Book Reviews : My Top 4 LGBT+ Novels

To celebrate Australia legalising same-sex marriage lets take a look at my favourite Young-Adult novels with leading LGBT+ characters. As someone who identifies as straight and has never experienced the challenges faced by the LGBT+ community I found these novels enlightening and it sparked a deep desire to be an ally. You may read on safely, there are no spoilers here.

1. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

One of the most thought-provoking novels I have read in recent years. Family members send Cameron Post to a Christian conversion camp and this novel focuses on not only Cameron’s experience but also the experiences of a wide-range of characters that are all on various levels of acceptance of their sexuality. While reading this novel I became truly horrified that conversion therapy exists and vulnerable young people are put through that kind of experience. My heart broke in two for all the teenagers to the extent I felt compelled to reach out to the author to thank her for this novel; she even replied back to me!

This novel largely focuses on Christian values. Religion is often a beautiful thing that gives people (including myself) hope during the darkest of times and seeing religion used to cause pain is a travesty. Hopefully this novel will awaken something in everyone who reads it not to be silent against the inequality and discrimination the LGBTQ community faces. One of the most heart-warming movements during this postal survey has been the Australian Christians for Marriage Equality Facebook page and seeing the efforts by various churches to be an ally to the LGBTQ community. Pray that churches continue to be allies and that no child ever has to endure the torture of conversion therapy again.

The book changed me deeply and I will carry the lessons it taught me for the rest of my life. Also stay tuned for the premiere of the movie at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2018 starring the ever-versatile Chloe Grace Moretz.  If someone wants to fly me to the USA and hold my hand while I watch the film it would be greatly appreciated and I promise to try my best to not cry on your shoulder.

2. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

An epic love story. One of the core reasons I picked up this novel was the cover; it was not only beautiful with a captivating title but had various stickers of the awards the author has won. The author himself is a celebrated for his poetry so it makes sense that the character of Dante seeks out poetry.  Ari and Dante are 15 year old Mexican-American boys attempting to discover the secrets of the universe through adventures, literature and comic books. Ari and Dante are an unlikely partnership but their differences only strength their bond. This novel starts out like many Young-Adult novels, a teenager struggling to find excitement in the summer but this is no ordinary summer romance story. This summer romance will go down in legend just like Sandy and Danny. If Sandy and Danny were artistic and thoughtful and well…gay. What sets this novel apart is the slow descend into love, Ari and Dante are best friends that slowly discover who they really are and who they really should be with.

3. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Simon is emailing the mysterious Blue and here develops a love story for the modern ages. One of the major factors in making this novel such a page turner is not only how brilliantly written it is but the intense desire to solve the mystery of who exactly Simon is falling in love with. Just like the television show Cat Fish this novel shows that lost individuals often turn to creating online identities to seek out online friends that accept and understand us but the question remains, who exactly are we talking to? Older generations may question how millennials can fall in love with a person we have never seen but aren’t we all looking for someone we can share our biggest secret with? The first few pages of this novel outrage and captivated me, quickly demonstrating the struggle of LGBT+ teenagers just coming to terms with sexuality. Simon felt like a dear friend of mine, my heart longed to protect him from pain and heartache. While I couldn’t protect my friend from everything life threw at him, he always managed to turn lemons into lemonade. Then last week I saw a trailer for a movie titled “Love Simon” and about 10 seconds into watching it my head started screaming ‘HOW DARE THEY RIP OFF SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA! ALBERTALLI SHOULD SUE!’ but I quickly realised that it was in fact Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and I am so thrilled about seeing it on the big screen. The trailer was funny and filled my heart with warmth, just like the book did and I am so excited. Check out the trailer here and laugh at Simon attempting to flirt. Don’t worry Simon, you’re doing amazing sweetie, you get that boy.

4. Ask the Passengers by A.S King  

This novel starts out with probably one of my most favourite dedications. “For my sisters, who save me from flying monkeys”. No wonder the author is so well loved. The protagonist Astrid has imaginary friends; she lies on her back and talks to the passengers in the aeroplanes flying above. She tells them her fears and her secrets. Have you ever people watched? On public transport perhaps and made up entire lives in your head of the strangers you will never see again? This novel explores the lives of these strangers with tiny glimpses into each of their lives. While the novel focuses largely on Astrid and her story, the short breaks to the stories of the passengers are brilliant.  The passengers of these planes have their own lives and while it may all seem we are vastly different from each other, we are all connected and in this crazy adventure together. Astrid like most teenagers is struggling to fit in and she soon realises that she is not alone in her struggles.  

Let me know in the comments your favourite novel with LGBT+ characters!