LGBTQ Archives - BOOK RIOT

Queer Superhero History: Maggie Sawyer

Jessica Plummer — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 11:33:00 +0000

In recent years, mainstream comics publishers like DC and Marvel have made great strides in increasing the LGBTQ+ rep in their universes, though they still have a long way to go. But getting here was a slow and gradual process, with many notable landmarks — and some admitted missteps — along the way. In Queer Superhero History, we’ll look at queer characters in mainstream superhero comics, in (roughly) chronological order, to see how the landscape of LGBTQ+ rep in the genre has changed over time. Today: Maggie Sawyer!

Unlike our first two trailblazers, Extraño and Cloud, Maggie Sawyer is someone fans of queer superhero media are likely to recognize, as she had a significant role in the CW’s Supergirl. Maggie bears the distinction of being the first canonical lesbian in mainstream comics…even if it took a few years for the comics to actually use that word.

Maggie first debuted in Superman #4 (April 1987), and was created by John Byrne. She’s a captain in the Metropolis PD’s Special Crimes Unit (SCU), which deals with superpowered menaces. She becomes a recurring character in the Superman books and eventually, a grudging ally of the Man of Steel’s.

Note Maggie’s haircut, which sparked debates about potential stereotyping.

Though some fans might have had their suspicions, it’s not until Superman #15 (March 1988) that Maggie’s sexuality becomes textual, though still referred to obliquely. Maggie turns to Superman for help when her daughter, Jamie, goes missing. When Superman is surprised to hear that Maggie is married, she explains that she’s actually divorced, and that marrying her husband was a youthful mistake. “I was…confused, in those days,” she says. “There were things happening in my head that I’d been denying for a long time. Things a proper Catholic girl didn’t even want to consider.”

And the winner for Most Infuriating Montage of 1988 is…

During a flashback to her marriage falling apart, one panel shows her making eye contact with another woman in a bar, while her narration box says: “I finally started to come face to face with myself. With reality.” When she and her husband finally divorced, he managed to deny her custody for not being “a fit mother.” Not wanting to put Jamie through the pain of endless legal appeals, she moved across the country to Metropolis — but now Jamie has run away and is probably somewhere in the city. (Don’t worry, Superman finds her.)

It doesn’t take much effort to read between the lines and see what Maggie’s not saying. Clark certainly picks up what she’s putting down; later, as he’s searching for Jamie, he thinks to himself that “It certainly seems ridiculous in this day and age that someone as upright as Maggie Sawyer should have to give up her child just because she’s—” before his thought is cut off by the villain of the week. (Later, he tries, albeit half-heartedly to the modern eye, to convince Jamie’s father to grant Maggie visitation.) And just in case any reader missed the hints, Maggie is also shown with a woman named Toby in her apartment, who calls her “babe” and will eventually be clearly presented as her longtime partner.

Two months later, Action Comics #600 (May 1988) kept up the heavy-handed hinting, when Lex Luthor tries to blackmail Maggie into dropping her investigation of him by alluding to her “secret.” He hammers his point home by trotting out a beautiful female assistant in a low-cut top and short skirt and commenting on his and Maggie’s “similar tastes.” Later, Maggie tells her colleague Dan Turpin (inexplicably called “Ben” here) that Lex tried to blackmail her and he says “You mean…about…” (Maggie rejects Lex’s threat, of course.)

I hope Sandra found herself a nice girlfriend and a new job after this.

Why the obliqueness? Well, remember, the Comics Code Authority continued to forbid queer characters until 1989. But according an article in the fan zine Amazing Heroes #144 (also discussed in the Extraño profile), that wasn’t actually the issue. John Byrne’s editor Mike Carlin is quoted as saying that Byrne could have used words like “gay” or “lesbian” but chose not to, a choice Carlin agreed with: “I don’t know how smart it would be for John to be so blatant…We do have to stay aware of who’s reading the books and whose parents might get mad if they see something like that.” This is an incredibly illuminating quote, not least because it speaks to how weak the CCA had gotten at this point; any lack of representation at DC and Marvel was clearly due to choices made by DC and Marvel, not external censorship. It’s also the second time a DC editor is quoted in that article as saying, essentially, “Think of the children!” as if queer children (and queer parents, like Maggie herself) don’t exist.

