New Teen & Adult LGBTQIA+ Reads

Happy Pride Month! Pride is an annual commemoration dedicated to recognizing the impact of the LGBTQIA+ community. In celebration, we’re reading across the rainbow and highlighting some of our collection’s newer LGBTQIA+ reads for teens and adults. Read on for some of our recommendations!

TEEN

• Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection by Lara Ameen
  • With mermaids, monsters, space adventures, and more, this collection of stories spans several genres and explores characters across the asexual spectrum.

• Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris
  • An aspiring Arkansas journalist and her coworker take a road trip to find clues that lead to a time capsule and cash prize left by the late country legend Decklee Cassel. Told from alternating perspectives and time periods, Every Time You Hear That Song follows two women as they reckon with their identities and how to tell their stories.

• Icarus by K. Ancrum
  • In this reimagining of the Icarus myth, the main character, Icarus Gallagher, is an art thief who replaces stolen works with his father’s forgeries. But when his next target is the man involved in his mother’s death, and he accidentally falls in love with his son, things get complicated. With his father thirsty for revenge, Icarus will have to choose between family loyalty and love.

• Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia
  • Tara navigates being the first trans girl at Ainsley Academy and finally finds comfort –and maybe a new crush— after joining the Sibyls sisterhood. But when the club’s sponsor, a well-known alumna, finds out about her, Tara becomes the center of controversy and must fight for herself and her right to belong.

• Out of Left Field by Jonah Newman (also available on Hoopla)
  • In this semi-autobiographical graphic novel, ninth grader and self-proclaimed nerd Jonah joins the baseball team because of a crush on shortstop. This coming-of-age tale follows Jonah as he navigates high school and learns to accept himself for who he is.

• So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole
  • A Jamaican-inspired fantasy novel about two sisters: Elara, who forms a bond with an enemy dragon, and Faron, who’s directed by the gods to kill her sister to break that bond. As Faron desperately searches for alternatives, Elara must also make decisions that could impact her sister’s life forever.

Other New Titles:

• Ariel Crashes a Train by Olivia A. Cole
• The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram
• Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis (also available on Hoopla)
• Escaping Mr. Rochester by L.L. McKinney
• How the Boogeyman Became a Poet by Tony Keith, Jr.
• It’s Totally Normal! An LGBTQIA+ Guide to Puberty, Sex, and Gender by Monica Gupta Mehta
• The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge by Matthew Hubbard
• The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall
• Off With Their Heads by Zoe Hana Mikuta (also available on Hoopla)
• Playing for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan
• Queer Power! Icons, Activists and Game Changers From Across the Rainbow by Dom & Ink
• Rainbow, Vol. 1 by Sunny Gloom
• The Summer Queen: The Buried and Bound Trilogy by Rochelle Hassan
• Transmogrify! 14 Fantastical Tales of Trans Magic by G. Haron Davis (also available on Hoopla)

You might also enjoy our Read with Pride collection of ebooks and audiobooks for teens on Overdrive.

ADULT

• Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban
  • Two debutantes hash out a plan to set up their widowed parents and avoid finding husbands in this Bridgerton-esque tale about matchmaking and accidentally falling in love with your best friend.

• The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir by RuPaul
  • From growing up poor in a broken home to becoming a drag sensation and pop culture icon, RuPaul has beat all the odds. Follow the story of his life in this moving memoir about self-acceptance and found family.

• I Finally Bought Some Jordans: Essays by Michael Arceneaux
  • Known for his writing on pop culture, race, gender, sex, politics, and music, Arceneaux’s latest collection of essays, written in his trademark humorous tone, continue to explore his experience navigating the world as a Black queer creative.

• In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
  • In this queer sci-fi retelling of Pinocchio, a family of robots and their human must travel to unfamiliar lands to save their kidnapped family member before he’s reprogrammed.

• The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo
  • After serving in WWI, trans nurse Leslie Bruin joins the Frontier Nursing Service to provide healthcare in rural communities. His next job takes him to the Appalachian town of Spar Creek, where he notices a darkness brewing in the community and surrounding forest. He’ll have to work quickly if he wants to save a local youth and make it out alive.

Other New Titles:

• Baby Making for Everybody: Family Building and Fertility for LGBTQ+ and Solo Parents by Ray Rachlin
• Cirque du Slay: Hayden and Friends Mysteries by Rob Osler
• City of Laughter by Temim Fruchter (also available on Hoopla)
• The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
• Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, and Step into Your Most Authentic Self by Rae McDaniel
• Green Dot by Madeleine Gray
• I Think Our Son is Gay series, by Okura (Mangaka)
• Mona of the Manor: A Tales of the City Novel by Armistead Maupin
• Out in the World: An LGBTQIA+ (and Friends!) Travel Guide to More than 120 Destinations Around the World by Amy B. Scher
• Radiant: The Life of Keith Haring by Brad Gooch
• Rough Trade: A Novel by Katrina Carrasco
• Sister Holiday series by Margot Douaihy
• These Letters End in Tears: A Novel by Musih Tedji Xaviere
• Thirst: A Novel by Marina Yuszczuk

You might also enjoy our Read the Rainbow collection of ebooks and audiobooks for adults on Overdrive.