Today I have my all-time favourite LGBT YA novels for you! Some I have RAVED about, others not so much, but they’ve all stuck with me for one reason or another. Here they are:
The
Miseducation of Cameron Post, Emily
M Danforth
I picked
up a copy of this by chance after hearing CJ Skuse raving about it on Twitter. It
blew me away. I was reading it during my work experience at Bloomsbury and even
though I was loving my time there, I couldn’t wait to leave and get an
uninterrupted hour on the train. It’s shocking, heartbreaking, touching and
incredibly powerful. It was in my top three books of 2012.
Sprout,
Dale Peck
I think
Sprout was probably the first novel I
read that I consciously realised was LGBT. I didn’t know anything about it, none
of my friends had read it; I just liked the rush of bright green hair on the
cover. The characters were sparky and witty and Sprout was writing his story
down and that was what I was reading. It was an individual story for an individual
character and the ending was heartbreaking, especially when you read the author’s
dedication and see the parallels...
If
You Could Be Mine, Sara
Farizan
I’m a
sucker for stories of forbidden love and what can be more forbidden than two
girls falling in love in Iran? It’s a beautiful book, and a painful one. I liked
that although that was the main issue in Nasrin and Sahar’s relationship, it
wasn’t the only one. Farizan still explored the ups and down of first love,
their friendship and identity. I was surprised by how much I loved this book
and I really don’t think it got enough notice in the blogosphere.
Boy
Meets Boy, David
Levithan
Of all
the books on my list, this is the one that I read most recently. It’s one that I
used to look at in the library every time I went in and think ‘I’ll pick that
up next time’ but I never did. And then last year it was re-published by Harper
Collins a bright yellow copy landed on my doormat. I fell in love with David
Levithan. This world he created for his characters blew me away. A place were a
relationship between two boys was open and comfortable and perfectly fine. It was
actually shocking in how shocking that idea was, and hope that one day,
Levithan’s vision will be reality.
The
Perks of Being a Wallflower
I read
this book years ago. Before there was even a whisper of the film, before it was
published over here, before I knew anything about the awesome inside the
covers. I still catch myself thinking about this book every now and then and it
must have been about six or seven years since I read it. There’s a lot of
things going on in The Perks of Being a
Wallfower. The stories of Charlie, Sam and Partrick are all differently but
equally heartbreaking, but it’s Patrick who gives us the LGBT element. He is
kept a secret and the way he is treated broke my heart, and then came the
repercussions of being found out. It was shocking for me at that age – the thought
that all love isn’t equal to everybody. It was probably the book that first
sparked my interest in the topic.
Those are
my top five LGBT novels. Have I picked any of your favourites? Did I miss
something you really think I shouldn’t have?
Sophie
Great picks, Sophie. I've read a couple of these and enjoyed them too.
ReplyDeleteI read a fantastic LGBT eBook over the weekend called The Gravity of Us. It's ace. Also Becoming Nancy by Terry Ronald is probably my favourite!
Awesome books there, Sophie! The only one I haven't read is If You Could Be Mine. I haven't heard much about it. I would recommend Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin, Alex As Well by Alyssa Brugman, Far From You by Tess Sharpe, Don't Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble, and Every Day by David Levithan. You may have read some of those already, but if not, I implore to get your hands on a copy of each ASAP! Just awesome! :)
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of making my own list of favourites for LGBTApril. I think the only overlap will be Boy Meets Boy which is just amazing :) I'm also hoping to read The Miseducation of Cameron Post at some point this point so I'm glad to hear that you rate it highly :)
ReplyDeleteOh I have The Miseducation of Cameron Post on my tbr - can't wait to get to it! And Boy Meets Boy!! That was one of the first YA LGBT novels I've read :) Great list!
ReplyDeleteBtw, don’t forget to add your post(s) to the link up (so others can find them more easily). Also, enter the links of your LGBT posts to the rafflecopter so you can win! (you can enter once a day)
http://nijiclovers.blogspot.com/2014/04/lgbt-month-week-2-new-link-up-giveaways.html
I haven't read any of these but I have Cameron Post on my tbr and also own The Perks of being a Wallflower. Great picks - really need to pick up Boy Meets Boy soon. :)
ReplyDeleteSPROUT!!! I'm so happy to see somebody else talking about it. It's awesome, but I don't see people talking about it very much. It's probably at the top of my favourites list. I only read The Miseducation last month and yeah, that's become one of my favourites too.
ReplyDeleteI read Boy Meets Boy so long ago now that I don't remember very much about it, but I'm sure it was good-- I buy every Levithan book I can get my hands on, after all, and Boy Meets Boy was one of the first I read, so I must have liked it a lot. I remember that probably my favourite solo book of his is Love is the Higher Law, though. That was really beautifully-written and I think a little more complex than Boy Meets Boy. But yeah, I think Boy Meets Boy is so good for the sheer feel-good factor of it, of being able to immerse yourself in a world which is so much better than our own.
I haven't read Perks of Being a Wallflower or If You Could Be Mine, but I'm sure I'll find the time to check those out eventually.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post was great. I read the Perks of Being a Wallflower years ago too and I think I liked it at the time but I can't really remember. I didn't care for the movie though. Boy Meets Boy is on my TBR.
ReplyDelete