Amazing Heroes #144 also debated whether Maggie’s portrayal as relatively butch was a stereotype, with writer Mindy Newell quoted as saying “She’s cigar-chomping, she’s got short hair, she’s really tough…It might have been more effective if John had painted her as a ‘normal’ woman,” while Carlin argued “Do stereotyped dykes walk around in mini-skirts?” in Maggie’s defense. Neither argument has aged particularly well, but more to the point, they stem from Maggie being the first; as with Extraño, it’s impossible for a solitary lesbian character to be all things to all readers.

Byrne, for his part, was quoted as saying: “Whatever I say will be misinterpreted anyhow, so I’d rather let my work speak for itself. I created the first gay super-hero, [Northstar], and certainly the first gay character in Superman.” It’s a very defensive quote, and opinion may vary on the effectiveness of his execution of either character, but there’s no denying that Byrne did work hard to include queer characters in comics well before it was in vogue. (I promise we’ll get to Northstar soon!)

Yes, the entire series is copaganda, but that’s superhero comics for you.

Within a few years, the landscape of comics had changed enough that Maggie could star in a miniseries, 1994’s Metropolis S.C.U. Written by Cindy Goff and drawn by Pete Krause, the series is a procedural first and foremost, but is also the first DC comic to star an out lesbian, and showcases Maggie’s struggles in her relationships with her partner Toby, her daughter, and her ex due to her workaholism. This nuanced, three-dimensional portrayal of a gay lead earned the book a 1996 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic.

In the 2000s, Maggie moved to Gotham and joined the cast of a different procedural, Gotham Central. During the New 52 reboot in 2011, she began a relationship with Batwoman, Kate Kane. However, when Kate proposed in 2013, DC infamously forbade the marriage, causing Batwoman’s creative team, J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman, to leave the book. DC insisted that their refusal was not because Kate and Maggie were gay, but because superheroes weren’t allowed to have happy personal lives. To be fair, DC had torpedoed many iconic heterosexual marriages at the time, all the way up to Superman’s. But the optics of forbidding a lesbian wedding in particular — what would have been the first lesbian wedding in comics, and only the third same-sex wedding in superhero comics history (with #2 occurring only the year before, in 2012) — were extremely bad.

I promise Maggie was happier about this than she looks here.

As of the 2016 Rebirth reboot, Maggie is back in Metropolis and the Superman books.

But Maggie’s life isn’t just limited to comics. She was a recurring character on Superman: The Animated Series, where she was voiced by Joanna Cassidy and which premiered in 1996, making her one of the very first LGBTQ characters in children’s animation — although they were back to referencing her sexuality obliquely by showing Toby visiting her in the hospital rather than stating it explicitly. She also appeared in live action in Smallville, played by Jill Teed.

Oh no, I’m in my 2017 feels again.

However, she’s best known for her appearances in seasons 2 and 3 of Supergirl, where she was played by Floriana Lima (and also portrayed as Latina for the first time, although Lima herself is not Latina). Unlike prior tentative television appearances, Supergirl put Maggie’s sexuality front and center via her relationship with Supergirl’s sister Alex Danvers. Over the course of two seasons, Alex comes to terms with her own sexuality, Maggie confronts her father about his homophobia, and Alex and Maggie get engaged, only to sadly break it off when they realize that they disagree about whether or not they want kids (Alex does, Maggie doesn’t — slightly ironically considering that she was the first queer parent in comics). Maggie was not the first queer character in a DC live action property, but the prominence of her storyline makes it a significant moment in DC’s queer history regardless. (It does, however, make her two for two on storylines where her engagement to another woman falls through.)

Our first two profiles covered extremely obscure characters, but Maggie has been a regular part of Superman’s milieu for 35 years, and there’s no reason not to expect that to continue. She’s also been consistently portrayed as brave, upstanding, stubborn as all get-out, and unafraid to be exactly who she is. Superhero comics have a long and troubling history with copaganda that they are only now beginning (just barely) to engage with, and as with her fellow lesbian cop/Batwoman ex Renee Montoya, it’s not entirely clear yet what that will mean for Maggie’s role in the larger Superman narrative. But hopefully DC can move away from their history of unthinking copaganda while still letting us keep the compelling, important character Maggie has been for over three decades now.

