23 New LGBTQ+ YA Novels To Chill With This Summer

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·15 min read

1.The Comedienne's Guide to Pride by Hayli Thomson

Release date: July 19What's it about: Taylor's greatest dream in life is to write for Saturday Night Live, and she gets an incredible chance to achieve it when she applies for a diversity internship there. But if she wins it, everyone will know what made her eligible, and given that she's white and not disabled, she also knows it means coming out to the entire world as a lesbian. As the deadline nears, and Taylor also gets closer to the girl she's crushing on, she'll have to learn to grow comfortable with her real self before she reveals it to the entire world. Thomson's debut doesn't shy away from growing pains and character flaws, contending with Taylor's biphobia, myopia regarding varied marginalizations, and self-esteem, and making her a protagonist that readers will truly want to watch grow up and come into her own.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

2.Youngblood by Sasha Laurens

Release date: July 19What's it about: Truly, what more do you need to hear than

3.Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min

Release date: July 26What's it about: When Santi's guardian moves them to LA and tells him to join the marching band, he doesn't ask questions; he's just had his heart broken and it's not like he has a whole lot of options. He finds friends in the group immediately, with one exception: hot, talented, emo trans boy Suwa. But when they repair their rocky beginning, the chemistry is fast and furious, sparking a close friendship that quickly turns into fervent romance...until the past comes roaring back with the unfolding of a surprising secret that tears them apart and forces them to do the near-impossible work of picking up the pieces. At times incredibly romantic, at times wildly devastating, this debut about identity, belonging, kinship, fandom, and starting over is one of the best books you'll read all year.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

4.The Valkyrie's Daughter by Tiana Warner

Release date: July 26What it's about: Sigrid has long dreamed of becoming a Valkyrie, but it's tough to move beyond being a stable hand when you don't have parental guidance or a winged mare. Then she has a vision of herself leading a valkyrie charge, and she becomes certain it's her destiny, if only she could figure out how to get there. Enter Mariam, an enemy Valkyrie who promises to take Sigrid to Helheim, and who promises to be either Sigrid's salvation...or her undoing.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

5.A Furry Faux Paw by Jessica Kara

Release date: July 26What it's about: Maeve is living two lives. In one, she's MauveCat, her cool, artistic fursona with tons of friends made online, and a plan to finally meet them in person at a furry convention. But as Maeve, her life isn't nearly as fun, glamorous, or enjoyable. Her parents are divorced, her mother (who's also her guardian) is a hoarder, and she finds it impossible to get close to anyone because she doesn't want them to know her life. Then her father offers to send her to Furlympia, where she finally meets all the other furries who've comprises the joyful part of her world. It's an amazing experience, and she even finds mentorship for her art. But what nobody knows is that her mother forbids her to go, and the more Maeve lies, the worse she feels, especially when she finds she can't keep it up forever. While the book has its tinges of hardship and sadness, you'll cheer for Maeve following her passions and coming into her own. (And if you're constantly on the lookout for YA with no romance, this one's got you covered!)Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

6.Bad At Love by Gabriela Martins

Release date: August 2What's it about: Demisexual Brazilian transplant, Daniel, makes major waves when he moves to LA to join the band Mischief & Mayhem, instantly becoming a tabloid sensation. This is intriguing to pan girl, Sasha, who sees getting close to him as the perfect path to rising up at her gossip mag internship. But when she finds Daniel isn't at all what she expected, she'll have to make a choice between following her fledgling career and following her heart.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

7.Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin

Release date: August 2What's it about: This Filipino-inspired fantasy stars Seri, the lesbian assistant to Eshai Unbroken, a valor commander tasked with exploration, hunting the beasts that threaten their world, and creating armor from their corpses. It's the only life and way she knows, until she meets Tsana, a bi stranger from another land who shows her communication with the beasts is possible, and killing them is not the only way. Now Seri is determined to work with Tsana to create peace, but in a world on the verge of war, will it even be possible?Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

