From Christopher Isherwood's enduring 20th-century classic Goodbye to Berlin to contemporary titles like Janet Mock's Redefining Realness, the titles in this study guide collection explore a range of ideas, issues, genres, and forms that speak to the LGBTQ community.
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Society: Education, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Psychological Fiction, LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Self Discovery, Relationships: Family, Society: Immigration, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: Community, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Immigration / Refugee, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Bullying, Love / Sexuality, Grief / Death, History: Asian, Natural Disaster, Parenting, Military / War, Race / Racism, Religion / Spirituality, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World
Publication year 2014
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Society: Education
Tags LGBTQ, Humor, Self Help, Love / Sexuality
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, LGBTQ
This Is How It Always Is, a novel by Laurie Frankel, was published in 2017. It was a New York Times best seller, one of People magazine’s Top 10 Books of 2017, and a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick. Other works by this author include One Two Three and Family Family.Plot SummaryDr. Rosie Walsh is pregnant with her fifth son, Claude. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her writer husband, Penn Adams... Read This Is How It Always Is Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novella, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Literature
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, LGBTQ, Love / Sexuality
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness, LGBTQ
This Is Where It Ends is the 2016 young adult novel by Marieke Nijkamp. As Principal Trenton concludes the annual first-day-of-spring-semester speech at Alabama’s Opportunity High School, Tyler Browne locks students inside the auditorium and commits a school shooting that leaves thirty-nine people dead. Narrated in four different first-person accounts, by seniors Autumn, Sylv, Tomas, and Claire, This Is Where It Ends traces the fifty-five minutes, from 10:00 to 10:55 a.m., that encompass moments before... Read This Is Where It Ends Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy, Mythology, LGBTQ
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Past
Tags LGBTQ, Romance, Historical Fiction
Publication year 1998
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Gender, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Self Discovery
Tags History: World, Victorian Literature / Period, Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Romance, LGBTQ, Victorian Period
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Identity: Sexuality
Tags LGBTQ, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Humor
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Identity: Gender
Tags LGBTQ, Fantasy, Relationships, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Religion / Spirituality
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Society: Class, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World
Publication year 1996
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Femininity, Identity: Gender, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Sexuality, Self Discovery, Society: Class
Tags Gender / Feminism, History: World, LGBTQ, Politics / Government
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Space & The Universe, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Gender, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Disability, Identity: Language, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Future, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Society: Education, Society: Politics & Government, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, LGBTQ, Fantasy
Publication year 2009
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, LGBTQ
Tricks is a 2009 young adult novel by Ellen Hopkins. Hopkins is the best-selling author of novels such as Crank, Impulse, and Traffick, the sequel to Tricks. Like many of Hopkins’s novels, the novel is written in free verse and has been banned in several states because of its graphic content and subject matter. The novel follows the lives of five different teenage narrators—Eden, Seth, Whitney, Ginger, and Cody—as they experience the traumas of the... Read Tricks Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Disability, Identity: Language, Life/Time: Coming of Age
Tags Disability, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, LGBTQ, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1998
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Music, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Music, Grief / Death, Race / Racism, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ, Depression / Suicide, Love / Sexuality, Parenting, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance
David Levithan’s 2013 young adult novel Two Boys Kissing is narrated from the perspective of the gay men who died during the 1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic. This chorus, resembling that of ancient Greek theater, observes the novel’s present-day characters—several gay teenage boys in neighboring American small towns—as they explore love, relationship, and identity. The central narrative follows two boys, Harry and Craig, who attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest continuous kiss by kissing... Read Two Boys Kissing Summary
Publication year 1995
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Relationships: Family, Identity: Gender, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Self Discovery
Tags LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Love / Sexuality, Biography
Two or Three Things I Know for Sure is a 1995 memoir by American author and activist Dorothy Allison, a native of Greenville, South Carolina. A coming-of-age story that examines feminism and lesbian identity in the context of the patriarchal norms of the South, the book uses both narrative and photographs to tell the stories of the women in Allison’s family and their complex relationships with the men who both loved and abused them. Her... Read Two or Three Things I Know for Sure Summary
Publication year 1991
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Identity: Race
Tags LGBTQ, Black Arts Movement, Poverty