And hopefully the next time she gets proposed to, she can actually make it to the damn altar.

Books Featuring Queer Siblings

Laura Sackton — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 11:32:00 +0000

As soon as I finished Sonora Reyes’s brilliant YA novel The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, I fell down an internet rabbit hole because I wanted more queer sibling books, STAT. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is that makes reading about queer siblings so satisfying, but I can’t get enough of them. Maybe it’s because, as the lone queer person in my immediate family, I often daydream about having queer siblings. What would it feel like to share the experience of queerness with a sibling? Or maybe it’s because I am not the only queer person in my extended family, and I know exactly how it feels to have queer cousins: it’s the best thing. I turn to queer sibling stories because they affirm something I know in my bones: how precious it is to have other queer people in your family of origin.

There aren’t nearly enough queer sibling books yet, but this list is definitely a start. In some of them, the sibling relationships are front and center. In others, these relationships are just a small part of the book. Sometimes the fact of their shared queerness is the thing that defines the characters and their relationships to each other. And sometimes that shared queernesses is quiet, hardly spoken aloud. I love how many the different ways these authors have found to portray queer siblings in all their complexity.

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

This joy-filled but thoughtful YA novels follows Mexican American teenager Yamilet through a turbulent school year at a new Catholic school. She’s dealing with racism from her peers, trying to keep her queerness hidden despite a new crush, working to support herself for fear of being rejected by her family, and trying to be there for her brother through his struggles with mental health. It’s a lot. Reyes’s writing is full of compassion, and while this book doesn’t avoid tough subjects, it’s ultimately hopeful.

Man o’ War by Cory McCarthy

River is a trans swimmer trying to figure out who they are and what they want in a small Midwestern town. Their story is messy and circular and full of ups and downs. It unfolds over a long time period, capturing River’s early teens and their years in college. This feels true to life — River changes and grows so much, and in so many different ways, as they move through the world. It makes for an intense, emotional, and satisfying read.

High School by Tegan and Sara Quin

As far as real-life queer siblings go, twins Tegan and Sara are definitely some of the best well-known and well-loved, especially in the LGBTQ community. In this joint memoir, they write about growing up in Calgary, Alberta, in the 1990s. They reflect on their formative childhood years, their parents’ divorce, their first loves, and the beginnings of their music career.

The Other Mother by Rachel M. Harper

There’s so much queer family in this book! A queer sibling relationship is just one of the many kinds of queer familial relationships Harper explores. It’s a beautiful intergenerational family saga that unfolds across decades and through various POVs. It’s about parenthood and making art, finding your roots and running from them, holding onto secrets and letting them go, forgiveness and loss, and so much more.

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzalez

In this charming and often hilarious novel, a teenager who runs a popular anonymous advice column learns the hard way that navigating relationships is a whole lot more complicated than telling people how to navigate them. Darcy is an A+ bisexual whirlwind, and this book has a little bit of everything: friendship, romance, family drama, queer joy, intense growth, and an in-the-background-but-super-grounding queer sibling relationship.

It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat Sebastian

This historical romance stars Phillip, a grumpy, grieving sea captain who doesn’t know what to do with his rowdy children, and Ben, a charming, affable vicar who loves kids and dogs. It’s not about queer siblings, exactly, but it is the first in Cat Sebastian’s Seducing the Sedgwicks series, which is very much about queer siblings, as Ben’s two brothers find love in the subsequent books. There’s nothing better than a good family romance series, especially when everyone in the family is queer!

The Family Outing by Jessi Hempel

If you’re skeptical about how realistic a romance series about three queer brothers is, here’s a memoir for you! Because, spoiler alert: there are plenty of families in which all the siblings are queer. In this warmhearted book about change and growth, Jessi Hempel recounts what happened after almost everyone in her family her came out: she and her dad are gay, her brother is trans, and her sister is bi. It’s a beautiful story about one family’s messy journey from keeping secrets and pretending everything was fine to finding wholeness and happiness — though not in the way any of them expected.

