Lesbian YA has changed enormously.
Once, finding a young adult novel with a lesbian main character could feel like discovering something publishers had accidentally let onto the shelf. Now readers can choose. Two girls falling in love at school? Easy. Lesbian princesses? We have them. Witches, 1950s San Francisco, prom queens, ghost hunters, fake dating, a plague island and girls trying to overthrow entire political systems? Welcome to modern sapphic YA.
This guide brings together 36 lesbian YA books and broader sapphic young adult books across genres, not just romance. Some have lesbian protagonists; others center bisexual or queer girls. Some are built around a love story; others are about family, fantasy, horror, friendship or figuring out who you want to become. We tell you the difference.
How to read the labels. Every book lists the character’s identity as the book presents it, how central the romance is, a suggested age, a spoiler-free ending (Happy, Hopeful, Bittersweet, Open-ended or Cliffhanger) and what to know first.
Suggested ages are our editorial guidance, not a rule. A 13-year-old looking for a sweet first-love story and a 17-year-old looking for body horror both want lesbian YA; they probably shouldn’t get the same book.
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Start hereContemporaryHistoricalFantasySci-fiHorror & mysteryGraphic novelsNot romance-ledDarker readsFind your nextFAQStart Here: Essential Lesbian YA Books
If you’re new to sapphic YA, these six show how broad the category has become, from a 1982 classic to National Book Award-winning historical fiction.
Annie on My Mind
Nancy Garden · 1982
- Published 1982
- Genre Contemporary YA / coming-of-age
- Identity Lesbian
- Romance Central
- Age 13+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Homophobia, outing, school discipline
Liza meets Annie at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They become friends, then something more. Today that sounds like an ordinary YA love story. In 1982 it wasn’t.
Garden lets Liza and Annie’s love be tender and serious. The conflict comes from the adults and institutions around them, not from any suggestion that the love itself is wrong. It has been banned and challenged for decades, and it still matters.
Why read it: One of the foundational lesbian teen love stories.
Best for: First love, lesbian classics and queer literary history.
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Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Malinda Lo · 2021
- Published 2021
- Genre Historical YA
- Identity Lesbian, Chinese American
- Romance Major
- Age 14+
- Ending Bittersweet but hopeful
- Know first Homophobia, racism, Red Scare persecution, family conflict
San Francisco, 1954. Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu is beginning to understand something about herself she has no comfortable words for. Then she finds the Telegraph Club, a lesbian bar, and a world she barely knew existed.
Her family lives under Red Scare suspicion, and racism, immigration fears and homophobia all shape what Lily can safely say. That’s what makes it far richer than “girl finds lesbian bar, falls in love.” It won the National Book Award.
Why read it: The benchmark for lesbian historical YA.
Best for: First love, 1950s San Francisco, Chinese American history and queer history. More like it: Books Like Last Night at the Telegraph Club.
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The Miseducation of Cameron Post
emily m. danforth · 2012
- Published 2012
- Genre Literary YA / coming-of-age
- Identity Lesbian
- Romance Important, not the plot
- Age 15+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Conversion therapy, homophobia, grief, self-harm (side character)
Early-1990s Montana. Cameron Post knows she likes girls, and she knows the adults around her think that needs correcting. After she is outed, she is sent to a religious conversion-therapy program.
That makes it sound like a book entirely about suffering. It isn’t. It’s about adolescence, friendship, resistance and the stubborn work of becoming yourself while other people insist they know you better.
Why read it: A major literary coming-of-age novel that takes its teenage heroine completely seriously.
Best for: Literary YA, lesbian identity and queer history. Not a light romance.
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You Should See Me in a Crown
Leah Johnson · 2020
- Published 2020
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Black queer
- Romance Major
- Age 12+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Anxiety, grief, homophobia (mild)
Liz Lighty needs a scholarship. The only way to get it is to run for prom queen, exactly the popularity contest she’d normally avoid. Then she starts falling for Mack, the new girl, who is running too.
Liz gets more than one problem: ambition, money, friendships, family and a future. Queerness matters without being the only thing she’s allowed to be.
Why read it: Black queer joy, ambition and first love in one very good book.
Best for: Prom, friendship and hopeful contemporary YA.
