Now, I always knew these had to exist, but I’d personally never been able to find them. They are the four leaf clover of library books. What are these mystical objects I’m talking about? I’m talking about books with gay protagonists and the LGBT+ community being represented in the story. As someone who isn’t very fond of typical romance plots, these were hard for me to put down once I picked them up.
1. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
This was the first novel I read which featured gay characters, and boy, did I get frustrated with them. We follow Simon and Baz through their school, in which they have to face troubles together, whether they want to or not. The storyline itself is very good, and revolves more around the main characters self discovery than romance, but there’s plenty of that in the book as well.
2. Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg
We follow the story of Ralph, our protagonist, who wants to live ‘a normal life’, in which people wouldn’t treat him differently for being gay. When things take a sharp turn in the wrong direction, both Ralph and the reader get thrown off guard with all of the hardships that follow. This had me at the edge of my seat most of the time, and had me feeling mixed emotions.
3. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
This is definitely one of the more romance centred stories on this list. We follow Paul in his hopeless quest for love after a fellow classmate, which goes terribly by the way. No one is perfect, especially Paul. This book covers some more serious themes as well, as we also get introduced to one of his also gay friends, who has the unfortunate luck of having strict religious parents.
4. Will Grayson Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green
Written by two amazing authors, it was no surprise to me that this was a great read. We get two characters, both named Will Grayson, who are online chat partners. They live in very different worlds, but the moment in which they meet, it becomes one, and we get to see their relationship develop beyond a screen. It wasn’t frustrating to the point where I wanted to throw the book across the room.
5. What If It’s Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli
This is my current read, and well, it’s unique in its own way as are the other plot lines of the stories on our list. We follow both their point of views in through New York, where they try to track each other down after their first encounter at the post office. Arthur and Ben have their own mindsets, but believe in the same thing, the universe. The story follows mishaps, and has humor in it as well. One warning though, it does contain a fair amount of cursing.
1. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
This was the first novel I read which featured gay characters, and boy, did I get frustrated with them. We follow Simon and Baz through their school, in which they have to face troubles together, whether they want to or not. The storyline itself is very good, and revolves more around the main characters self discovery than romance, but there’s plenty of that in the book as well.
2. Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg
We follow the story of Ralph, our protagonist, who wants to live ‘a normal life’, in which people wouldn’t treat him differently for being gay. When things take a sharp turn in the wrong direction, both Ralph and the reader get thrown off guard with all of the hardships that follow. This had me at the edge of my seat most of the time, and had me feeling mixed emotions.
3. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
This is definitely one of the more romance centred stories on this list. We follow Paul in his hopeless quest for love after a fellow classmate, which goes terribly by the way. No one is perfect, especially Paul. This book covers some more serious themes as well, as we also get introduced to one of his also gay friends, who has the unfortunate luck of having strict religious parents.
4. Will Grayson Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green
Written by two amazing authors, it was no surprise to me that this was a great read. We get two characters, both named Will Grayson, who are online chat partners. They live in very different worlds, but the moment in which they meet, it becomes one, and we get to see their relationship develop beyond a screen. It wasn’t frustrating to the point where I wanted to throw the book across the room.
5. What If It’s Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli
This is my current read, and well, it’s unique in its own way as are the other plot lines of the stories on our list. We follow both their point of views in through New York, where they try to track each other down after their first encounter at the post office. Arthur and Ben have their own mindsets, but believe in the same thing, the universe. The story follows mishaps, and has humor in it as well. One warning though, it does contain a fair amount of cursing.