[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]As an avid reader I know that there is nothing that compares to finding a book that you can really relate to, a story that answers your questions, gives you new ones, and in general, a reason to celebrate life. Unfortunately, the target demographic for most books can feel a little adamantly heterosexual. As nice as those are, sometimes you want a story that’s easier to invest yourself in, a story that makes sense to you. And when you find a story like that, everything changes: You don’t feel so alone anymore.

But when the story falls short on, well any number of things, those kind of expectations can turn on you. I’ve searched high and low for good books featuring LGBT characters, and here are my recommendations, as well as the ones I suggest not to bother with. You can read from the ‘Skip’ list too of course, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][divider line_type=”Small Line”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Read:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][image_with_animation image_url=”7848″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“Will Grayson Will Grayson” John Green and David Levithan

Two narrators, both named Will Grayson, cross paths one seemingly unfortunate night in Chicago.

I read this book in about a day, and I was absolutely enchanted by it. Cleverly interlaced narrations with a brash colloquial tone made it simply entertaining. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][divider line_type=”Small Line”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][image_with_animation image_url=”7857″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“Openly Straight” Bill Konigsberg

Rafe has been open about being gay for a while now, and everyone is okay with that, but after a while he feels the world won’t let him be anything else.

This book asks for nothing of you. It is utterly and irrefutably delightful. It’s honest and funny and resonated with me in a way no story had before or since. Absolute sunshine. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][divider line_type=”Small Line”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][image_with_animation image_url=”7858″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“Wildthorn” Jane Eagland

Louisa has never fit comfortably in the rigid life a girl of wealth in nineteenth century England should, and she finds herself locked away in an insane asylum because of it.

Even if you don’t have a particular affinity for historical fiction, “Wildthorn” is not one to overlook. It’s dark and gritty, and I enjoyed the uncensored and not commonly recognized perspective of a historical era. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][divider line_type=”Small Line”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][image_with_animation image_url=”7859″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” Benjamin Alire Saeñz

When two very different boys meet one uneventful summer day, they begin to discover the secrets of the universe, and themselves.

This was an easy read, so much so the composition was in parallel with poetry. It wasn’t entirely overwhelming, but it was charming nonetheless. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][divider line_type=”Small Line”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][image_with_animation image_url=”7861″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“Love is the Higher Law” David Levithan

In the wake of the attacks of September 11, three teenagers deal with the trauma dealt against their city.

It was an eye opening expenditure into the attack that devastated the nation, and how New York’s citizens dealt with the aftermath.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][divider line_type=”Full Width Line”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Skip:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][image_with_animation image_url=”7862″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“Boy Meets Boy” David Levithan

Set in a town unlike any other, this is the story of Paul and his sophomore year of highschool.

I was set off right from the synopsis but decided to give it a chance regardless. That didn’t go very well; There was nothing in it that was relatable in even the most obscure way. It was like a mouthful of butter.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][divider line_type=”Small Line”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][image_with_animation image_url=”7863″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“The Miseducation of Cameron Post” Emily M. Danforth

Growing up in Montana during the 1990s, Cameron is eventually subjected to a homosexuality correction camp.

If you’re looking for a distraught view of humanity, and a general sense of dysphoria, Cameron is your girl. I know, suffering and angst can be interesting, but this turned out to just be depressing, imagine that. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][divider line_type=”Small Line”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][image_with_animation image_url=”7864″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“Huntress” Malinda Lo

When nature becomes unbalanced, two seventeen year old girls go on a journey in attempt to right it.

This was set up to be epic: an adventure set against a fantasy landscape that could lift the fantasy genre up a nudge. Instead, was just confusing, and the love story between the two girls often took a back seat in exchange for the straight one. Not exactly the point. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][divider line_type=”Small Line”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][image_with_animation image_url=”7865″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” Stephen Chbosky

In the wake of the death of a close friend, Charlie discovers new friends and newer worlds.

I do not care how much praise this gets from teenagers everywhere;This book took me to a place mentally that will always haunt me a little. I only finished it because, for some reason, I kept hoping something good would happen to redeem all the trauma. Nothing does.  [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][divider line_type=”Small Line”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][image_with_animation image_url=”7866″ animation=”Fade In” img_link_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“Ask the Passengers” A.S. King

Astrid Jones seems to be perpetually subjected to the monotony and judgment of small town suburbia, and has no one to confide in except the passengers is overhead planes.

While I do like the concept behind this, it just wasn’t very well-done. After one too many close-the-book-to-cringe moments, I just gave up. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]