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The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School
Sonido Reyes (published as Sonora Reyes) · 2022
- Published 2022
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Lesbian, Mexican American
- Romance Important
- Age 14+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Homophobia, religious pressure, mental-health themes, family conflict
Yamilet Flores already knows coming out can go badly. So at her new Catholic school she has one rule: don’t fall for a girl, especially not the one openly queer girl there. Obviously this works perfectly.
Yami’s story takes on religion, family, friendship and mental health, and it’s funny and warm too. It takes homophobia seriously without making queer suffering its only note.
Why read it: A sharp, heartfelt queer Latinx coming-of-age with real humor.
Best for: Catholic school, coming out and first love.
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Ash
Malinda Lo · 2009
- Published 2009
- Genre YA fantasy / fairy-tale retelling
- Identity Sapphic
- Romance Major
- Age 13+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Grief, emotional abuse (stepmother)
Ash is grieving her parents and trapped under her stepmother’s control when two possibilities appear: a dangerous, beautiful fairy, and Kaisa, the King’s Huntress.
The Cinderella frame makes what follows especially satisfying. Ash isn’t waiting to be chosen. She’s learning what she wants.
Why read it: One of the landmark early sapphic YA fantasies.
Best for: Retellings, huntresses and lyrical fantasy.
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Contemporary Lesbian YA Books
School rivalries, fake dating, prom, faith, fandom and film sets. Most of these are romance-forward, and a few are much heavier.
The Henna Wars
Adiba Jaigirdar · 2020
- Published 2020
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Lesbian, Bangladeshi Irish
- Romance Central
- Age 13+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Homophobia, racism, family rejection
In Dublin, Nishat comes out to her Bangladeshi Muslim family, and it goes badly. Then a school business competition gives her another problem: she chooses henna, and so does Flávia, the girl she likes.
The rivalry drives the romance, but Jaigirdar takes cultural appropriation, family and identity seriously too.
Why read it: Rivals-to-more with real cultural depth.
Best for: School rivalry, first love and South Asian representation.
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Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating
Adiba Jaigirdar · 2021
- Published 2021
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Bisexual and lesbian, Bengali Irish
- Romance Central
- Age 13+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Biphobia, racism, family pressure
Hani wants her friends to believe she’s bisexual. Ishu wants to become head girl. A fake relationship seems to solve both problems. Neither expects it to become real.
Beyond the romance, it explores two very different Bengali girls, their families and what they each want.
Why read it: Fake dating done with warmth and a bi heroine who gets taken seriously.
Best for: Fake dating, academic ambition and opposites.
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Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel
Sara Farizan · 2014
- Published 2014
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Lesbian, Iranian American
- Romance Major
- Age 14+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Homophobia, family expectations
Leila knows she likes girls and would prefer almost nobody else knew. Her Iranian American family has expectations, school has its own social minefields, and then a glamorous new girl arrives.
Farizan lets Leila be confused and make bad decisions, the way teenagers are supposed to be allowed to. She’s not a symbol; she’s a girl with a crush.
Why read it: An honest, funny closeted-crush story.
Best for: First crushes, Iranian American representation and school stories.
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Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit
Jaye Robin Brown · 2016
- Published 2016
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Lesbian
- Romance Central
- Age 14+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Religious homophobia, going back in the closet
Jo Gordon is out, until she moves to a small Georgia town with her radio-preacher father and agrees to go back in the closet for a while. Then she meets Mary Carlson.
Faith is central to the conflict, but the book refuses to make every religious character cruel, and it asks what happens when family, faith and queerness won’t fit into neat boxes.
Why read it: A warm small-town romance that treats faith with care.
Best for: Religion, small towns and first love.
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Everything Leads to You
Nina LaCour · 2014
- Published 2014
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Lesbian
- Romance Major
- Age 14+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Grief, family secrets
Emi is a young set designer already building a film career in Los Angeles. A mysterious letter left by a Hollywood legend leads her to Ava, and to a real-life mystery.
Emi’s professional ambitions matter as much as her love life, which is rarer than it should be in YA.
Why read it: A dreamy LA summer with a heroine who has a calling.
Best for: Film, creative careers and gentle mystery.
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The Falling in Love Montage
Ciara Smyth · 2020
- Published 2020
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Lesbian, Irish
- Romance Central
- Age 14+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Parent with early-onset dementia, grief
Saoirse doesn’t do serious relationships. So Ruby proposes something safer: recreate all the fun parts of romantic movies, montage and all, with no falling in love. This is an exceptionally poor plan.
