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Queer literature holds a special place in many San Luis Obispo students’ and teachers’ hearts. Especially in a pandemic, diving into a good book always seems to be a great way to spend time. Here are some book recommendations with LGBTQIA+ representation.

“The Miseducation of Cameron Post” by novelist Emily M. Danforth.

“Maybe I still haven’t become me. I don’t know how you tell for sure when you finally have.” 

“The Miseducation of Cameron Post” is a coming of age story that follows the journey of Cameron Post, a teen girl from rural Montana in the early 90s. After being caught kissing perfect cowgirl Coley, Cameron is sent to a religious camp whose goal is to “cure” Cameron of her homosexuality. This is the perfect novel for anyone who is exploring their sexuality or anyone who feels like an outsider.

“Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit” by novelist Jeanette Winterson

“I cannot recall a time when I did not know that I was special.”

“Oranges Are not the Only Fruit” is a coming of age story about an orphan girl adopted into an evangelical household. She struggles to come to terms with her sexuality in an extremely religious environment. Jeannette must overcome the prejudice of her environment to find her true identity.

“Rubyfruit Jungle” by novelist Rita Mae Brown

“The most revolutionary thing you can do is to be yourself, to speak your truth, to open your arms to life including the pain. Passion. Find your passions.”

“Rubyfruit Jungle” is yet another bildungsroman about Molly, who grows up in an abusive household in Pennsylvania. We are taken through Molly’s life from ages 11 through 24, as well as the accounts of all her lovers through the years. Molly discovers the true nature of sexuality and identity through her many life experiences. She must face the realities that many queer people do before finding their happiness.

“More Happy Than Not” by novelist Adam Silvera

“You don’t get to keep ignoring the past because you don’t like it.” 

Aaron Soto is a 16-year-old living in the Bronx in a not-so-distant future where memory suppression exists. Aaron ends up in a situation with another boy that causes him to want to undergo this memory wipe process, to try to forget that his sexuality is something he doesn’t want it to be.

“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by novelist Benjamin Alire Sáenz

“This was what was wrong with me. All this time I had been trying to find the secrets of the universe, the secrets of my own body, of my own heart. All of the answers had always been so close and yet I had always forgotten them without even knowing it.” 

This novel follows two Mexican-American teenagers, Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza and Dante Quintana in El Paso, Texas in 1987, their friendship, and their struggles with racial and ethnic identity, sexuality, and family relationships.

“Pet” by writer Akwaeke Emezi

“Some of the things you know are not true, it said. You have to learn that things might not be real, even if they look familiar.” 

Pet is a science fiction/speculative fiction novel  about a transgender teen girl who hunts a child abuser in her town with the help of a creature that comes to life from her mother’s painting.  This novel is simultaneously painful and endearing.

Just a heads up: All these novels have potentially triggering themes such as homophobia, transphobia, and physical/sexual abuse.