Sixteen-year-old Alex feels so disconnected from his friends that he starts his junior year at a Tuscaloosa, Alabama, high school by attempting suicide, but soon, a friend of his older brother draws him into cross-country running and a new understanding of himself.

 

 

Wittlinger, Ellen. Hard Love. 1999. (YA Fiction Wittl.E)

John and Marisol bond over ’zines. But though their creative passion ties them together, Marisol, a lesbian, cannot return John’s love. Can their friendship survive?

 

Wittlinger, Ellen. Razzle. 2001. (YA Fiction Wittl.E)

When his retired parents buy a group of tourist cabins on Cape Cod, 15-year-old Kenyon Baker’s days are filled with repair work until he becomes friends with an eccentric girl and makes her the subject of a series of photographs.

 

Woodson, Jacqueline. From The Notebooks Of Melanin Sun. 1995. (YA Fiction Woods.J)

Melanin’s mother breaks the news that she’s in love with another woman. Now, Melanin must decide whether to side with his Mama, his only family, or risk losing his friends in this story of sacrifice, love and prejudice.

 

Wyeth, Sharon Dennis. Orphea Proud. 2004. (YA Fiction Wyeth.S)

While reciting her poetry at a club in Queens, New York, seventeen-year-old Orphea recounts her childhood in Pennsylvania, leaving after her parents and the girl she loves die, and learning about her family and herself while living with her great-aunts on a Virginia mountaintop.

 

 

 

Nonfiction

The Full Spectrum : A New Generation Of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, And Other Identities. 2006. (YA 306.766 Full)

This collection of original poems, essays, and stories by young adults in their teens and early twenties explores many sexual issues, including coming out, first kisses, break-ups, religion/faith, and friendship.

 

 

Alsenas, Linas. Gay America : Struggle For Equality. 2008. (YA 306.766 Alsen.L)

This landmark work highlights the history of gays and lesbians in the U.S.

 

 

Kafka, Tina. Gay Rights. 2008. (YA 306.766 Kafka.T)

Discusses gay rights and the demand for equality.

 

 

Garden, Nancy. Hear Us Out! : Lesbian And Gay Stories Of Struggle, Progress And Hope, 1950 To The Present. 2007. (YA 306.766 Garde.N)

Going decade by decade, Nancy Garden discusses the social and political issues faced by GLBT youth from 1950 to the present, and adds two stories about gay young people from each decade.

 

 

Cart, Michael. The Heart Has Its Reasons : Young Adult Literature With Gay/lesbian/queer Content, 1969-2004. 2006. (YA R 813.009 Cart.M)

Cart and Jenkins trace the development of young adult literature with gay, lesbian, and queer content, beginning in 1969 with the first novel incorporating that theme, by John Donovan. They evaluate character portrayal and themes--also illustrated in a chart at the end--using three categories: homosexual visibility, gay assimilation, and queer consciousness/community.

 

 

Savin-Williams, Ritch C. The New Gay Teenager. 2005. (YA 306.766 Savin.R)