The rom-com premise sits beside a harder story about her mother’s illness and Saoirse’s fear of attachment.
Why read it: Laugh-out-loud Irish rom-com with real heart underneath.
Best for: Summer romance, rom-com tropes and emotional YA.
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I Kissed Shara Wheeler
Casey McQuiston · 2022
- Published 2022
- Genre Contemporary YA / mystery
- Identity Queer and sapphic cast
- Romance Major
- Age 14+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Religious homophobia, outing
Chloe Green wants to beat Shara Wheeler for valedictorian. Then Shara kisses her and vanishes, and Chloe discovers she isn’t the only person Shara kissed before she disappeared.
Part romance, part scavenger hunt, part story about the masks queer kids wear at a conservative Alabama school.
Why read it: Chaotic, funny and more thoughtful than it first looks.
Best for: Academic rivals, mystery and conservative-school stories.
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She Gets the Girl
Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick · 2022
- Published 2022
- Genre New adult-leaning YA
- Identity Lesbian and sapphic
- Romance Central
- Age 15+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Alcoholic parent, some sexual content
Alex Blackwood thinks she knows how to get girls. Molly Parker very much does not. In their first semester of college, Alex agrees to help Molly win the girl she likes. The obvious conclusion is visible to everyone but them.
The college setting sits at the upper edge of YA, but its first-independence feelings make it a popular crossover.
Why read it: A sweet, funny opposites romance co-written by a real-life couple.
Best for: Dating lessons, college settings and rom-coms. More like it: Books Like She Gets the Girl.
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Queens of Geek
Jen Wilde · 2017
- Published 2017
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Bisexual and sapphic, autistic rep
- Romance Major
- Age 13+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Anxiety, online harassment
Three best friends head to SupaCon, a giant fan convention. Charlie, a bisexual Chinese-Australian vlogger, is trying to move on from a public breakup and keeps running into her crush, Alyssa. Taylor, who is autistic, is facing her own fears.
Fandom, friendship and queer romance, all warmly on the reader’s side.
Why read it: Pure fandom joy with sapphic romance and neurodivergent rep.
Best for: Cons, fandom and feel-good YA.
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Friday I’m in Love
Camryn Garrett · 2023
- Published 2023
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Black lesbian
- Romance Central
- Age 13+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Money worries, homophobia (mild)
Mahalia Harris is too old for a Sweet Sixteen, so why not throw a coming-out party instead? She also wants the super-cute new girl, Siobhan, to like her back.
Money is tight and plans go sideways, but the book never stops being a celebration.
Why read it: A Black lesbian teen gets a party in her honor and a rom-com of her own.
Best for: Black joy and queer pride.
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If You Could Be Mine
Sara Farizan · 2013
- Published 2013
- Genre Contemporary YA / social fiction
- Identity Lesbian, Iranian
- Romance Central, not genre romance
- Age 15+
- Ending Bittersweet
- Know first Homophobia, legal persecution, family pressure, gender transition considered under coercion
In Tehran, Sahar has loved her best friend Nasrin since childhood. But Nasrin is expected to marry a man, and their love cannot be public. Sahar begins to consider a drastic step she believes might let them be together.
It is a serious, compassionate look at sexuality, gender, law and family. Handle it with care; this is not a comfort read.
Why read it: A vital, clear-eyed story about love under severe restriction.
Best for: Serious YA, forbidden love and books set in Iran.
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Historical Lesbian YA Books
Start with Last Night at the Telegraph Club (above), then try these two by Robin Talley. The Miseducation of Cameron Post, set in the early 1990s, belongs here too. Older readers who love these can go further with our Lesbian Historical Fiction Books guide.
Pulp
Robin Talley · 2018
- Published 2018
- Genre Historical / dual-timeline YA
- Identity Lesbian
- Romance Major
- Age 14+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Homophobia, McCarthy-era persecution
In 1955 Washington, D.C., Janet Jones secretly devours lesbian pulp novels and starts writing one of her own, in a city hunting for “deviants.” In 2017, Abby Zimet is researching those same pulp novels for a school project.
The two timelines show how much, and how little, has changed for girls who love girls.
Why read it: Lesbian literary history turned into a gripping story.
Best for: Dual timelines, 1950s history and book-lovers.
