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NEA Advice

LGBTQ+ Books for Schools

Recommended titles that reflect on the LGBTQ+ experience and books about Pride, tolerance, and diversity.
educator holds a stack of books with Twas the Night Before Pride on the top and visible
Published: June 7, 2023
This resource originally appeared on NEA.org

Everyone should be able to see themselves reflected in the books they read and feel comfortable about being the person they want to be. Find books in this list that reflect on the LGBTQ+ experience along with titles about pride, tolerance, and diversity.

Picture Books

You Are Not Alone by Kaitlin McGaw

Rainbow Hands by Mamta Nainy

My Maddy by Gayle E. Pitman

Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild

Twas The Night Before Pride by Joanna McClintick

Calvin by J.R. Ford

Ho'onani: Hula Warrior by Heather Gale

Harriet Gets Carried Away by Jessie Sima

When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff

Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer

Worm Loves Worm by J. J. Austrian

I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel

Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love

Middle Grade

Melissa by Alex Gino

This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us by Katherine Locke

The Best at It by Maulik Pancholy

A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner

Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas

Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender

The Best Man by Richard Peck

Spin with Me by Ami Polonsky  

Better Nate than Ever by Tim Federle

Obie Is Man Enough by Schuyler Bailar

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake

The Best Liars in Riverview by Lin Thompson

Young Adult

This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

Flamer by Mike Curato

The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater

Find these titles and more LGBTQ+ reading recommendations at your local library through World Cat.  


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