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Thursday, January 23, 2014

LGBT YA in 2014


I'm always pleased when, while peeking through publisher catalogues and people's Goodreads TBRs, I see titles involving LGBT themes. They're becoming more and more prevalent, and I couldn't be happier about it. 2014 includes more than any other year before it, it seems, and what's even better is that a lot of them seem to be super cute and happy rom-com types. Not that I don't love the super heartbreaking ones that probe deep issues, but varietyis always excellent.

Here are just a sampling of the LGBT YA fiction I've got my eye on in the coming year:

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The Summer I Wasn't Me by Jessica Verdi
When it's releasing: April 1
Who's publishing it: Sourcebooks Fire
Why you want it: I've read this one, and confession: it's wrenching. A teen girl gets sent to a de-gayification camp to please her mother, but it's there that she discovers herself, finds love, and makes a totally awesome best friend.

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One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva
When it's releasing: May 27th
Who's publishing it: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Macmillan)
Why you want it: Hellooo, adorable illustrated cover. A nerdy Armenian boy maybe falls in love with cool, hipster skateboarder dude. It sounds like the cutest.

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Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis
When it's releasing: June 17th
Who's publishing it: Amulet (Abrams)
Why you want it: LGBT FANTASY. LGBT fantasy. LGBT FANTASY!!!!

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Fan Art by Sarah Tregay
When it's releasing: June 17
Who's publishing it: Katherine Tegen (HarperCollins)
Why you want it: It's about an artist boy who falls in love with his best friend. Art! Cute cover! Friendship to (maybe) romance!

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Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
When it's releasing: February 11th
Who's publishing it: Dutton Juvenile (Penguin)
Why you want it: Despite its poisonously green cover (seriously, I have a copy of this thing, and it could blind you), this book is supposed to be completely on crack in the best way. It's about the end of the world? Or giant grasshoppers? Or something? I don't even know, but I'm excited.

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Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
When it's releasing: May 15th
Who's publishing it: Dutton Juvenile (Penguin)
Why you want it: Because I want to frame this cover and hang it on my wall, that's why. And it's about a film buff/wunderkind set designer obsessed with Old Hollywood. Yes, please.

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Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore
When it's releasing: June 17
Who's publishing it: Disney Hyperion
Why you want it: There isn't any LGBT-ness in the synopses, but I hear this is LGBT-related and the worldbuilding just sounds completely gorgeous and unique. I must have it.

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My Best Friend, Maybe by Caela Carter
When it's releasing: June 3rd
Who's publishing it: Bloomsbury
Why you want it: It's a summery book set in the Greek Isles about a pair of best friends who stopped being friends... but it seems to me that they just might end up being more.

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (coverless)
When it's releasing: October
Who's publishing it: HarlequinTeen
Why you want it: Lesbian desegregtion romance. It's set in a newly integrated high school in 1959 Virginia in which a black girl and a white girl fall in love, and I'm sorry, my brain just exploded in anticipation.

A few others to look out for: Far From You by Tess Sharpe, Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters, Guardian by Alex London.

I left off a bunch more, including some that weren't too clear about LGBT-ness in their synopses or were too far out for me to have any real information on them. But like I said, I'm so happy that publishers seems to be producing more and more LGBT fiction, and the ones above all sound pretty amazing. 

14 comments:

  1. So. much. yes. I'm so glad more and more LGBT titles are coming out (no pun intended). I'm also glad that the split between gay and lesbian seems to be somewhat even. Maybe I'm just not reading the right books but I have the feeling that lesbians are even more underrepresented than gays (and that's not even considering the complete underrepresentation of bi and trans people). Even in The Lumatere Chronicles, where there are plenty of gay relationships, there are no lesbians, which makes me sad. Oh, I have officially added all of these to my TBR now. Excite!

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  2. Oh yes, this makes me super happy, too :) I've already read Fan Art and it was really good/cure. And One Man Guy!!! Want to read it sooo much. Otherbound sounds interesting too. Though I like contemporary more than fantasy. And yes, the cover of Everything Leads to You is totally frame-worthy.

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  3. Thanks for including Dark Metropolis! I'm glad the word is getting around even though it's not in the synopsis. The book has a lesbian relationship and it is with one of the three POV characters. I've always wanted to see more LGBT characters in fantasy, my favorite genre, and am so excited that it's starting to happen... (And Robin Talley's book! I read it before it was acquired and it was one of the best books I read that whole year!)

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  5. This post has just made my TBR list a lot longer. The Summer I Wasn't Me sounds like it's absolutely amazing. The cover of One Man Guy is adorable (illustrated covers are THE BEST) and Grasshopper Jungle (despite all that green) also sounds really cool. And Otherbound- an LGBT fantasy??? Automatic must-read!

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  6. I'm dying to get my hands on Everything Leads To You. I featured it in my WoW post just yesterday. One Man Guy and Fan Art both have adorable covers and look really good. I'm not sure about Grasshopper Jungle, but I loved the author's book Winger which had a pretty strong secondary character who was gay. Great post!

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  7. LGBT FANTASY AW YISS. This is what I've been hoping for. Books featuring queer MCs that aren't contemporary romances *sobs* Not that I won't read LGBT contemporary, but I think it's time we spread out a bit. WOOP. I'm very pleased with how many LGBT books are coming out this year, and I hope that number keeps growing :D

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  8. I actually just added The Summer I Wasn't Me to my TBR today. And the cover for Dark Metropolis makes me totally want to read it too! Another YA title that's coming out in just a few days is Secret by Brigid Kemmerer - it's part of her paranormal Elementals series, so people would probably want to read the other books first, but in the novella Breathless we found out that one of the brothers (Nick) is gay and Secret focuses on his struggle to come to terms with it and to tell his family. Maybe you already knew about that one, but I thought I'd mention it. :-)

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  9. I didn't know there were so many books coming out! I approve of this trend. I'm very interested in The summer I wasn't me, Fan art and Dark metropolis. The cover from Everything leads to you is so pretty :)

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  10. Thanks to you, I've just updated my TBR list. I desperately needed a heads up.

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  11. Oh yay! Thank you for compiling this, Gillian! I am forever on the lookout for more LGBT YA. I am sooo excited about Otherbound. Fan Art seems just simply adorable.

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  12. LGBT FANTASY! LGBT FANTASY! Thanks so much for the list, I hadn't heard of most of these ^_^
    (and if you know of any other lgbt fantasy you must inform me immediately).

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  13. Yay, thanks for posting this list! I definitely add a few of these to my TBR list :) I LOVE the cover of Everything Leads to You, oh my goodness.

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