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Lies We Tell Ourselves
Robin Talley · 2014
- Published 2014
- Genre Historical YA
- Identity Lesbian/sapphic, Black and white leads
- Romance Major
- Age 15+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Racist violence, slurs, segregation, homophobia
Virginia, 1959. Sarah Dunbar is one of the first Black students to integrate an all-white high school. Linda Hairston is the daughter of the town’s loudest segregationist. Forced to work together, they begin to feel something neither can afford.
It is unflinching about racism, and the sapphic relationship never erases it.
Why read it: A difficult, important civil-rights-era novel with a love story at its core.
Best for: Civil rights history and serious YA.
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Lesbian YA Fantasy Books
Princesses, witches, huntresses, curses and revolutions. Want the full shelf? Our Best YA Sapphic Fantasy Books guide has 24 picks sorted into witches, vampires, retellings, dark fantasy and more, with how central the romance is in each.
Of Fire and Stars
Audrey Coulthurst · 2016
- Published 2016
- Genre YA fantasy
- Identity Sapphic
- Romance Central
- Age 13+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Assassination, grief
Princess Dennaleia is betrothed to a prince and secretly has forbidden fire magic. She also starts falling for his sister, Mare. There are worse ways to complicate a royal engagement.
Princess romance, court intrigue and magic make it an easy first step from contemporary sapphic YA into fantasy.
Why read it: Princesses falling for princesses remains an excellent use of fantasy.
Best for: Princesses, forbidden magic and court politics.
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Sweet & Bitter Magic
Adrienne Tooley · 2021
- Published 2021
- Genre YA fantasy
- Identity Sapphic
- Romance Major
- Age 13+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Plague, grief
Tamsin is a witch cursed to be unable to love. Wren is hiding a dangerous magic of her own. A magical plague forces them into an uneasy partnership.
Falling for someone is extra complicated when one of you has been cursed not to feel it.
Why read it: A clever curse plot with a satisfying payoff.
Best for: Witches, curses and reluctant allies.
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Crier’s War
Nina Varela · 2019
- Published 2019
- Genre YA science-fantasy
- Identity Sapphic
- Romance Major
- Age 14+
- Ending Cliffhanger; duology complete
- Know first Violence, oppression, grief
Ayla wants revenge on the artificial beings who rule humanity. Crier, the daughter of their sovereign, is one of them. Not an ideal foundation for a relationship.
Their connection unfolds inside a story about revolution, personhood and power.
Why read it: Enemies-to-lovers tension with politics, not coffee shops.
Best for: Revolution, artificial beings and political fantasy.
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Girls of Paper and Fire
Natasha Ngan · 2018
- Published 2018
- Genre Dark YA fantasy
- Identity Sapphic, Asian-inspired world
- Romance Major
- Age 16+
- Ending Cliffhanger; trilogy
- Know first Sexual violence, captivity, abuse
Lei is taken from her home to become one of the Demon King’s concubines. In the palace, another girl, Wren, becomes something the system never intended her to have: someone to love, and someone to rebel with.
The relationship offers hope, but the world around it is brutal. Know that before starting.
Why read it: A powerful dark fantasy about love as resistance.
Best for: Rebellion, palace fantasy and darker YA. Older teens.
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Cinderella Is Dead
Kalynn Bayron · 2020
- Published 2020
- Genre YA fantasy
- Identity Black lesbian
- Romance Important
- Age 13+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Misogyny, violence, abuse
Two hundred years after Cinderella’s happily-ever-after, girls must attend a ball and be chosen by a man, or disappear. Sophia would rather be with girls, and would like to dismantle the system while she’s at it.
Less “find Prince Charming,” more “why does everyone keep believing this fairy tale?”
Why read it: A Black lesbian heroine who fights the fairy tale.
Best for: Retellings, rebellion and accessible fantasy.
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This Poison Heart
Kalynn Bayron · 2021
- Published 2021
- Genre YA fantasy
- Identity Black queer, two moms
- Romance Secondary
- Age 12+
- Ending Hopeful; series continues
- Know first Death, grief
Briseis can make plants grow with a touch. After inheriting an old estate, she finds a garden of deadly plants and a family history she never knew.
Queerness, Black family, mythology and magic, without romance taking over.
Why read it: Fantasy where the sapphic thread is part of life, not the whole plot.
Best for: Plant magic, mythology and family mysteries.
