Children of Harvey Milk
Andrew Reynolds. Oxford Univ., Nov.
Reynolds, a professor of political science at UNC–Chapel Hill and director of the UNC LGBTQ Representation and Rights Initiative, interviews more than 70 politicians worldwide about the fight for LGBTQ rights.
Confessions of the Fox
Jordy Rosenberg. One World, July
This “astonishing and mesmerizing debut,” PW’s starred review said, “juxtaposes queer and trans theory, heroic romance, postcolonial analysis, and speculative fiction.”
Evolution
Eileen Myles. Grove, Sept.
Myles, whose books include the 1994 autobiographical novel Chelsea Girls and, most recently, the memoir Afterglow, returns with a collection of poems that were published in the New Yorker, Paris Review, and elsewhere.
GayBCs
Rae Congdon. Greystone, Sept.
A is for Ally, B is for bisexual, C is for cisgender—and that’s just for starters in Montreal graphic designer Congdon’s alternative guide.
The Great Believers
Rebecca Makkai. Viking, June
PW’s starred review called Makkai’s latest “a striking, emotional journey through the 1980s AIDS crisis and its residual effects on the contemporary lives of survivors.”
Lives in Transition
Slobodan Randjelovic. New Press, Nov.
Part of the publisher’s photobook series on queer communities around the world, this book looks at the ongoing human rights struggle in Serbia through the lens of 20 LGBTQ people living throughout the country.
Night Soil
Dale Peck. Soho, Aug.
Teenage Judas seeks refuge in anonymous rest area hookups while longing for a relationship with one of the boys at his private school in this coming of age story by the author of the 2009 YA novel Sprout, a Lambda Literary Award winner.
A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns
Archie Bongiovanni and Tristan Jimerson. Limerence, June
Longtime best friends Bongiovanni, who is genderqueer, and Jimerson, a cisgender man, offer a pronoun primer in comics form—what they are, how to use them, and why they matter.
Raised by Unicorns
Edited by Frank Lowe. Cleis, June
This anthology collects family stories from an array of children with queer parents. Editor Lowe, who is gay, divorced, and the father of an eight-year-old son, also writes under the Twitter and Instagram handle @GayAtHomeDad.
Semi Queer
Anne Balay. Univ. of North Carolina, Oct.
Balay, a licensed commercial trucker, professor of gender and sexuality studies, and a 2015 recipient of the Lamda Literary Emerging Writers Award, compiles oral histories of 66 drivers who do not fit the typical image of the straight white male trucker.
Sharon Hayes
Julia Bryan-Wilson, Jeannine Tang, and Lanka Tattersall. Phaidon, Nov.
This monograph examines the work of Hayes, who uses photography, video, performance, and other media to explore queer theory, feminist history, and politics and protest.
Trans Like Me
C.N. Lester. Seal, June
PW’s starred review said that while this book “is clearly written with a nontrans audience in mind, [it] will likely also be an affirming read for many trans people, especially young ones, who may find in its pages recognition from a fellow traveler.”
Transitioning in the Workplace
Dana Pizzuti. Jessica Kingsley, Sept.
Pizzuti, a physician who transitioned while working at a major pharmaceutical company, offers advice for people preparing to transition and suggests how managers and HR professionals can support them.
Undivided
Vicky Beeching. HarperOne, June
Beeching writes of growing up evangelical in the U.K., becoming a Christian recording artist, and hiding her identity until coming out in 2014. PW’s review said that “Readers will relate to her earnest struggle against the pressure to conform to impossible expectations.”
Who Is Vera Kelly?
Rosalie Knecht. Tin House, June
In 1962 New York City, the title character is working at a radio station and patronizing underground lesbian bars when she’s recruited by the CIA in what PW’s review called “a promising subversion of the classic espionage novel.”
DeadEndia: The Watcher’s Test
Hamish Steele. Nobrow, Aug. Ages 12–up.
Animator and LGBTQ activist Steele launches a graphic novel series starring a trans teenager who—after being kicked out by his unaccepting family—finds himself working at a paranormal theme park. Each chapter includes a bio page with characters’ preferred pronouns.
Dear Rachel Maddow
Adrienne Kisner. Feiwel and Friends, June. Ages 13–up.
Kisner’s debut novel features 16-year-old Brynn as she struggles with learning differences and a manipulative ex-girlfriend, all of which she confides through unsent emails to her role model: MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.
Forever
T. Cooper and Allison Glock-Cooper. Black Sheep, Sept. Ages 12–up.
In the fourth and final installment of the Changers series of YA fantasy novels, a shapeshifter named Kim realizes that coming out is only the first step in discovering her identity.
Jack (Not Jackie)
Erica Silverman, illus. by Holly Hatam. Little Bee, Oct. Ages 4–8.
Published in partnership with GLAAD, this picture book tells the story of a big sister who comes to accept that her little sister identifies more as Jack.
Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)
L.C. Rosen. Little, Brown, Oct. Ages 14–up.
Rosen’s debut novel stars a queer teenager whose sense of self-worth is threatened when a blackmailer tries to force him back into the closet.
The Lotterys More or Less
Emma Donoghue, illus. by Caroline Hadilaksono. Scholastic/Levine, Oct. Ages 8–12.
The sequel to The Lotterys Plus One revisits the sprawling, unconventional family as they celebrate the holidays, in spite of a series of mishaps.
Odd One Out
Nic Stone. Crown, Oct. Ages 14–up.
Stone follows up her 2017 debut novel, Dear Martin, with a story of friendship and unrequited love, revolving around best friends and neighbors whose already complicated relationship is thrown off balance by the arrival of an attractive new girl.
Robb Pearlman, illus. by Eda Kaban. Running Press, June. Ages 3–6.
Spreads depict children wearing a range of costumes and engaged in various activities, suggesting that gender does not dictate one’s favorite color or hobby.
Pulp
Robin Talley. Harlequin Teen, Nov. Ages 12–up.
The stories of two gay teens—one set in 1955 and the other in the present day—converge through their shared passion for lesbian pulp fiction, in a novel by the author of 2014’s Lies We Tell Ourselves.
Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill
Lee Wind. Oct. Ages 14–up.
Wind, who blogs at I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?, raised $15,000 on Kickstarter to publish his debut novel, about a gay teen in a conservative town who discovers a historical secret: Abraham Lincoln was in love with another man.
Someday
David Levithan. Knopf, Oct. Ages 12–up.
The sequel to Levithan’s Every Day (a film adaption hit theaters in February) further explores the lives of Rhiannon, Nathan, and A, who wakes up in a different body each day.
Sometime After Midnight
L. Philips. Viking, June. Ages 14–up.
A chance encounter between two aspiring musician kicks off a modern-day “Cinderfella” rom com, inspired by the #AlexFromTarget Twitter meme.
Trans Teen Survival Guide
Owl and Fox Fisher. Jessica Kingsley, Sept. Ages 12–up.
This guidebook by the cofounders of the My Genderation film project offers information on coming out, clothing, pronouns, hormone therapy, mental health, and other issues relating to growing up transgender.
The Unbinding of Mary Reade
Miriam McNamara. Sky Pony, June. Ages 14–up.
McNamara’s debut novel, a swashbuckling historical romance, is based on the true story of a girl who disguised herself as a boy to join the crew of pirates Calico Jack and Anne Bonny, and who later fell in love with Anne.
What If It’s Us
Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera. HarperTeen, Oct. Ages 14–up.
Albertalli (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda) and Silvera (They Both Die at the End) team up for a contemporary romance in which two boys from different backgrounds meet-cute in New York City and wonder if fate has brought them together.