8.These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

Release date: August 9What's it about: Marshall delivers yet another Sapphic horrorfest with her newest, billed as The Haunting of Hill House meets Knives Out and set as perpetually in-the-dark Helen learns that the ancestral home she and her mother left behind is now hers upon her grandfather's death. There's just one condition: she has to live there for at least one year, or she gets nothing. With so much wealth on the line, Helen has no choice but to try, only to find that whether or not she leaves may not be up to her after all.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

9.The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver

Release date: August 16What's it about: This T4T romance, which mashes up a delightful collection of tropes, stars Neil, who's got a great no-strings-attached arrangement going with his friend Josh until Josh catches feelings right before he's supposed to be Neil's date for his brother's wedding. Now Neil's gotta cut him loose, but since Josh will be at the wedding regardless, Neil needs a new date, for which he promptly enlists his roommate, Wyatt. Wyatt's not thrilled about the plan, but the closer the two of them get, the more their fake date turns into something real.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

10.The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

Release date: August 16What's it about: In this bee-autifully (sorry) twisted summer camp horror novel, genderfluid teen, Mars, returns to a place he swore he'd never go in order to understand what led to his twin Caroline's tragic death. There, she discovers that Caroline's group of friends, the notorious apiculture-loving Honeys, yield way more power than she could've imagined, and between them and the toxic masculine culture Mars left Aspen Summer Conservatory to escape in the first place, everything's growing increasingly more painful and confusing, especially the closer Mars gets to the truth.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

11.This is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves

Release date: August 23What's it about: Aceves's long-awaited debut centers on bi boy Enrique “Quique” Luna, who's determined to spend his summer getting over his crush by getting under someone else. Quique certainly has options, made only a little trickier by the fact that he's out to exactly one person. But between navigating his rocky mental health and his feelings that just won't go away, moving on might be much harder than he ever imagined.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

12.Dead Flip by Sara Farizan

Release date: August 30What's it about: Farizan's best known for her romantic sapphic contemporary, but she takes a thrilling turn here in this 1992-set horror novel about three teens who were best friends until five years earlier when one of them disappeared. When Sam returns, still 12 years old, though party-boy Maz and closeted Cori have aged, it forces the trio back together to uncover what happened the night Sam disappeared, only to find there are more secrets between them than they ever knew.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

13.Moon Dark Smile by Tessa Gratton

Release date: August 30What's it about: This genderfluid companion to Night Shine stars the emperor's daughter, Raliel, whose social circle pretty much consists of her lone and best friend, the palace-dwelling Moon. When she gets older, she'll be bound to Moon the same way the Emperor and his consorts are, and destined to live in the Palace forever, and there's nothing she wants more before that happens than to see the Empire...and, impossibly, take Moon with her, even if it means lying to her protector and putting them all in danger.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

14.Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore

Release date: September 6What's it about: The inimitable McLemore shows absolutely no signs of slowing down this year, with yet another trans YA releasing just six months after the fantastic Lakelore. Their newest remixes The Great Gatsby as you've never seen it before, with the role of Nick now occupied by 17-year-old trans boy Nicolás Caraveo, a Wisconsin transplant who rents a house in West Egg from his cousin, Daisy. There, he meets his new neighbor, Jay Gatsby, who's manufactured an entire life out of trying to impress Nick's white-passing cousin, and the more he gets to know the misguided and hopeful young man (whom he learns is also trans), the deeper he falls.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

15.Destination Unknown by Bill Konigsberg

Release date: September 6What's it about: Novels for teens about the AIDS crisis are still fairly few and far between, so it's particularly great to get one from a staple author of gay YA. It's 1987 and Micah's at a gay club, finding himself drawn to extremely (and admittedly a little uncomfortably) out-and-proud C.J. While the relationship that ensues between them has its ups, downs, and questions, nothing shapes it more than its coming of age during the AIDS crisis, especially as they find their places in activism.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