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Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Melissa Bashardoust · 2017
- Published 2017
- Genre YA fantasy / Snow White retelling
- Identity Sapphic
- Romance Secondary
- Age 13+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Emotional manipulation, violence
Lynet looks exactly like her dead mother and is expected to become her. Her stepmother, Mina, has her own painful history. And Lynet is falling for Nadia, the court’s new surgeon.
The heart of the book is the relationship between stepmother and stepdaughter, and how they were taught to see each other as rivals.
Why read it: A feminist Snow White that refuses to pit women against each other.
Best for: Retellings, complicated female relationships and quieter fantasy.
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Lesbian YA Science Fiction
A smaller shelf, but a good one. Crier’s War (above) also works as science-fantasy.
The Weight of the Stars
K. Ancrum · 2019
- Published 2019
- Genre YA science fiction
- Identity Black queer
- Romance Major
- Age 14+
- Ending Bittersweet
- Know first Grief, parent loss
Ryann dreams of space. Alexandria’s mother is already out there, on a one-way mission so far away that her messages take years to arrive.
Their relationship grows around grief, loneliness and the almost unbearable scale of distance. Big concept, intimate storytelling.
Why read it: Tender sapphic sci-fi about longing and distance.
Best for: Space, slow emotional development and Black queer rep.
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The Grief Keeper
Alexandra Villasante · 2019
- Published 2019
- Genre YA speculative fiction
- Identity Sapphic, Salvadoran
- Romance Major
- Age 14+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Violence, trauma, immigration detention, grief
Seventeen-year-old Marisol has fled El Salvador and is facing deportation. She is offered a way to stay: take part in an experiment and carry someone else’s grief. That someone is Rey, a girl Marisol comes to care about deeply.
Near-future science fiction about trauma, borders and who gets to heal.
Why read it: A timely, tender speculative story with a Latina sapphic heroine.
Best for: Near-future sci-fi and stories about immigration.
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Lesbian YA Horror & Mystery
A reminder that a book can be strongly sapphic without being a sapphic romance. For something lighter, I Kissed Shara Wheeler (above) is a mystery with no monsters.
Wilder Girls
Rory Power · 2019
- Published 2019
- Genre YA horror
- Identity Sapphic
- Romance Secondary
- Age 16+
- Ending Open-ended
- Know first Body horror, death, illness, violence
A disease called the Tox has transformed the girls at Raxter School, quarantined on an island off Maine. Bodies are changing, and nobody knows why. When her best friend Byatt disappears, Hetty will do anything to find her.
The attraction between Hetty and Reese lives inside the horror; this is not horror-romance.
Why read it: Visceral body horror with fierce loyalty between girls.
Best for: Body horror, isolated schools and survival.
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The Dead and the Dark
Courtney Gould · 2021
- Published 2021
- Genre YA supernatural horror / mystery
- Identity Sapphic
- Romance Important
- Age 14+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Death, homophobia, small-town violence
Teenagers are disappearing in Snakebite, Oregon. Logan, daughter of TV ghost hunters, arrives just as the town starts looking for someone to blame. She is drawn to Ashley, whose boyfriend is among the missing.
Ghosts, secrets and attraction in a town that doesn’t want queer people around.
Why read it: Atmospheric small-town horror with sapphic tension.
Best for: Ghosts, small-town horror and mysteries.
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Lesbian YA Graphic Novels
Shorter, visual and often a great fit for younger teens.
The Girl from the Sea
Lee Knox Ostertag · 2021
- Published 2021
- Genre YA graphic novel / fantasy
- Identity Lesbian
- Romance Major
- Age 12+
- Ending Bittersweet but hopeful
- Know first Family conflict, coming out
Morgan can’t wait to leave her small island and finally tell people she’s gay. Then Keltie, confident, strange and not entirely human, saves her from drowning.
First love, family, secrecy and sea magic in an accessible graphic format.
Why read it: A warm first-love story with a little ocean magic.
Best for: Graphic novels, younger YA and first love.
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Mooncakes
Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu · 2019
- Published 2019
- Genre Paranormal graphic novel
- Identity Queer girl, nonbinary love interest
- Romance Major
- Age 12+
- Ending Happy
- Know first Mild peril
Nova is a witch in her grandmothers’ bookshop. Tam is a nonbinary werewolf and Nova’s old crush. There are demons. Honestly, YA should do this more often.
A cozy supernatural mystery with supportive queer family.
Why read it: Comfort reading with magic and warmth.
Best for: Witches, werewolves and cozy paranormal.
