Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang

“I’m really interested in thinking about a queer matriarchy within these families and what it means to recover these matrilineal stories that have been warped or destroyed or told that they were unimportant. Every time I write, it sort of feels like an excavation. I always hope that readers can have their own excavations as they’re reading.”

— K-Ming CHANG in conversation with RUTH MINAH BUCHWALD

Sex and The Single Woman: 24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown’s Cult Classic edited by Eliza Smith and Haley Swanson

“So much of what people see about single womanhood is based on white, wealthy narratives. The whimsical girl who, with a sudden breeze, gets blown into the arms of a man who is dashing and has the shiniest smile. I wish that was me! But the girls I know, the dolls, have very different stories. And they’re just as important and, most of the time, they’re a lot more juicy. I wanted to focus on the aspects of singlehood that force us to grow.”

— Xoai Pham in conversation with 6 Other Queer Writers

We Do What We Do In The Dark by Michelle Hart

“When we’re young, we relate to older people who are themselves young. We read maturity where it is not deserved. We think if someone is older and we’re similar to them then we must seem older too. We rarely consider that they’re meeting us more than we’re meeting them.”

— Drew Gregory

We Are Watching Eliza Bright by A.E. Osworth

“I have never read anything quite likeEliza Bright, and there’s a good chance you haven’t, either. Right away, it’s clear there’s something interesting going on. The novel is narrated in first-person plural: “we.” They are a 21st-century Greek chorus, telling the story but also passing judgment and taking pleasure in our protagonist’s suffering. Why? Because the narrative “we” is the collective voice of a subreddit (online forum) of gamers, who watch Eliza’s every move after she has the audacity to speak up.”

— Kate Gordon

Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson

“The follow up toCrownisn’t a direct sequel, though both books take place within the same broader universe. In it, two Black teens, Olivia (“a messy, chaotic, bisexual disaster. She’s all over the place, but I love her. She’s one of my favorite characters I’ve ever had the opportunity to write because it’s in that complexity that we finally dig deeper into these ideas about what it means to be a young, queer Black girl”) and Toni, a handsome, stoic musician reeling the loss of her father and at the crossroads of her future, fall into a weekend of romance, vulnerability, and adventure while at a music festival during the waning days of summer.”

— Carmen Phillips

Dreaming of You by Melissa Lozada-Oliva

“Themes of celebrity, fandom, grief, queer identity, and loneliness feature in this novel in verse about a poet who resurrects Tejano pop star Selena. This story is as absurd and magical as it sounds. Melissa is the young Latinx poet who performs the resurrection, which leads her on a journey through a spirit world populated by her own shadow self, karaoke, and a dead celebrity prom.”

— Casey

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

“The other thing about this emotionally devastating, culturally specific, endlessly intelligent novel is that it’s really,reallyfunny. It’s not just funny — it’s funny about transness. Reading the book is like hanging out with your most wonderfully sardonic trans friend.”

— Drew Gregory

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

Review by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya forthcoming!

Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth

“Plain Bad Heroines is a book that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck, even as it surprises you with the occasional sweetness, and renews your appreciation for masterful story-telling.”

— Lindsay Lee Wallace

The Ship We Built by Lexie Bean

Read the author’s essay about how writing this novel helped them come out here.

A Quick & Easy Guide To Sex & Disability by A. Andrews

“Some able-bodied readers may be tempted to think this book is just for disabled people and their sexual partners; I urge you to reconsider. For me, this book is an opportunity to learn, grow, and make my work as a sex educator more intersectional. It has tips for communication and getting to know your body that are helpful to everyone.”

— isabella rotman

A World Between: A Novel by Emily Hashimoto

“A World Between delivers a contemporary feminist love story that’s as sexy as it is smart and as fun as it is joyful.”

— Julie R Enszer

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen

Read an essay adapted from Chen’s book here.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Read Leah Johnson’s essay about how queer YA novels taught her to write her own happy ending.

Zigzags by Kamala Puligandla

“Ultimately, Zigzags was fueled by the nostalgia for all the places I’ve loved and left and missed. There’s a lot of flirting and parties and witty banter, but it’s very much about the necessary and heartbreaking recognition of when it’s time to move on.”

— kamala puligandla