LGBT YA Recommendations for reluctant reader?

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LadyA

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Hi everyone *waves*

I was hoping you guys could help me with some recommendations for my seventeen year old sister. She's only recently come out to me and her friends at school, but not my parents. I want her to know that I'm still there for her even though I'm at university and away from home. She's a reluctant reader/gets bored easily, and likes the kind of fluffy chick lit books, books set at the beach, and issues books (in particular anorexia-themed ones), but says that the hetero romance puts her off them a lot of the time. She really wants to read something relating to her, with a girl/girl romance.

I really wanted to send her a couple of books with f/f romance and not full of angst. Like, ones where the character accepts their sexuality and is not ashamed, like a lot of LGBT YA out there.
(I'm not meaning to offend, there's nothing wrong with those sort of books at all, I just don't think they're what she needs right now.)

I just don't want her to have any more stress about who she is and whether it's wrong, I just love her and want her to see that girls can fall in love and be happy with girls just like with boys.

Does anyone have any recommendations?
 

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There's this thread in the YA forum. It's a couple of years old now, but hopefully you should find some recommendations there.
 

suki

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I adored Ask the Passengers by A.S. King - a wonderful book - the main character is in the process of coming out to herself, and dealing with how that complicates her life, but the whole book is really wonderful. :)

I did a blog post on some of favorite queer girls YA books: http://emkokie.com/attractive_nuisance/2012/08/11/looking-for-queer-girls-in-ya/

And here is a link to the annual Rainbow Lists - ALA's best of list for lgbtq books for kids and teens: http://glbtrt.ala.org/rainbowbooks/rainbow-books-lists


~suki
 
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Nonny

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I'll second the recc for Adaptation. I'd also recommend Wildthorn by Jane Eagland, which is historical. The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer is self-published but probably one of my favorite lesbian stories ever (it is a retelling of the Hades/Persephone legend where Hades is actually a woman; the author also has lots of lesbian books out and I haven't read anything I dislke from her). Sister Mischief by Laura Goode is also really good, with a lesbian protagonist, and deals a lot with social justice issues in general. Amelia Atwater Rhodes has a lesbian romance in her Kiesh'ra series (Wolfcry). Radiant Days by Elizabeth Hand has a pair of queer protagonists and is SF/time travel. The Stepsister Scheme and following books by Jim C. Hines are technically not YA but I would consider them appropriate for YA readers; they are a fairy tale retelling, and Sleeping Beauty is a queer PoC.

I also hear the Parasol Protectorate books by Gail Carriger recommended a lot, although the main romance is heterosexual. There are multiple queer side characters; I will note some people object to Lord Akeldama being flamboyant, but it did not personally bother me since she had other characters who were not. I really love these books in particular for the very strong relationships between women. (Carriger's books are not technically YA, although she has a YA series in the same setting coming out soon. I don't really think there is anything age-inappropriate in them, though.)
 

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Following up the thread I linked to above, I have since then read Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters and The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson amongst others - also Elissa's novel Kiss The Morning Star - and they may be the sort of thing you're looking for. They're all US-only publications, but I've seen import copies of Keeping You a Secret in bookshops now and again, for example Foyles in London. There's even a copy in Hampshire libraries, which is how I got to read it - presumably someone donated it, as it wasn't published in the UK to the best of my knowledge.
 

LadyA

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Thanks for your wonderful recs, guys!

She only really likes contemporary, so I've sent her THE BERMUDEZ TRIANGLE and KEEPING YOU A SECRET. I'll make a reader of her yet! :)
 

Yeasayer

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I adored Ask the Passengers by A.S. King - a wonderful book - the main character is in the process of coming out to herself, and dealing with how that complicates her life, but the whole book is really wonderful. :)


Seconding this. This book is PERFECT: funny, bittersweet, real. I'm so envious of A.S. King's writing. There is a bit of philosophy in the book, but overall, I think it would still appeal to a reluctant reader.

Also, Starting from Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow. This book needs more love!
 

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One of the older LGBT YA novels (published 1982) is Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden. I read it a few years ago and it stands up pretty well. It's not really "contemporary" any more of course (that dates me - I turned eighteen in 1982) but I didn't think there was much that dated it, and only superficially.
 

Lydia Sharp

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I'd like to second ANNIE ON MY MIND by Nancy Garden. It's one of my absolute favorites, even though it's a little old now. It doesn't feel dated.

I'll second SISTER MISCHIEF too, even though I haven't read it yet. I've been meaning to, since so many people have rec'd it. So there's that.

Thanks to Kevin for rec'ing my book. :) Just so your daughter is aware, though, the MC is bi and there is some boy/girl kissing, as well as girl/girl. If she doesn't like to read any boy/girl stuff at all, it might not be the best choice for her. But if it only bothers her that the main romance thread is just boy/girl in other books, then Twin Sense should be right up her alley. :)
 
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Apologue

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Other contemp recommendations:

Dare, Truth, or Promise by Paula Boock
Kissing Kate by Lauren Myracle
Girl Walking Backwards by Bett Williams
Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
The Rules for Hearts by Sara Ryan
Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth (this is kind of heavy and literary and also set in the 90s, so may not be for her)
Good Moon Rising by Nancy Garden
Rage: A Love Story by Julie Ann Peters
The Difference Between You and Me by Madeline George
Of All The Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz
Am I Blue? edited by Marion Bauer


If she likes movies, I would recommend:
But I'm a Cheerleader
Show Me Love (Swedish)
D.E.B.S.
Imagine Me & You (not YA, but very cute)
Lost & Delirious (watch out, this one is kind of depressing)
The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls In Love
Circumstance (set in Iran and also kind of depressing)
 

Apologue

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Seconding this. This book is PERFECT: funny, bittersweet, real. I'm so envious of A.S. King's writing. There is a bit of philosophy in the book, but overall, I think it would still appeal to a reluctant reader.

Also, Starting from Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow. This book needs more love!

Another vote for Starting from Here. That was a GREAT book!
 
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