#RainbowReading for Teens: 30 Books for 30 Days of Pride Month 2017

By Gwen Glazer, Librarian
June 1, 2017

Happy Pride Month! It's 30 days of gay YA!

Here at The New York Public Library, we’re putting the “book” into  the American Library Association's GLBT Book Month. We’re excited to present our favorite LGBTQ+ books each day of June -- and the books on this list are some of our favorites about and for LGBTQ+ teens. 

Follow NYPL Teens on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more! 

Check out our recommendations for adults and kids, too! 

Major thanks to the expert librarians who assembled these lists: Lauren Bradley, Caitlyn Colman-McGaw, Chelsea Condren, Thomas Knowlton, and Nina Maness.

What are your favorite LGBTQ+ books for teens? Let us know in the comments.

  1. Bitterblue  by Kristin Cashore

  2. Goldie Vance by Hope Larson, illus. by Brittney Wilson

  3. Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

  4. If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

  5. The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan

  6. We Are Okay by Nina La Coer

  7. The Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson

  8. Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham

  9. The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

  10. Lumberjanes by written by Noelle Stevenson & Grace Ellis, illus. by Brooke Allen

  11. Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin

  12. Another Country by James Baldwin

  13. God Loves Hair by Vivek Shraya, illus. by Juliana Neufeld

  14. When The Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

  15. Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova

  16. Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings

  17. Ash by Malinda Lo

  18. Wuvable Oaf by Ed Luce

  19. More Happy than Not by Adam Silvera

  20. Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash

  21. Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

  22. Willful Machines by Tim Floreen

  23. Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

  24. Beast by Brie Spangler

  25. Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

  26. Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard

  27. Wonders of the Invisible World by Christopher Barzak

  28. If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan

  29. Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager

  30. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!