Lesbian teen fiction
Young adult novels featuring lesbian teen protagonists.
Melinda
1524 books
41 friends
41 friends
Danika at The Lesbrary
3021 books
829 friends
829 friends
Vicky
3402 books
108 friends
108 friends
Alu
1966 books
32 friends
32 friends
LaShawnna
3927 books
17 friends
17 friends
Jordan
3673 books
27 friends
27 friends
Eva
269 books
1 friend
1 friend
Alejandra
58 books
38 friends
38 friends
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I love the idea of this list, but it could use some cleanup. How strictly does the list creator want to enforce the "lesbian teen protagonists" requirement? People have added books with bisexual protagonists, and many of the books have straight protagonists with lesbian secondary characters. Some of those also include no lesbian teens at all, but rather lesbian adults.
I did remove these....
Awakenings (adult)
Patience and Sarah (adult)
The Letter Q (non-fiction)
Full Court Pressure (adult)
Luna (no lesbian characters)
Young, Gay, & Proud! (non-fiction)
Gringa (adult non-fiction, also the protagonist is straight)
I did remove these....
Awakenings (adult)
Patience and Sarah (adult)
The Letter Q (non-fiction)
Full Court Pressure (adult)
Luna (no lesbian characters)
Young, Gay, & Proud! (non-fiction)
Gringa (adult non-fiction, also the protagonist is straight)
Rainbowheart wrote: "I love the idea of this list, but it could use some cleanup. How strictly does the list creator want to enforce the "lesbian teen protagonists" requirement? People have added books with bisexual pr..."
Hi, Rainbowheart,
Thanks for cleaning up the list. I'd like to stick to the "lesbian teen protagonist" requirement as much as possible, so no straight teen protagonists with lesbian sisters or BFFs, and the like.
When it comes to bisexual protagonists, I think there are some limited cases in which the book may still merit inclusion, such as Far from You by Tess Sharpe, in which although the protagonist is bisexual, the novel revolves around her lesbian relationship (with a lesbian). I would not, however, include If You Follow Meby Malena Watrous, in which the lesbian relationship between two bisexual women (don't remember if they're teens or early twenties) dissolves as they (re)turn to men. Ash, currently No. 3 on this list, does not meet my standards for a lesbian novel, but it appears that does qualify for the 29 people who voted for it.
Lesbian protagonists who are no longer teens should also be removed from the list, as should novels that are decidedly adult fiction, rather than young adult (some cases are borderline).
Those are my thoughts. Let me know what you think.
Hi, Rainbowheart,
Thanks for cleaning up the list. I'd like to stick to the "lesbian teen protagonist" requirement as much as possible, so no straight teen protagonists with lesbian sisters or BFFs, and the like.
When it comes to bisexual protagonists, I think there are some limited cases in which the book may still merit inclusion, such as Far from You by Tess Sharpe, in which although the protagonist is bisexual, the novel revolves around her lesbian relationship (with a lesbian). I would not, however, include If You Follow Meby Malena Watrous, in which the lesbian relationship between two bisexual women (don't remember if they're teens or early twenties) dissolves as they (re)turn to men. Ash, currently No. 3 on this list, does not meet my standards for a lesbian novel, but it appears that does qualify for the 29 people who voted for it.
Lesbian protagonists who are no longer teens should also be removed from the list, as should novels that are decidedly adult fiction, rather than young adult (some cases are borderline).
Those are my thoughts. Let me know what you think.
Removed the following books, grouped by rationale.
Protagonist is straight (best) friend of a lesbian:
Great
Name Me Nobody
Hard Love
Protagonist is child of adult lesbian mother(s):
Between Mom and Jo
Living in Secret
Pearl
Told through the eyes of the lesbian character's straight sibling:
My Invented Life
Deliver Us from Evie
Protagonist is not a lesbian, and the lesbian content is very limited:
A Map of Home
Short story collection, not a novel:
Am I Blue?
Artificial Hearts: A Lesbian YA Short Story Collection
Nonfiction anthology:
One Teenager in Ten
Protagonist is straight (best) friend of a lesbian:
Great
Name Me Nobody
Hard Love
Protagonist is child of adult lesbian mother(s):
Between Mom and Jo
Living in Secret
Pearl
Told through the eyes of the lesbian character's straight sibling:
My Invented Life
Deliver Us from Evie
Protagonist is not a lesbian, and the lesbian content is very limited:
A Map of Home
Short story collection, not a novel:
Am I Blue?
Artificial Hearts: A Lesbian YA Short Story Collection
Nonfiction anthology:
One Teenager in Ten
Thanks..
Danika at The Lesbrary wrote: "A longer list is available at http://www.goodlesbianbooks.com/2012/...
I could only add 100 of them."
Danika at The Lesbrary wrote: "A longer list is available at http://www.goodlesbianbooks.com/2012/...
