Prepared by
Emily K
Emily K
Revised
May 25, 2023

Whether you're celebrating Pride month or just looking for a great book or movie, check out these staff-selected titles!
Children's fiction
Kacen Callender
King and the Dragonflies
2020
A 12-year-old boy spends days in the mystical Louisiana bayou coming to terms with a sibling’s sudden death, his grief-stricken family and the disappearance of his former best friend amid whispers about the latter’s sexual orientation.
David Levithan
Answers in the Pages
2022
When his mother rallies other parents to pull the book he's reading from the district curriculum because it depicts a relationship between two boys, Donovan must speak up and stand out to stop the book from being banned.
Lexile level
830
Katherine Locke
What Are Your Words? A Book About Pronouns
2021
Ari knows a lot of words for neighbors, including the pronouns each prefers, and with help from Uncle Lior, who always asks "What are your words," figures out which pronouns-- and other words-- fit best today.
Joanna McClintick
'Twas the Night Before Pride
2022
A glittering celebration of queer families puts Pride gently in perspective-- honoring those in the LGBTQ+ community who fought against injustice and inequality.
Tin C loved this! Find out why »
Madeline McGrane
The Accursed Vampire
2021
Cursed by a witch centuries before, Dragoslava must complete every task the witch assigns him, challenges that send him off to a sleepy midwestern town to obtain a spellbook, in what becomes a life-changing mission that brings about friendship and a sense of belonging.
A. J. Sass
Ellen Outside the Lines
2022
When a school trip to Barcelona to reconnect with her best friend doesn't go as planned, Ellen, a neurodivergent 13-year-old, must expand her horizons as she makes new friends and learns to let go of old ones.
Charlotte Sullivan Wild
Love, Violet
2021
Of all the kids in Violet’s class, only one leaves her speechless: Mira, the girl with the cheery laugh who races like the wind, and as Valentine’s Day approaches, shy Violet musters the courage to tell Mira just how special she is.
Children's nonfiction
Joana Estrela
My Own Way: Celebrating Gender Freedom for Kids
2022
J 305.3 EST
This poem and a picture book introduces very young children to the wonder of gender diversity. Why feel limited to his or hers, blue or pink, football or ballet?
Teen fiction
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Ace of Spades
2021
Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, two students at Niveus Private Academy, are selected to be part of the elite school's senior class prefects and struggle against an anonymous bully who reveals all of their secrets.
Lexile level
740
Blue Delliquanti
Across a Field of Starlight
2022
Lu and Fassen are from different worlds and separate solar systems, so when the war of Fassen's world invades Lu's peaceful home, they find themselves at the forefront of a battle they hoped would never happen.
Lexile level
430
Marisa W loved this! Find out why »
Isaac Fitzsimons
The Passing Playbook
2021
Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris is a proud nerd and a David Beckham in training. He's also transgender.
Lexile level
710
Crystal Frasier
Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms
2021
Annie, an antisocial lesbian, and former friend Bebe, a trans girl, join their high school cheerleader squad for different reasons, and, through the rigors of squad training and amped up social pressures, rekindle a friendship they thought they'd lost.
Camryn Garrett
Friday I'm in Love
2023
Deciding to throw herself an epic coming-out party with singing, dancing and rainbow cake, 16-year-old Mahalia Harris finds herself buried in a mountain of bills, unfinished schoolwork and enough drama to end her party before it even begins.
Lexile level
660
Adiba Jaigirdar
The Henna Wars
2020
When Nishat, an Irish girl of Bengali heritage, sees her old friend Flaavia again, she feels attracted, but when they both enter a school contest as henna artists, their feelings for each other become more complicated.
Adib Khorram
Kiss & Tell
2022
On boy band Kiss & Tell's first major tour, lead singer Hunter Drake grapples with a painful breakup with his first boyfriend, his first rebound and the stress of what it means to be queer in the public eye.
Lexile level
670
Anna-Marie McLemore
Lakelore
2022
Bastiâan Silvano and Lore Garcia are pulled into a magical world under a lake. When the world under the lake drifts above the surface, the teens, who are non-binary, must work together to prevent it from bringing their secrets to the surface with it.
Trung Le Nguyen
The Magic Fish
2020
It's hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but Tien doesn't even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he's going through? Is there a way to tell them he's gay?
Lexile level
400
Dierric R loved this! Find out why »
Alice Oseman
Loveless
2021
Surrounded by the narrative that dating + sex = love, Georgia, who doesn't have sexual or romantic feelings for anyone, comes to understand herself as asexual/aromantic and learns that there are plenty of other ways to find love and connection.
Aiden Thomas
The Sunbearer Trials
2022
Chosen to participate in the Sunbearer Trials, where the loser is sacrificed to refuel the Sun Stones, Teo, the 17-year-old trans son of the goddess of birds, must compete against more powerful and better trained opponents for fame, glory and his own survival.