16.The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

Release date: September 6What's it about: Bestselling author Thomas returns with a new Mexican-inspired duology fantasy about a competition of teen semidioses that will see the winner honored and the loser sacrificed. Trans semidiós Teo knows he isn't likely to be chosen to compete...until he is, and finds himself fighting for his life.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

17.Funeral Girl by Emma K. Ohland

Release date: September 6What's it about: For a girl who has the ability to summon ghosts, being the child of funeral home owners is about as nightmarish as it gets. But aroace Georgia puts her ability to good use, doing her best to help the bodies that come through the home find ultimate peace. Then the body of a classmate arrives, one who desperately wants her help, and Georgia's forced to consider mortality in a whole new light.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

18.Coven by Jennifer Dugan and illustrated by Kit Seaton

Release date: September 6What's it about: Rom-com delight Dugan takes a sharp and welcome turn in this paranormal graphic novel about a fire elemental named Emsy who's forced to move from California to upstate New York when her family members are marked for death by magic they'll need Emsy to help fight. Now she'll have to leave her girlfriend behind and pick up the magical mantle if she's going to protect her family from witchy death.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

19.Aces Wild by Amanda DeWitt

Release date: September 6What's it about: What happens in Vegas comes to your bookshelf this summer in the form of a heist novel about a group of friends who met in an asexual support group online band together to help one of their own. Jack is positive his mom is being framed by her rival and former lover for having ties to the mob, but he'll need help to prove it. Enter his ace besties, who arrive to help him infiltrate a dangerous gambling club to get the dirt he'll need to set his mom free. And if he happens to confusingly fall in love while it's all going down, well.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

20.Tragic by Dana Mele by and illustrated by Valentina Pinti

Release date: September 13What's it about: Hamlet gets a queer illustrated makeover in this contemporary YA retelling about a girl named Harper whose father's been murdered, and whose uncle (who happens to be sleeping with her mother) is at the top of her suspect list. Joined by her best friend and her ex-girlfriend, Talia, Harper sets out to prove her uncle's guilt. But when Talia's father is found dead as well, Harper realizes the mysteries are only just beginning. Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

21.I'm the Girl by Courtney Summers

Release date: September 13What's it about: Summers is a master of the Culturally Necessary Life Ruiner, and she's in fine form here with her newest thriller, inspired by the horrors of Jeffrey Epstein. Georgia is beautiful, and all she wants is for everyone else to see it too. Instead, she finds herself discarded and stumbling upon the body of the 13-year-old Sheriff's daughter, Ashley, whose sister, Nora, would like some answers, especially about what Georgia saw. The girls' investigation gets increasingly complex as romance slowly blossoms between them and Georgia finds a way to advance her own plans of finding employment at the incredible and exclusive Aspera resort. But all that glamour gives way to a seamy underbelly that threatens to pull Georgia into its grasp and force her to confront the many faces danger, ugliness, misogyny, and bravery take.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

22.Death by Society by Sierra Elmore

Release date: September 13What's it about: Carter's got plenty of achievements to brag about, but it's all overshadowed by depression that takes her down the path to suicidal ideation. Then her attempt is quashed by none other than cool girl Abby, whose best friend (with benefits), Kelsey, is a demon spawn hellbent on cruelty. Now that Abby's seen another side, she and Carter will have to work together to stop Kelsey from terrorizing the rest of the school before another girl has a very different ending.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.

23.The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass

Release date: September 20What's it about: Micah Summers makes a delightful Prince Charming for our time in this thoroughly modernized Cinderella story about an Instagrammer artist who posts about all the boys he's dreamed of asking out in the past, and who's determined to make number 100 the real thing. When he meets a dreamy boy on the L, only to get separated by a freak slip, Micah grows determined to track him down, knowing he's the one. But the quest to find the boy using the jacket he accidentally left behind turns out to be a romantically enlightening journey in a way Micah never expected.Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound.