Exploring LGBT Books for Children & Teens

Exploring Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Relationships

1. Longer Fictional Works for Teens

Bauer, Marion Dane (Ed.). 1995. Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence. NY: HarperCollins.

Baldwin, James. 1956/1988. Giovanni's Room. NY: Laurel.

Benduhn, Tea. 2003. Gravel Queen. NY: Simon & Schuster.

Blacker, Terrance. 2005. Boy2Girl. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Boock, Paula. 2009. Dare Truth or Promise. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Burd, Nick. 2009. The Vast Fields of Ordinary. NY: Dial.

Cameron, Peter. 2009. Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You. NY: Picador.

De Oliveira, Eddie. 2004. Lucky. NY: PUSH/Scholastic. 

Doyle, Myra. 2008. Down to the Bone. NY: HarperTeen.

Frost, Helen. 2003. Keesha's House. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Garden, Nancy. 2007. Annie on My Mind.  NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

------------------. 2005. Good Moon Rising.  Lincoln, NE: Backinprint.com

Goldman, Mitchell. 2008. Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film about The Grapes of Wrath. NY: Bloomsbury Children's Books.

Hartinger, Brent. 2007. Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies. NY: HarperTempest.

-------------------. 2005. Order of the Poison Oak. NY: HarperTempest.

-------------------. 2004. Geography Club (The Russel Middlebrook Series) . NY: HarperTeen.

Hegamin, Tonya. 2008. M+O 4EVR. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Johnson, Maureen, 2004. The Bermudez Triangle. NY: Razorbill. 

Jones, Carrie. 2007. Tips on Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend. Woodbury, MN: Flux.

Katcher, Brian. 2010. Almost Perfect. NY: Delacorte.

Kluger, Steve. 2008. My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, & Fenway Park. NY: Dial. 

Koertge, Ron. 2007. Boy Girl Boy. Boston: Graphia.

Koja, Kathe. 2008. Talk.  NY: Square Fish.

Konigsberg, Bill. 2008. Out of the Pocket. NY: Dutton.

La Rochelle, David 2005. Absolutely, Positively Not. NY: Arthur A. Levine Books.

Lecesne, James. 2008. Absolute Brightness. NY: HarperTeen.

Lieberman, Leanne. 2008. Gravity. Victoria, B.C.: Orca Book Publishers.

Levithan, David. 2005. Boy Meets Boy. NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Maloy, Brian. 2008. Twelve Long Months. NY: Scholastic.

Matthews, Andrew. 2003. The Flip Side. NY: Delacorte. 

Merrell, Billy. 2003. Talking in the Dark: A Poetry Memoir. NY: Push.

Moore, Perry. 2009. Hero. NY: Hyperion

Myracle, Lauren. 2007. Kissing Kate. NY: Speak.

Noyes, Katia. 2005. Crashing America. Los Angeles, CA: Alyson.

O'Neil, Jamie. 2003. At Swim, Two Boys. NY: Scribner.

Peters, Julia Anne. 2007. grl2grl. Boston: Little, Brown.

----------------------. 2006. Luna. Boston: Little, Brown.

Poole, Blair R. 2005. Breathe. Princeton, NJ: Burrows Publishing LLC.

Revoyr, Nina. 1998. The Necessary Hunger. NY: ST. Martin's Griffin.

Ryan, Patrick. 2008. Saints of Augustine.  NY: HarperTeen.

Ryan, Sara. 2007. The Rules for Hearts. NY: Viking.

-------------. 2003. Empress of the World. NY: Speak.

Saenz, Benjamin Alire. 2004. Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood. El Paso, TX : Cinco Puntos Press.

Sanchez, Alex. 2007. The God Box. NY: Simon & Schuster.

-----------------. 2003. Rainbow Boys. NY: Simon & Schuster.

Shimko, Bonnie. 2002. Letters in the Attic. Chicago : Academy Chicago Press.

Smith, Emily Wing. 2008. The Way He Lived. Woodbury, MN: Flux. 