I could only add 100 of them."
Removed because the MC is not a lesbian....
Between Mom and Jo (lesbian mother)
Deliver Us from Evie (lesbian sister)
Shockproof Sydney Skate (lesbian mother)
Not the Only One (short story collection)
Secrets of Truth and Beauty (lesbian sister)
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun (lesbian mother)
Addie on the Inside (straight MC, are there any lesbians in this story?)
Also removed....
Bird-Eyes (adult)
Map of Ireland (adult)
Unusual Company (adult)
The Color Purple (adult)
Wedding Bell Blues (adult)
Bottle Rocket Hearts (adult)
Coffee Will Make You Black (adult)
Some of these have teen protagonists, but were published as adult fiction.
Question marks....
Libyrinth (is Haly the MC a lesbian? Googling only shows that her friend Clauda is)
Define Normal (author is a lesbian, but as far as I can tell, the sexual orientation of the MC is never identified)
Don't Even Think About It (does this have any lesbian characters at all?)
Not Otherwise Specified (the MC is very clearly bisexual, not lesbian)
Between Mom and Jo (lesbian mother)
Deliver Us from Evie (lesbian sister)
Shockproof Sydney Skate (lesbian mother)
Not the Only One (short story collection)
Secrets of Truth and Beauty (lesbian sister)
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun (lesbian mother)
Addie on the Inside (straight MC, are there any lesbians in this story?)
Also removed....
Bird-Eyes (adult)
Map of Ireland (adult)
Unusual Company (adult)
The Color Purple (adult)
Wedding Bell Blues (adult)
Bottle Rocket Hearts (adult)
Coffee Will Make You Black (adult)
Some of these have teen protagonists, but were published as adult fiction.
Question marks....
Libyrinth (is Haly the MC a lesbian? Googling only shows that her friend Clauda is)
Define Normal (author is a lesbian, but as far as I can tell, the sexual orientation of the MC is never identified)
Don't Even Think About It (does this have any lesbian characters at all?)
Not Otherwise Specified (the MC is very clearly bisexual, not lesbian)
In PLL Emily is bisexual, not lesbian
Removed:
Orange Is the New Black (not YA, doesn't have lesbian teen protagonist)
Define Normal (no lesbian main characters)
Pretty Little Liars (comments above)
Orange Is the New Black (not YA, doesn't have lesbian teen protagonist)
Define Normal (no lesbian main characters)
Pretty Little Liars (comments above)
Removed because the MC is not a lesbian....
The Summer Prince (bisexual mother)
Not Otherwise Specified (bisexual MC)
Geography Club (gay male MC, bisexual side character)
Changers (male MC magically transformed to female, but still bisexual)
Also removed....
Babyji (adult)
Kaleidoscope (short story collection)
Zombies vs. Unicorns (short story collection)
How Beautiful the Ordinary (short story collection)
I'm sure there are more, but that's all I had time for at the moment.
The Summer Prince (bisexual mother)
Not Otherwise Specified (bisexual MC)
Geography Club (gay male MC, bisexual side character)
Changers (male MC magically transformed to female, but still bisexual)
Also removed....
Babyji (adult)
Kaleidoscope (short story collection)
Zombies vs. Unicorns (short story collection)
How Beautiful the Ordinary (short story collection)
I'm sure there are more, but that's all I had time for at the moment.
The Color Purple was removed on the basis of 'MC is an adult' but Celie is, sadly, a teenager when The Color Purple begins. She 's had several children by then, but she's only fourteen. By the time she falls in love with Shug she is a bit older, but I would have to reread the book to know if it's more than five years later.
I read this book as a teenager and the relationship between Shug and Celie was very important to me as a lesbian teenager, although Celie is not described in modern terms of 'teenagerhood' and has to deal with life as an adult even though she is very young.
By the way, I am astonished and really happy to see such a long list here! Back in the mid to late 1980's (UK) there was really not much around when I was looking for it. Rubyfruit Jungle, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, and Hey, Dollface were the few books that I found, and of those, only Hey Dollface really fits the category 'lesbian teen fiction' as the setting is very much teen life all the way through. In the other two, the main character grows up within the timeline of the book.
I read this book as a teenager and the relationship between Shug and Celie was very important to me as a lesbian teenager, although Celie is not described in modern terms of 'teenagerhood' and has to deal with life as an adult even though she is very young.
By the way, I am astonished and really happy to see such a long list here! Back in the mid to late 1980's (UK) there was really not much around when I was looking for it. Rubyfruit Jungle, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, and Hey, Dollface were the few books that I found, and of those, only Hey Dollface really fits the category 'lesbian teen fiction' as the setting is very much teen life all the way through. In the other two, the main character grows up within the timeline of the book.
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I could only add 100 of them.