Wear it Purple day is a couple of weeks away now, but since quite a lot of students asked for books that feature LGBTIQA+ characters, it thought it would be good to curate a Read it Purple Collection. In addition to romance and coming of age stories, it was great to find we had books covering different genres (eg fantasy) or themes (eg civil rights in 1960s USA) with LGBTIQA+ characters.
Lots of these books have been shortlisted and won major literary awards; others have been made into films, which may be why it's been the most borrowed display we ever had. Most of these books are young adult fiction, but there are a couple of adult books for those who prefer their characters 'grown up', including some contemporary classics.
Some books are in more than one category because they contain characters with different sexualities or belong to more than one genre category, or are Australian books.
Enjoy!
Lots of these books have been shortlisted and won major literary awards; others have been made into films, which may be why it's been the most borrowed display we ever had. Most of these books are young adult fiction, but there are a couple of adult books for those who prefer their characters 'grown up', including some contemporary classics.
Some books are in more than one category because they contain characters with different sexualities or belong to more than one genre category, or are Australian books.
Enjoy!
Issues based books
I've put books into this category if the LGBTIQA+ theme has a message about coming out (You know me well, Annie on my mind, Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List), dealing with homophobia (Tessa Masterton), and dealing with different sexualities (vanilla, two boys kissing), dealing with grief (the first third, the sidekicks) or if there is an important social message such as environmentalism (Love in a time of global warming), freedom of speech (Wide awake, Two boys kissing), race relations (Blakwork, Tell me again how a crush should feel, Lies we tell ourselves), understanding differently-abled persons (You're welcome Universe), mental health (Fans of the impossible life, Highly illogical behaviour, wildthorn) human rights (the colour Purple, Moon at Nine, Wildthorn) or the 9/11 attack (Love is a higher law). Sorry about the over-representation of David Levithan, but he is an incredible writer!
Mystery novels
Historical Novels
Fantasy, Sci-fi, Dystopian and Horror novels
Books for younger readers
Lesbian romance
Gay Romance
Bisexual or questioning characters
Intersex, transgender, non-binary or gender fluid characters
Asexual (Ace) characters
Short Story Collections
Some of these collections have been edited as queer collections; others are short story collections that include LGBTIQA+ characters. The titles of the collections should make it clear which are which.
Australian novels
Classic and literary novels
This section includes classics, (Orlando), literary award winners (Middlesex, Fingersmith, Oranges are not the only fruit, the passion, the colour purple), experimental fiction (the lover's dictionary), poetry, plays (when you cure me) and books that reference classics (love in the time of global warming) or the publishing industry (Afterworlds).
Non-fiction
Here I've included books about gender ( ) , sexuality ( ) , transgender ( ) and also some warm and fuzzies for if you're feeling blue ( , and an autobiography of one of my favourite writers (why be happy).