Tamaki, Mariko and Jillian Tamaki. 2008. Skim. Toronto: Groundwood Books. 

Wilson, Martin. 2010. What They Always Tell Us. NY: Delacorte Books.

Wittlinger, Ellen. 2008. Love & Lies: Marisol’s Story. NY: Simon & Schuster.

Woolf, Virginia. 1928/2006. Orlando: A Biography. Orlando, FL: Mariner Books.

Wright, Bill. 2000. Sunday You Learn How To Box: A Novel. NY: Touchstone.

Yamanaka, Lois-Ann. 2000. Name Me Nobody. NY: Hyperion.

2. Longer Fictional Works for Pre-Teens/Early Teens

Bauer, A.C.E. 2009. No Castles Here. NY: Yearling/Random House.

Huser, Glen. 2003. Stitches. Toronto: Groundwood Books.

Howe, James. 2005. Totally Joe. NY: Ginee Seo Books/Atheneum.

----------------. 2003. The Misfits. NY: Atheneum.

Sanchez, Alex. 2004. So Hard to Say. NY: Simon & Schuster.

Wolff, Virginia Euwer. 2001. True Believer. NY: Atheneum. 

Woodson, Jacqueline. 2008. After Tupac & D Foster. NY: Putnam.

-------------------------. 2003. The House You Pass on the Way. NY: Speak.

  

3. Nonfiction

Alsenas, Linas. 2008. Gay America: Struggle for Equality. NY: Amulet Books.

Belge, Kathy and Mark Bieschke. 2011. Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens. San Francisco, CA: Zest Books.

Garden, Nancy. 2007. Hear Us Out! Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress and Hope, 1950 to the Present. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Gillespie, Peggy (Ed). 1999. Love Makes a Family: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Parents and Their Families. Foreword by Kath Weston. Photographs by Gigi Kaeser. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.

Hames-García, Michael,  Javier Martínez, Tomás Almaguer, and Luz Calvo. 2011. Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader. Duke University Press. 

Huegel, Kelly. 2011. GLBTQ: the Survival Guide for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Teens, 2nd Ed. Minneapolis MN: Free Spirit Publishing. 

Keen, Lisa. 2007. Out Law: What LGBT Youth Should Know About their Legal Rights. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Levithan, David & Billy Merrell. 2006.  The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing about Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities. NY: Knopf.

Rachel, T. Cole and Rita D. Costello (Eds.). 2004. Bend, Don't Shatter: Poets on the Beginning of Desire. Brooklyn, NY Red Rattle Books.

Savin-Williams, Ritch C. 2006. The New Gay Teenager. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Shohat, Ella (Ed.) 1998. Multicultural Feminism in a Transnational Age. Cambridge, MA:  MIT Press.   

Trope, Zoe. 2003. Please Don't Kill the Freshmen: A Memoir. NY: Harper/Tempest.

Windmeyer, Shane. 2006. Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students. NY: Alyson Books.

Winick, Judd. 2000. Pedro and Me. NY: Henry Holt.

NonTraditional Families & Parenting: LBGT

1. Picture Book

Aoki, Elaine M and Jean Davies Okimoto. 2002. The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption. Illustrated by Meilo So. NY: Clarion Books.

Brannen, Sarah S. 2008. Uncle Bobby's Wedding. NY: Putnam.

Burks, Stephanie. 2004. While You Were Sleeping. Illustrated by Kelli Bienvenu. Victoria, B.C.: Burks/Trafford.

Combs, Bobbie. 2000. ABC, A Family Alphabet Book. Illustrated by Desiree Keane and Brian Rapa. Two Lives Publishing. 

Considine, Kaitlyn. 2005. Emma and Meesha My Boy. Illustrated by Binny Hobbs. Twomomsbooks.

De Haan, Linda. 2004. King and King and Family. Illustrated by Stern Nijland. San Francisco, CA: Tricycle.

