Queer YA books I'm adding to my TBR pile

21 Jun 2021

It’s June which means it’s Pride Month! And there are some seriously awesome LGBTQIA+ books hitting the YA shelves this year. Here are the books I’m adding to my to- be-read (TBR) pile this Pride Month!

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Here’s a book I’d buy just for the cover, but the blurb has also absolutely captured my attention; this one is heading to the top of my TBR!

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.

America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father - despite his hard-won citizenship - Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

This new release from the author of The Henna Wars sounds ridiculously cute. It’s enemies to lovers AND fake dating. What more could you ask for?

Everyone likes Hani Khan - she’s easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they don’t believe her, claiming she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship… with a girl her friends can’t stand - Ishu Dey.

Ishu is the polar opposite of Hani. An academic overachiever, she hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for university. Her only problem? Ishu is hardly popular. Pretending to date Hani is the only way she’ll stand a chance of being elected. Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after.

Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli

Much loved author Becky Albertalli has just released her latest novel, Kate in Waiting. And you know I don’t want to be waiting to read this one. Sorry, that was a horrendous joke. But my love for Becky Albertalli sure isn’t!

Contrary to popular belief, best friends Kate and Anderson are not codependent. Carpooling to and from theatre rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway.

But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script. Matt is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson. Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

I’ve been seeing this one all over Instagram lately and so i’m really keen to pick it up. Even if the book didn’t sound AMAZING (it does, don’t worry!), I would still want to buy it just for that cover! It’s stunning!

Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. Ever since the three Hollow sisters – Grey, Vivi and Iris – disappeared on a suburban street in Scotland as children only to return a month a later with no memories, black irises and white hair, eerie occurrences seem to follow in their wake.

Now, ten years later, seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow is doing all she can to fit in and graduate high school - something her two famously glamorous globe-trotting older sisters, Grey and Vivi, never managed to do. But when Grey goes missing, leaving behind only bizarre clues, Iris and Vivi are left to trace her last few days. And they aren’t the only ones looking for her.

Krystal Sutherland’s latest novel is a dark and twisty modern-day fairytale that expertly melds the fantastical with the real as the Hollow sisters discover just how much horror can lie beneath the surface.

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron (released on 2 July)

Coming out at the start of July, This Poison Heart is the second book by Kalynn Bayron. I really enjoyed Kalynn’s debut Cinderella is Dead and I’m excited to see what she does with this one.

Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch. When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined – it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world.

When strangers begin to arrive on their doorstep, asking for tinctures and elixirs, Bri learns she has a surprising talent for creating them. One of the visitors is Marie, a mysterious young woman who Bri befriends, only to find that Marie is keeping dark secrets about the history of the estate and its surrounding community. There is more to Bri’s sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it … until a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family.

The Pronoun Lowdown by Nevo Zisin

I can’t forget to add some nonfiction to the list and The Pronoun Lowdown by Nevo Zisin definitely deserves to be on there. The cover is adorable and it’s an important read, not just for Pride Month!

We find ourselves at an exciting moment in history. For the first time, trans and gender diverse people are being seen and heard. Thanks to tireless activism, and an increased visibility worldwide, these lived experiences (the joyful, and the painful) are no longer able to be ignored. And so, The Pronoun Lowdown is here to demystify and celebrate trans and gender diverse excellence.

Woven together with author Nevo Zisin’s own pronoun journey, this colourful hardback sheds light on the complicated history of gender around the world, in language and across time. Nevo shares their ideas for how young trans and gender diverse folk might begin to navigate their identities, as well as simple suggestions for friends and family on how to provide the best support possible. And, as well as Nevo’s own anecdotes, these pages also salute the tireless work of other LGBTQIA+ trailblazers and activists - without whom this joyous book could never exist.