LGBTQ+ Books for Kids & Teens

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Over 150 LGBTQ+ Books & Resources for Kids & Teens

Introducing kids to diverse people through books and media is incredibly important. LGBTQ+ people are everywhere & it’s important that kids grow up seeing them as normal people. Plus it gives kids the knowledge and vocabulary to understand what it means to be part of the LGBTQ+ community. This is important too because your kids might realize they are part of the LGBTQ+ community as they get older (or even when they are young). These are LGBTQ+ books for kids & teens. You’ll also find resources for teaching LGBTQ+ history, civil rights, and activism.

Research has shown that LGBTQ+ kids benefit from an inclusive environment and education in schools. This should extend to homeschoolers too! If you are homeschooling, you are responsible for giving your children an inclusive education and environment in your home.

Read this: The Straight Parents’ Guide to How Not to Raise a Homophobe – and How to Be a Better Ally

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Use the library when you can to check out books, but also purchase some to create a diverse selection of books and resources in your home!

LGBTQ+ Books for Kids Ages 4 to 8

This is the perfect time to normalize LGBTQ+ people and relationships! Read books and watch shows with LGBTQ+ characters. Consider how you speak about relationships with your kids as well. Use neutral and inclusive language as much as possible. This way your kids are accepting of other people they will meet, but it will also help them accept themselves if they are LGBTQ+.

Fiction

1. Heather Has Two Mommies
2. Love Makes a Family
3. And Tango Makes Three
4. Stella Brings the Family
5. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding
6. Papa, Daddy, and Riley
7. Prince & Knight
8. Maiden & Princess
9. King & King
10. When Aidan Became a Brother
11. Red: A Crayon’s Story
12. A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
13. A Day of Pride
14. From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea
15. Sparkle Boy
16. Julian is a Mermaid
17. They She He Me: Free to Be!
18. Love is Love
19. Rainbow: A First Book of Pride
20. A Family is a Family is a Family
21. In Our Mother’s House
22. We Are Family
23. The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived
24. Promised Land Tales Series

Nonfiction

1. This Day in June
2. When You Look Out the Window: How Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Built a Community
3. Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag
   • Free Pride discussion guide
4. Sewing the Rainbow
5. Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution
6. Who Are You?: The Kid’s Guide to Gender Identity
7. It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity
8. I Am Jazz

LGBTQ+ Books for Kids Ages 9 to 12

Ages 9 to 12 is the time when lots of people start to realize they are part of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s so important to continue to provide your kids with stories with diverse characters and about the amazing accomplishments of LGBTQ+ people. Also make sure you give your kids an inclusive sex-ed. There are suggestions for books and resources for sex-ed below!

Fiction

1. Rick
2. George
3. Better Nate Than Ever
4. Drama
5. Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World
6. The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James
7. Star Crossed
8. The Whispers
9. Drum Roll, Please
10. Gracefully Grayson
11. Lily and Dunkin
12. King and the Dragonflies
13. Lumberjanes
14. The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher
15. The Family Fletcher Takes Rock Island
16. This Would Make a Good Story Someday
17. Middle School’s a Drag, You Better Werk!
18. The Misfits Series
19. Hurricane Child
20. The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World
21. The Parker Inheritance
22. Witch Boy Graphic Novel Series
23. Snapdragon
24. The Tea Dragon Society
25. The Moon Within

Nonfiction

1. LGBTQ: The Survival Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Teens
2. Gay & Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights, with 21 Activities
3. Queer Heroes: Meet 53 LGBTQ Heroes from Past & Present!
4. Rainbow Revolutionaries: Fifty LGBTQ+ People Who Made History
5. The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets
6. Pride: Celebrating Diversity & Community
7. You Be You! The Kid’s Guide to Gender, Sexuality, and Family

LGBTQ+ Books for Teens

There are so many young adult books with LGBTQ+ characters, the fiction books listed below are a small selection of what’s available. This is also a great time to dig deeper into LGBTQ+ history.

Fiction

1. How to Make a Wish
2. Darius the Great Series
3. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
4. Simon Snow Trilogy
5. Cemetery Boys
6. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
7. The House in the Cerulean Sea
8. I Wish You All the Best
9. If I Was Your Girl
10. Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda
11. Leah on the Offbeat
12. The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
13. Odd One Out
14. The Stars and the Blackness Between Them
15. Yesterday is History
16. History is All You Left Me
17. Juliet Takes a Breath
18. Like a Love Story
19. We Are Totally Normal
20. The Dangerous Art of Blending In
21. The Handsome Girl & Her Beautiful Boy
22. The Miseducation of Cameron Post
23. As The Crow Flies
24. Not Your Sidekick
25. Anger Is a Gift: A Novel
26. The Summer of Jordi Perez (And the Best Burger in Los Angeles)
27. You Should See Me in a Crown
28. Like Water
29. Beautiful Music for Ugly Children
30. The Stars Beneath Our Feet
31. The Priory of the Orange Tree
32. Elatsoe
33. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
34. The Black Flamingo
35. Heartstopper Series