------------------. 2002.  King and King  Illustrated by Stern Nijland. San Francisco, CA: Tricycle. 

Elwin, Rosamund and Michele Paulse. 2000. Asha's Mums. Illustrated by Dawn Lee. London: Woman's Press.

Ewert, Marcus. 2008. 10,000 Dresses. Illustrated by Rex Ray. NY: Seven Stories Press.
Garden, Nancy. 2005. Molly's Family. Illustrated by Sharon Wooding. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

González, Rigoberto. 2005. Antonio's Card/La Tarjeta de Antonio. San Francisco, CA: Children's Book Press. 

Gordon, Sol. 2000. All Families Are Different. Illustrated by Vivien Cohen. NY: Prometheus.
Kilodavis, Cheryl. 2010. My Princess Boy. Illustrated by Suzanne DeSimone. NY: Aladdin.
Lindenbaum, Pija. 2007. Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle. Translated by Elisabeth Kalick Dyssegaard. Stockholm: R & S Books.

Newman, Leslea. 2011. Donovan's Big Day. Illustrated by Mike Dutton. San Francisco, CA: Tricycle.

--------------------. 2009. Mommy, Mama, and Me. Illustrated by Carol Thompson. San Francisco, CA: Tricycle.

--------------------. 2009. Daddy, Papa, and Me. Illustrated by Carol Thompson. San Francisco, CA: Tricycle.

-------------------. 2007. The Boy Who Cried Fabulous. Illustrated by Peter Ferguson. San Francisco, CA: Tricycle.

Parr, Todd. 2003. The Family Book. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

------------. 2001. My Really Cool Baby Book. Boston: Little Brown & Co.

------------. 2001. It's Okay to Be Different. Boston: Little Brown.

Quinlan, Patricia. 1994. Tiger Flowers. NY: Dial.

Richardson, Justin. 2005. And Tango Makes Three. Illustrated by Peter Parnell. NY: Simon & Schuster.

Setterington, Ken. 2004. Mom and Mum Are Getting Married. Second Story.

Tompkins, Crystal. 2009. Oh the Things Mommies Do! What Could Be Better Than Having Two? Illustrated by Lindsey Evans. Oh The Things Mommies Do Publishers.

2. Longer Fictional Works for Teens

Cart, Michael (Ed.) 2003. Necessary Noise: Stories about Our Families as They Really Are. NY: HarperTempest. 

Garsee, Jeannine. 2009.  Say the Word. NY: Bloomsbury. Harmon, Michael B. 2009. The Last Exit to Normal. NY: Laurel Leaf.

Homes, A.M. 1990. Jack. NY: Vintage.

Kerr, M.E. 1995. Deliver Us from Evie. NY: HarperTeen.

Koertge, Ron. 2005. The Arizona Kid. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Peters, Julie Anne. 2006. Between Mom and Jo. Boston: Little Brown.

Wilson, Barbara. 2002. A Clear Spring. NY: Girls First/Feminist Press. 

Wilson, Martin. 2010. What They Always Tell Us. NY: Delacorte.

Woodson, Jacqueline. 1997. From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun. NY: Scholastic.

3. Nonfiction Works for Pre-Teens and Teens

Coontz, Stephanie. 2000. The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap. NY: Basic Books.

Drucker, Jane. 2001. Lesbian and Gay Familes Speak Out: Understanding the Joys and Challenges of Diverse Family Life. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing.

Garner, Abigal. 2005. Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is. NY: Harper.

Gillespie, Peggy, Kath Weston, Gigi Kaeser & April Martin. 1999. Love Makes a Family: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Parents and their Families. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.

Herman, Joanne. 2009. Transgender Explained for Those Who Are Not. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.

Howey, Noelle and Ellen Samuels (Eds.). 2000. Out of the Ordinary: Essays on Growing Up with Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Parents. NY: St. Martin's Press.

Snow, Judith E. 2004. How It Feels to Have a Gay or Lesbian Parents: A Book by Kids For Kids of All Ages. NY: Routledge.