LBGTQ+ Books Written by Black Authors

Hi all, happy pride month! Today’s post is the first in what will be out LGBTQ+ posts for pride month, and this one is especially important as it is all about Black Authors who write queer books. Please stay safe everyone, we’re standing with you all during this time. And PLEASE, if you can, donate some money and sign petitions! – Sasha & Amber ❤

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

In a community that isn’t always understanding, an HIV-positive teen must navigate fear, disclosure, and radical self-acceptance when she falls in love–and lust–for the first time.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

At once provocative, terrifying, and darkly subversive, Dread Nation is a stunning vision of an America both foreign and familiar – a country on the brink, at the explosive crossroads where race, humanity, and survival meet.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

Can a girl who risks her life for books and an alien who loves forbidden pop music work together to save humanity?

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

An outsider who can travel between worlds discovers a secret that threatens her new home and her fragile place in it, in a stunning sci-fi debut that’s both a cross-dimensional adventure and a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging.

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus

Told in two distinct and irresistible voices, Junauda Petrus’s bold and lyrical debut is the story of two black girls from very different backgrounds finding love and happiness in a world that seems determined to deny them both.

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

The book follows five ‘Good Luck Girls’, girls sold into prostitution as children by families who were promised a better life for their starving daughters, as they make their escape and fight their way to freedom in a country determined to oppress them.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Soloman

This novel is set on a giant generation ship, on an interstellar voyage of centuries, divided between the wealthy, light-skinned upper-deckers and the oppressed, laboring lower-deckers

Brew by Dane Figueroa Edidi

Brew follows the lives of a mother and daughter, one who thinks she knows everything and another discovering what she knew isn’t true at all.

Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender

Prepare to be swept up by this exquisite novel that reminds us that grief and love can open the world in mystical ways. Twelve-year-old Caroline is a Hurricane Child, born on Water Island during a storm. Coming into this world during a hurricane is unlucky, and Caroline has had her share of bad luck already.

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

From Stonewall and Lambda Award-winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time.

Meet Cute Club by Jack Harbon

Jordan and Rex team up to bring the book club back from the ashes, Jordan soon discovers that Rex might not be the arrogant troll he made himself out to be, and that, like with all things in life, maybe he was wrong to judge a book by its cover

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

A boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen – then at university he finds his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo. A bold story about the power of embracing your uniqueness.

Color Outside the Lines by Sangu Mandanna

This modern, groundbreaking YA anthology explores the complexity and beauty of interracial and LGBTQ+ relationships where differences are front and center.

If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann

A coming-of-age novel about a young girl learning to embrace her cultural and sexuality identity. Winnie is living her best fat girl life and is on her way to the best place on earth. No, not Disneyland–her Granny’s diner, Goldeen’s, in the small town of Misty Haven

Odd One Out by Nic Stone

In Decatur, Ga., three teens in a complex love triangle navigate a fine line between friendship and romantic love. High-school junior Courtney (“Coop”) can’t deny his physical attraction to his neighbor and female best friend, Jupiter, whom he’s loved for years.

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

A stunning novel on love, loss, identity, and redemption. When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are.

You Should See Me In a Crown by Leah Johnson

Liz Lighty has always believed she’s too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it’s okay — Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Barron

It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again.

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ankrum

Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isn’t an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the “wrong” side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends.

Build Yourself a Boat by Camonghne Felix

This is about what grows through the wreckage. This is an anthem of survival and a look at what might come after. A view of what floats and what, ultimately, sustains. Build Yourself a Boat, an innovative debut by award-winning poet Camonghne Felix, interrogates generational trauma, the possibility of healing, and the messiness of survival.

A Blade so Black by L.L. McKinney

The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she’s trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.

By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery

On the day Torrey officially becomes a college freshman, he gets a call that might force him to drop out before he’s even made it through orientation: the bee farm his beloved uncle Miles left him after his tragic death is being foreclosed on.

Running With Lions by Julian Winters

Bloomington High School Lions’ star goalie, Sebastian Hughes, should be excited about his senior year: His teammates are amazing and he’s got a coach who doesn’t ask anyone to hide their sexuality. But when his estranged childhood best friend Emir Shah shows up to summer training camp, Sebastian realizes the team’s success may end up in the hands of the one guy who hates him. 

How to be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters

Everyone on campus knows Remy Cameron. He’s the out-and-gay, super-likable guy that people admire for his confidence. The only person who may not know Remy that well is Remy himself. So when he is assigned to write an essay describing himself, he goes on a journey to reconcile the labels that people have attached to him, and get to know the real Remy Cameron.

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

Every city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? She’s got five. But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs beneath the earth, threatening to destroy the city and her five protectors unless they can come together and stop it once and for all. 

The Tradition by Jericho Brown

Jericho Brown’s daring new book The Tradition details the normalization of evil and its history at the intersection of the past and the personal. Brown’s poetic concerns are both broad and intimate, and at their very core a distillation of the incredibly human: What is safety? Who is this nation? Where does freedom truly lie? 

The Only Black Girls In Town by Brandy Colbert

Award-winning YA author Brandy Colbert’s debut middle-grade novel about the only two black girls in town who discover a collection of hidden journals revealing shocking secrets of the past.

King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender

King and the Dragonflies explores the struggles of staying true to yourself when faced with the risk of abandonment and isolation. Ultimately hopeful, it encourages readers to be themselves, no matter what others might think.

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

In a series of personal essays, George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.

Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu

Helloooo, Internet Land. Bitty here! Y’all… I might not be ready for this. I may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It’s nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There’s checking. And then, there is Jack—our very attractive but moody captain.