The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar

The queer sibling storyline in this novel is subtle — so subtle you might miss it. But that’s part of why I’m including it: not all queer sibling stories are flashy. This is a gorgeous book about a Syrian American trans man who finds an unexpected connection to his family’s queer history while researching a bird artist his mother loved. It’s a moving story about immigrant communities, queer lineage, and the homes queer and trans people have built for and with each other throughout history.

Looking for more books about queer families? Check out these books about queer parents, and these romance series that feature found families. And if it’s sibling books you’re after, we’ve got you covered with these 100 must-read books about siblings.

The Best LGBTQ+ Books of 2022

Laura Sackton — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 11:33:00 +0000

Let me start by saying this is not a list of the best queer books of 2022. It’s a list of 12 of the best queer books of 2022. This has been an incredible year for LGBTQ+ lit. Romance, fantasy, contemporary fiction, speculative fiction, mystery, memoir: I dare you to name a genre that hasn’t had at least a few incredible queer releases this year. And I don’t say that lightly, because it hasn’t always been the case. So making a relatively short list of the best queer books of the year just isn’t possible. There are too many.

What I’ve done instead is select 12 amazing queer books across a wide variety of genres. Together, these books represent the spirit of this year’s queer lit. They’re silly and heartbreaking and joyful, funny and serious and challenging, thought-provoking and sexy and complicated These are books that I personally have loved and that my fellow Rioters have loved. I’ve included the major genres in fiction and nonfiction, as well as a few non-genre categories, like essay collections, short story collections, and YA.

I only chose one book for each category, but I’ve included a few extra recommendations below the main title because I couldn’t resist. Those titles bring the whole list up to 50. But — you guessed it — there are so many more amazing queer books from this year I don’t mention here. The abundance is magnificent. So let’s celebrate it!

Contemporary/Historical Fiction

The Other Mother by Rachel M. Harper

I have a new favorite genre of queer lit: books that feel like conversations between the queer past, present, and future. This is one of the best books like that I’ve ever read. It’s an intergenerational queer family saga about a group of very messy people — they make mistakes, the hurt each other, they muddle through, they’re flawed and hurt and secretive and loyal. It moves among POVs and takes places across decades. It’s about parenthood, family secrets, identity, marriage, and so much more.

See also: Lote by Shola von Reinhold, Greenland by David Santos Donaldson, Mademoiselle Revolution by Zoe Sivak (100% historical)

Contemporary Fiction

A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt

In this beautiful blend of fiction, oral history, and theory, Belcourt seems to reinvent the novel even as his protagonist ponders if novels are worth writing. It’s about a queer Cree PhD student who abandons his dissertation, returns home to northern Alberta, and tries to write a novel. It’s not possible to summarize a book like this, and it’s hard to even convey just how unique and beautiful it is. It’s playful and sharp, a blend of gorgeously written intimate moments and academic theorizing. Belcourt’s sentences read like poems, and his unnamed narrator feels as real and whole and human as any protagonist I’ve ever encountered on the page.

See also: All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews, The Town of Babylon by Alejandro Varela, Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour

Romance

You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

Emezi’s first foray into romance is a bighearted story about grief, art, healing, and queer friendship. Feyi is just starting to date again, five years after losing her husband in a car accident, and she’s not sure she’s ready. But it turns out she is ready — when she meets the right person, a man working through his own grief, who understands how hard it can be to open up again after loss. This book is sexy, funny, heartfelt, and overflowing with mouthwatering descriptions of meals.

See also: The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish, D’Vaughn & Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins, Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall

Fantasy

Spear by Nicola Griffith

If you think you didn’t need a queer retelling of Arthurian legend in your life, think again. This quiet reimagining of the story of Percival the Knight is about Peretur, a fiery young woman raised by her mother in a cave in Wales. Longing for something beyond the life she knows, she sets out to find glory. She ends up finding a lot more than that, including the home she’s always longed for. This novella is full of soft magic, queer family, sapphic love, and fierce women wielding swords.