Nonfiction

1. This Book Is Gay
2. LGBTQ: The Survival Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Teens
3. She/He/They/Me: For the Sisters, Misters, and Binary Resisters
4. Beyond the Gender Binary
5. The New Queer Conscience
6. Queer Games Avant-Garde: How LGBTQ Game Makers are Reimagining the Medium of Video Games
7. Out!: How to be Your Authentic Self
8. David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music

Biographies & Memoirs

1. The Deviant’s War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America – this is a biography of Frank Kameny and is best for older teens
2. Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen
3. Brave Face: A Memoir – Content warning. This book includes self-harm and attempted suicide.
4. Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World
5. Two Boys Kissing
6. I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin’s Life in Letters
7. Trouble Maker for Justice
8. Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin
9. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
10. Continuum
11. How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir
12. Black. Queer. Southern. Women: An Oral History
13. Identity: A Story of Transitioning
14. When We Rise: My Life in the Movement

LGBTQ+ Inclusive Sex Education

1. Sex is a Funny Word – Ages 8+
2. It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender, and Sexual Health – ages 10+
3. Wait, What?: A Comic Book Guide to Relationships, Bodies, and Growing Up – ages 9+
4. The Every Body Book: The LGBTQ+ Inclusive Guide for Kids about Sex, Gender, Bodies, and Families – Ages 8+
5. S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-to-Know Sexuality Guide to Get You Through Your Teens and Twenties
6. Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human – ages 14+
7. Consent (for Kids!): Boundaries, Respect, and Being in Charge of YOU
8. Scarleteen Website
9. Amaze.org
10. Healthline’s LGBTQIA Safer Sex Guide

LGBTQ+ History & Civil Rights Books

1. The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle
2. Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights
3. The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government
4. Pride: The Story of the LGBTQ Equality Movement – you’ll want a hard copy of this. It’s very visual and the ebook just doesn’t work quite right.
5. Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights
6. We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation – You’ll also want a hard copy of this one!
7. Our Gay History in Fifty States
8. The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World
9. A Queer History of the United States – Ideal for older teens & adults
10. A Queer History of the United States for Young People – Ideal for age 12+
11. Gay & Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights, with 21 Activities – Ideal for age 9+
12. A Little Gay History: Desire and Diversity Across the World
13. Queer: A Graphic History – This is an introduction to queer theory.
14. Understanding and Teaching U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History – This is a book made for teachers working with high school and college students. Could be good for homeschool teachers too! The Queer America Podcast goes with the book too!
15. And The Band Played On
16. Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality
17. How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS
18. Transgender History, second edition: The Roots of Today’s Revolution
19. The Stonewall Reader
20. A Desired Past: A Short History of Same-Sex Love in America

LGBTQ+ History & Civil Rights Resources

Celebrating Pride Month from Share My Lesson has lesson plans, resources & activities for all ages!

Welcoming Schools Lessons Plans for LGBTQ Inclusivity

Use this lesson on LGBTQ+ History & Why it Matters from FacingHistory.org. It includes a free printable timeline activity, and great discussion questions to get kids thinking critically.

LGBTQ History Lesson Plans from LGBTQHistory.org – They have lesson plans broken down into different grade ranges with varying topics.

LGBTQ Rights Timeline in American History

LGBTQ History Lesson Plans from OneArchives.org

Learning for Justice Lesson Plans – These include multiple topics, but you can filter them for gender & sexual identity.

PBS NewsHour Extra LGBTQ Resources & Lessons

LGBTQ+ Podcasts

You can find most of the podcasts listed below on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts & Stitcher. Most also have transcripts available on their websites.

• Making Gay History Podcast
• History Is Gay Podcast
• Queer America Podcast
• The Deviant’s World
• Your Queer Story
• LGBTQ&A
• Queersplaining
• Strange Fruit
• Outward
• Gender Reveal
• Queer as Fact

Resources for Parents with LGBTQ+ Kids

Books

1. Unconditional: A Guide to Loving and Supporting Your LGBTQ Child
2. This Is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids: A Question & Answer Guide to Everyday Life
3. The Bold World: A Memoir of Family and Transformation – This is a book about a mother changing both herself and her community to welcome her transgender son.
4. The Gender Creative Child: Pathways for Nurturing and Supporting Children Who Live Outside Gender Boxes
5. The Trans Generation: How Trans Kids (and Their Parents) are Creating a Gender Revolution
6. The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals
7. The Transgender Teen: A Handbook for Parents and Professionals Supporting Transgender and Non-Binary Teens

Websites

• My Kid Is Gay
• PFLAG
• Queer Kid Stuff
• Sex Positive Families
• GLAAD
• The Parents Guide to Supporting LGBTQIA+ Kids

More LGBTQ+ Book Lists

• Stonewall Book Awards List
• Rainbow Book List
• Thriftbooks LGBTQ Category

LGBTQ+ Books & More For Kids and Teens