Lexile level
850
Courtney K loved this! Find out why »
Teen nonfiction
Rebecca Burgess
How To Be Ace
2021
306.762 BUR
Brave, witty and empowering, this graphic memoir follows Rebecca as they navigate their asexual identity and mental health in a world obsessed with sex.
Bryan A loved this! Find out why »
Alok Vaid-Menon
Beyond the Gender Binary
2020
TEEN 306.76 VAI
The author challenges the world to see gender not in black and white, but in full color. Taking from their own experiences as a gender-nonconforming artist, they show readers that gender is a malleable and creative form of expression.
Adult fiction
Ashley Herring Blake
Delilah Green Doesn't Care
2022
Pressured into photographing her estranged step-sister's wedding, Delilah Green reluctantly returns home to Bright Falls where she finds herself falling for one of the stuck-up bridesmaids after the pair are forced together during party preparations.
Stephanie B loved this! Find out why »
Akwaeke Emezi
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty
Learning how to feel joy while healing from loss, Feyi Adekola starts dating the perfect guy, but discovers she has feelings for someone else who is off limits and must decide just how far she is willing to go for a second chance at love.
Isaac Fellman
Dead Collections
2022
A whirlwind romance between a vampire archivist and a grieving widow explores what it means to be at home in your own body.
Alexis Hall
A Lady for a Duke
2022
Presumed dead, Viola Carroll takes the opportunity to live freely despite losing her wealth, title and closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood, unaware of the shattering impact she had on the duke.
Amanda K loved this! Find out why »
Kat Leyh
Thirsty Mermaids
2021
741.5973 LEY
Masquerading as humans to find more wonderful shipwreck wine, three tipsy mermaids party at a seaside tourist trap before discovering the next morning they do not know how to return to their natural forms.
Annie C loved this! Find out why »
Freya Marske
A Marvellous Light
2021
Robin Blyth is accidentally named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society and forced to contend with the beauty and danger operating beneath normal reality while uncovering what happened to his predecessor.
Chaz C loved this! Find out why »
Casey McQuiston
One Last Stop
2021
Cynical August doesn't believe in the impossible until she meets Jane, a mysterious punk rocker who is literally displaced in time from the 1970s and is trying to find her way back, all while stuck on the New York subway.
Sarah L loved this! Find out why »
Camila Sosa Villada
Bad Girls
2022
Sheltered in their leader’s house, a group of trans sex workers finds a partial escape from the everyday threats of disease and violence while they each tell their stories, including Camila, an outcast who traces the life of this vibrant community throughout the '90s.
Nghi Vo
Siren Queen
2022
Coming of age in pre-Code Hollywood, Chinese American actress Luli Wei, desperate to become a star, bargains with blood and ancient magic to realize her dreams, but the steep price for success may turn her into something she despises.
Bryan Washington
Memorial
2020
Japanese-American chef Mike and Black daycare teacher Benson begin reevaluating their stale relationship after Mike departs for Japan to visit his dying father and Benson is suddenly stuck with his visiting mother-in-law, who becomes an unconventional roommate.
Adult nonfiction
Andrea Bennett
Like a Boy But Not a Boy
2020
305.3 BEN
The book's 14 essays delve incisively into the interconnected themes of mental illness, mortality, creative work, class and bike mechanics.
S. Bear Bergman
Special Topics In Being a Human
2021
177.7 BER
An illustrated guide to practical advice for the modern age, filtered through a queer lens.
Brian Broome
Punch Me Up to the Gods
2021
306.7662 BRO
This coming-of-age memoir about Blackness, masculinity and addiction follows the author, a poet and screenwriter, as he recounts his experiences, revealing a perpetual outsider awkwardly squirming to find his way in.
Meredith S loved this! Find out why »
Angela Chen
Ace
2020
306.762 CHE
A journalist, using her own perspective along with those of a diverse group of asexual people, presents a careful cultural analysis that explores how societal norms limit understanding of sex and relationships and celebrates the breadth of sexuality and queerness.
Libby V loved this! Find out why »
Mady G and J. R. Zuckerberg
A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities
2019
T 306.76 G
Complemented by educational worksheets and helpful examples, a comics-illustrated guide to queer and transgender life covers essential topics ranging from sexuality and gender identity to coming out and navigating gender-diverse relationships.
Movies for adults
Graham Kolbeins
Queer Japan
2021
Trailblazing artists, activists and everyday people from across the spectrum of gender and sexuality defy social norms and dare to shine in this kaleidoscopic view of LGBTQ+ culture in contemporary Japan.
Ali LeRoi
The Obituary of Tunde Johnson
2021
A wealthy, Nigerian American teen is pulled over by police, shot to death and immediately awakens, reliving the same day over and over, trapped in a terrifying time loop that forces him to confront difficult truths about his life and himself.
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