See also: Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman, Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson, The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Sci-Fi

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

Neon Yang’s first sci-fi novel is an epic queer space opera full of warring empires and action-backed battles. Misery, who possess rare abilities often associated with sainthood, has always dreamed of leaving their small backwater mining planet. They just never imagined that their chance would come thanks to the voice of an angel beckoning them away, or that they’d end up in the center of a galactic conflict much bigger than them.

See also: My Volcano by John Elizabeth Stintzi (sci-fi/speculative), The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe, Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings, August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White

Short Stories

Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang

These stories, mostly about queer Asian American women, are eerie and beautiful, dazzling and strange. They are about prophetic aunts and hungry widows, demanding ghosts and girls who bring about their own transformations. Chang’s characters live in the in-between spaces: between genders, cultures, and continents, between human and creature, between living and haunting. The writing is electric and vivid, and some of the stories read like short prose poems — all image and theme and character.

See also: Buffalo is the New Buffalo by Chelsea Vowel, Rainbow Rainbow by Lydia Conklin, Manywhere by Morgan Thomas

Young Adult

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

This is the queer sibling story of my dreams. It’s about Yami, a Mexican American teenager just to trying to get through high school, and it has everything I could possibly want in a YA novel: brilliant, complex characterization; entertaining teen drama; a sapphic love story; messy family dynamics; and a thoughtful, nuanced exploration of immigration, mental health, and suicidal ideation. It doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff, but it’s also warm and full of joy. Reyes strikes the perfect balance.

See also: The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas, This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke, Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore, Kings of B’More by R. Eric Thomas

Mystery/Thriller

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

When was the last time you read a murder mystery about a queer family living in an old mansion in the Bay Area in the 1950s? Probably never. Let’s fix that. Andy is a closeted gay cop who’s fired from the San Francisco police force after he’s caught in a raid at a gay bar. He’s then hired by the matriarch of a wealthy queer family (they own a soap empire!) who wants him to investigate the murder of her wife. Everyone is queer! Everyone! It’s an atmospheric, character-driven mystery with a satisfying conclusion, but it’s also a moving story about the ongoing violence of being forced to hide yourself, and the (messy) healing that comes with finding queer community.

See also: Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen (campy horror), The Verifiers by Jane Pek

Memoir

Another Appalachia by Neema Avashia

I don’t often read a memoir in a single sitting, but I read this in one long breath, and that’s the best thing I can say about a book. It’s a warm and insightful book about growing up queer and Indian in Appalachia, and about the messy, shifting intersections of home, geography, culture, gender, and history that have shaped Avashia’s life. She’s an astute thinker and a wonderful storyteller. This memoir is full of vivid scenes of family and childhood, and plenty of knotty, challenging ideas about the roles that place plays in our lives.

See also: Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz, Messy Roots by Laura Gao, Brace for Impact by Gabe Montesanti, All Down Darkness Wide by Séan Hewitt, Ma and Me by Putsata Reang

General Nonfiction

Before We Were Trans by Kit Heyam

In this brilliant book of trans history, trans historian Kit Heyam shares stories of people from cultures all over the world who have lived outside of rigid gender binaries since long before the phrase “gender binary” existed. Through these diverse, singular stories, Heyam shows over and over again that gender has always been fluid and complicated, that societies have defined it in dozens of ways throughout centuries, and that trans and nonbinary people have always existed, in a thousand different ways. This is a crucial history that couldn’t be more relevant today.

See also: People Change by Vivek Shraya, The Women’s House of Detention by Hugh Ryan, In Sensorium by Tanaïs

Essays

Voice of the Fish by Lars Horn

This breathtaking collection of interlocking essays explores gender and transition, illness and disability, art, water, memory, and the act of reading and writing. Horn writes beautifully about so many things: swimming, the art of tattooing, traveling, masculinity, childhood. But their writing is always grounded in the physical reality of the body: what it’s like to live in a trans body, a gendered body, a body that is visible to others, a body that is not visible to others. They play with form, interspersing longer lyric essays with short lists that utilize quotes, imagery, poetry, and recollections. This is queer writing at its best — a beautiful example of just how inventive and world-opening essays can be.

