The Best LGBTQ Inclusive YA Fiction Books

There are many books for YA fiction, but far less that can relate to the LGBTQ community and the different letters within that. Here are some well loved novels, both popular and underground and their characters who have made a huge impact on young LGBTQ readers.

1. 'Symptoms of Being Human' by Jeff Garvin: Riley

Riley is a genderfluid teen who writes a blog about their journey through dysphoria of being genderfluid. I think this book is super important because this is a topic rarely touched on, in fact, I've never seen this touched on in a show or movie. One thing I love about this book is that it uses they/ them pronouns throughout the book leaving the reader seeing Riley as completely gender neutral. This book does an excellent job at showing the mindset of someone on a day to day basis who is genderfluid and stuck in the closet. Despite Riley being considerably different than everyone else, they find a purpose by blogging about their experiences, and therefore helping others going through the same thing. Riley has to navigate through her own life while running the blog that changes her life, from school bullies to young love, to the struggles with parental acceptance, I think that Jeff Garvin did a great job giving the readers that are in that situation the same type of therapy that Riley managed to do through their blog.

2. 'Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda': Simon Spiers

In this quirky novel, Simon is gay, but he hasn't told anyone. The school has a tumblr account where they post things anonymously, where Simon messaged with his anonymous online lover "Blue." Unlucky for Simon, a classmate found out about this and decided to use it for blackmail, if Simon doesn't set him up with his friend, he will be outed to the entire school for being gay. Simon has to try to keep his secret safe, his relationship with "Blue" strong, all while going through his high school years and performing the school musical.

3. 'The Perks of Being A Wallflower': Patrick

Patrick is the best friend of the protagonist, Charlie. He is one of the first people to befriend Charlie at his school and gets him to go to parties, and have a friend group. Patrick and Charlie both show each other support during their hurdles through high school. Patrick starts hooking up with a guy at school who in turn always pretends that he was too drunk to remember what happened, and even tries to make a move on Charlie when he's feeling bad about it. Patrick is a quirky and loved character based on a time period that was much less accepting than today where he still found his ways to navigate through.

4. 'An Absolutely Remarkable Thing': April May

April May is the protagonist in this story regarding a couple of teens who quickly became the most talked about people in the world. April and her best friend Andy made a video that just so happened to go viral and change the world as we know it. Another big part of the story is her bisexuality. The novel brings to light some of the struggles with bisexuality, where people struggle to understand it or think that she is not bisexual but in fact is a lesbian and points where she is forced into faking that for the sake of her own image. Although April's sexuality is not a focal point of the book, it does have some good commentary as to how society treats bisexuals.

These are my favourite books with queer characters in many different parts of the LGBTQ community, allowing everyone to feel represented, I hope you give them a shot.

P.S. the video contains other lovely queer books I may not have mentioned, but are absolutely worth reading!