About Queer Books for Teens
Welcome to Queer Books for Teens! Created in part with support from the Carnegie/Whitney Grant from the American Library Association and the GLBT-RT resources committee, this website should act as a resource for anyone interested in Young Adult literature with significant LGBTQIAP+ content published between 2000 and 2020. This website aims to create a comprehensive bibliography of Young Adult fiction with significant LGBTQ content published between 2000 and 2020 in the United States and some books published in Canada. The focus was originally on books published by major and minor presses; however, self-published books are now being added. Additionally, since there are as many different intersections of queer identities as there are queer people, this website can be searched in a multitude of ways and across a host of identities. We are continuing to work on the functionality of the site and make it easier to search.
This site aims to be as comprehensive as possible with the acknowledgement that some of these titles are problematic in different ways. With that in mind and with the help of many awesome people, we have created a number of best of/recommend lists. These are not exhaustive and do not nearly cover every topic that they could. If you would like to suggest a title or a topic for a list, please do so. Additionally, although we made every attempt to find and include every qualified book published, there is a 100% chance that we missed a book or twenty. Please submit any titles you feel should be included.
Please see our scope and controlled vocabulary page for information about what kinds of books are included in this site. While there are many recommendation lists out there, there are no comprehensive lists. A comprehensive list is an essential resource for anyone researching LGBTQIAP+ YA, analyzing trends, and comparing representation in various books. Initially we decided to only include books by major publishers but that would not be truly comprehensive and would leave out many fantastic books by self-published authors and indie presses that prioritize ownvoices. If you have a recommendation for a book to include please email us at queerbooksforteens@gmail.com.
In creating this resource we initially chose not to include self-published books/books published by vanity presses. However, after listening to users and receiving feedback we realized that many self published and/or small press books are incredibly valuable resources for this website, especially in regards to representation of multiple marginalized identities. We are actively working on a way to include these titles. If you have thoughts or suggestions about how to best go about that process, please email us at queerbooksforteens@gmail.com Additionally, if you are interested, you can read in greater detail about how we collected and organized the information, including our controlled vocabulary.