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Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me
Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell · 2019
- Published 2019
- Genre YA graphic novel
- Identity Queer girls
- Romance Central (and unhealthy)
- Age 13+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Emotionally manipulative relationship
Freddy’s girlfriend Laura Dean is popular, charming and keeps breaking up with her. Freddy keeps taking her back while her friendships quietly fall apart.
A gorgeous, honest story about learning you deserve better.
Why read it: The graphic novel every teen in a bad first relationship should read.
Best for: Friendship stories and bittersweet realism.
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Lesbian YA Where Romance Isn’t the Main Plot
Lesbian YA does not mean lesbian YA romance. Along with This Poison Heart, Wilder Girls and Cameron Post above, try these two, where friendship and self-discovery come first.
You Know Me Well
Nina LaCour and David Levithan · 2016
- Published 2016
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Lesbian and gay leads
- Romance Secondary
- Age 14+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Heartbreak, family expectations
During San Francisco Pride week, Kate is running away from the chance to finally meet the girl she’s been crushing on, and Mark is stuck on his best friend. They sit next to each other in class but have never really talked, until one night they do.
Kate’s lesbian storyline sits inside a bigger story whose real heart is friendship.
Why read it: A love letter to queer friendship.
Best for: Friendship, Pride and dual perspectives.
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Juliet Takes a Breath
Gabby Rivera · 2016
- Published 2016
- Genre Coming-of-age YA
- Identity Lesbian, Puerto Rican
- Romance Secondary
- Age 14+
- Ending Hopeful
- Know first Homophobia, racism, family conflict
Juliet Milagros Palante comes out to her family in the Bronx the night before leaving for an internship in Portland with a famous white feminist author.
That summer she questions far more than sexuality: feminism, race, heroes and the people she thought had all the answers.
Why read it: A funny, fierce coming-of-age about building your own worldview.
Best for: Queer Latinx YA, feminism and summer internships.
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Darker Lesbian YA
Not every book needs to be a comfort read. Along with If You Could Be Mine, Girls of Paper and Fire and Wilder Girls, this one deals with serious harm. Check content notes before recommending it to a particular teen.
The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali
Sabina Khan · 2019
- Published 2019
- Genre Contemporary YA
- Identity Lesbian, Bengali Muslim
- Romance Major
- Age 15+
- Ending Hopeful, after real loss
- Know first Forced outing, forced marriage, homophobic violence, death
Rukhsana is counting down to college in California and keeping her girlfriend Ariana secret from her conservative Bengali parents. When they find out, they take her to Bangladesh.
It is harrowing in places, and it is also about family, culture and fighting to be yourself.
Why read it: An intense story of family rejection and survival, with hope at the end.
Best for: Older teens ready for a hard, important read.
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Joyful Lesbian YA Books
Not every queer teenager needs another story telling her life will be miserable. For something warmer, try:
- You Should See Me in a Crown: prom, ambition and Black queer joy
- Friday I’m in Love: a coming-out party of her own
- Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating: fake dating with Bengali Irish heroines
- The Falling in Love Montage: an Irish rom-com with heart
- Queens of Geek: fandom, friendship and a convention crush
- The Girl from the Sea: first love with a little ocean magic
- Mooncakes: witches, werewolves and supportive family
- Of Fire and Stars: because princesses falling for princesses never gets old
If a happy ending is the main thing you need, our Lesbian Books With Happy Endings guide filters by ending first.
Lesbian YA Classics: Where Should You Begin?
The history of lesbian YA is worth reading alongside the newest releases. Start with Annie on My Mind for one of the foundational teen love stories. Read Ash to see an early step in sapphic YA fantasy. Choose The Miseducation of Cameron Post for a major literary coming-of-age. Then read Last Night at the Telegraph Club to see what historical lesbian YA can do when sexuality, race, family and politics are all allowed on the page.
There was never only one lesbian teenage experience. There shouldn’t be only one kind of lesbian YA book.
Find Your Next Lesbian YA Book
- I want romance: The Henna Wars, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, The Falling in Love Montage or Of Fire and Stars
- I want a lesbian classic: Annie on My Mind
- I want historical fiction: Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Pulp or Lies We Tell Ourselves
- I want fantasy: Ash, Of Fire and Stars, Sweet & Bitter Magic or Cinderella Is Dead
- I want something joyful: You Should See Me in a Crown, Friday I’m in Love or Queens of Geek
- I want enemies or rivals: The Henna Wars, Crier’s War or I Kissed Shara Wheeler
- I want horror: Wilder Girls or The Dead and the Dark
- I want science fiction: The Weight of the Stars or The Grief Keeper
- I want a graphic novel: The Girl from the Sea, Mooncakes or Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me
- I want romance in the background: This Poison Heart, You Know Me Well or Juliet Takes a Breath
- I want something emotionally difficult: The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Girls of Paper and Fire, If You Could Be Mine or The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali
Lesbian YA vs. Sapphic YA: What’s the Difference?
Lesbian YA refers to young adult books centered on lesbian characters or experiences. Sapphic YA is broader: it includes lesbian, bisexual, pansexual and other queer girls whose stories involve attraction to girls.
The distinction matters. If a character is bisexual, we don’t relabel her lesbian because she falls for a girl, which is why every card lists identity. And a book doesn’t become lesbian YA because one minor character is a lesbian: for this list, the sapphic protagonist, relationship or coming-of-age has to matter to the book.
Are Lesbian YA Books Only for Teenagers?
No. “Young adult” is a publishing category, not a rule about who may read it. Plenty of adults read YA, and plenty of teens read adult fiction. What makes a book YA is mainly the age and perspective of its protagonists.
But YA doesn’t automatically mean right for every teenager. Some books here include sexual violence, conversion therapy, racism, body horror, abuse, death, mental-health themes or religious conflict. That’s why the suggested ages and content notes are on every card. Librarians looking for more can also check the American Library Association’s annual Rainbow Book List for LGBTQIA+ readers up to age 18.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lesbian YA Books
What are the best lesbian YA books?
A strong first shelf includes Annie on My Mind, Last Night at the Telegraph Club, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, You Should See Me in a Crown, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, The Henna Wars, Ash and Cinderella Is Dead. Together they show lesbian YA is much more than contemporary romance.
What are good lesbian YA romance books?
Try The Henna Wars, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, The Falling in Love Montage, Everything Leads to You, Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit and Of Fire and Stars.
What are the best lesbian YA fantasy books?
Start with Ash, Of Fire and Stars, Cinderella Is Dead, Sweet & Bitter Magic, Crier’s War and Girls of Paper and Fire. For fantasy where romance isn’t the main plot, try This Poison Heart or Girls Made of Snow and Glass. Our Best YA Sapphic Fantasy Books guide goes much deeper.
What are some lesbian YA books with happy endings?
You Should See Me in a Crown, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, The Falling in Love Montage, Queens of Geek, Friday I’m in Love and Of Fire and Stars all end happily. Each card on this page has an ending label.
Are there Black lesbian YA books?
Yes. Try You Should See Me in a Crown, Friday I’m in Love and Cinderella Is Dead, with This Poison Heart and The Weight of the Stars for Black queer fantasy and science fiction. Our Black Lesbian Books guide goes further into adult fiction and history.
Are there Asian and South Asian lesbian YA books?
Yes. Last Night at the Telegraph Club centers a Chinese American lesbian teenager; The Henna Wars and Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating feature Bengali Irish girls; The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali follows a Bengali Muslim teen; and Girls of Paper and Fire is set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world.
Are there Latina lesbian YA books?
Yes. Try The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, Juliet Takes a Breath and The Grief Keeper.
Are there lesbian YA horror books?
Yes. Wilder Girls by Rory Power and The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould are strongly sapphic without being romances.
What are some classic lesbian YA books?
Start with Annie on My Mind (1982), then Ash (2009) and The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2012). Reading older and newer books together shows how far the category has grown.
There Is No Single Lesbian YA Story
The most exciting thing about lesbian YA today isn’t just that there are more books. It’s that the girls inside them are allowed to want different things. One wants the prom crown. Another wants a princess. One wants to make films; one wants to escape a conversion camp; another wants to control poisonous plants or survive a plague.
Some know they’re lesbians from page one. Some are still figuring it out. Some fall desperately in love; some have much bigger problems. A lesbian teenager shouldn’t have to go looking for the lesbian book. She should get to ask what every reader asks: what do I feel like reading next?
Looking for something else? Browse the Lesbian Books library, Black Lesbian Books, Best Sapphic Fantasy Books, YA Sapphic Fantasy Books or all our sapphic book lists.
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