See also: High-Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez, Faltas by Cecilia Gentili, It Came from the Closet edited by Joe Vallese

Poetry

Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency by Chen Chen

Chen Chen’s poetry is playful and silly and joyful in a way that feels distinctly queer. He messes with form, he interrupts himself, he makes his own rules, he puts all his exuberance onto the page. His poems are not frivolous, and the ones in this collection deal with plenty of real-world heaviness: racism, the pandemic, grief. But Chen Chen takes silliness seriously, and he takes joy seriously, and that’s what makes his poems so unique. They’re queerly alive. They’re soft, and they sometimes cut.

See also: All the Flowers Kneeling by Paul Tran, Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones, Beast at Every Threshold by Natalie Wee

Looking for more queer books from 2022? Of course you are! We’ve got you covered with queer books from the second half of the year, queer books from the first half of the year, queer retellings, queer SFF, and queer comics and graphic novels. 2022 has been a banner year for queer lit.

Quiz: Based on Your 2022 Reading, Which 2023 Queer Book Should You Preorder?

Laura Sackton — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 11:38:00 +0000

The end of 2022 is fast approaching. How was your reading life this year? Did you read a ton of amazing books? Did you struggle through reading slump after reading slump? Did you discover any amazing new authors, or stick to your tried-and-true favorites? Are you feeling satisfied with what you read, or do you wish you’d branched out a little more?

No matter how you answer these questions, 2023 is a clean slate. Whether you’ve just had the best or the worst reading year of your life, you get to make the rules about what comes next. But sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what you want to change about your reading, even if you know what’s currently working and what isn’t.

That’s where this quiz comes in! We could all use a little excitement and inspiration, right? There’s nothing better than having some rad preorders to look forward to, especially if you’re looking to shake up your reading in 2023. So tell us all about how your reading went in 2022, and we’ll come up with the perfect 2023 queer preorder for you! Think of it as a gift to your future self: whether you preorder from your local indie, put in a library hold, or just add the title to your TBR, it’ll hopefully become a reminder of all the good books to come in the new year.

All Results

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane (January 17)

This powerful, introspective book is set in a version of the United States where, instead of being sent to prison, wrongdoers are given an extra shadow. It’s a complex character study of a grieving widow, a meditation on queer parenthood, and an exploration of state power, surveillance, and liberation.

My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron (March 7)

If you’re looking for an engrossing, thoughtful read, this YA novel has it all: magic, romance, and adventure! Set in London in 1885, it’s a queer, gothic retelling of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde featuring a teenager who’s trying to figure out why his best friend disappeared — and why the mysterious new stranger in town is so familiar.

The People Who Report More Stress by Alejandro Varela (April 4)

This collection of interconnected stories features a queer and Latine cast of parents, lovers, and friends, all trying to survive as best they can in New York City and the surrounding suburbs. The stories hone in on the everyday realities of long-term partnership, work, parenthood, racism, alienation, and more. If you’re looking for something that’s as funny as it is sharp, Varela should definitely be at the top of your list.

Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly (February 7)

A journey of gender discovery! Messy queer relationships! Lesbian pulp! This book sounds like queer heaven. Dawn is a bookbinder living in New York in 2003, but she’s stuck: in her relationship, in her work, in her body, in her gender. Then she finds a love letter written on the back of the cover of a 1950s lesbian pulp novel, and her obsession with finding the author of the letter leads her somewhere she doesn’t expect.

Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni (January 31)

It’s time for a queer romcom! This charming romance is about Nar, a bisexual Armenian American woman who grudgingly allows her mother to convince her to attend a series of Armenian cultural events taking place in the city. The intended purpose, of course: to meet a nice man. But she meets a nice woman instead, a woman who makes her feel like she can be her whole self. The only problem: now she just has to tell her mom about it.

Choosing Family by Francesca Royster (February 7)

This memoir isn’t just about Royster’s journey to motherhood. It’s also about all the ways that queer people and Black people have been making families outside of white, heteronormative expectations for centuries. Royster shares stories of her African American family, her childhood in Chicago, and the winding road she and her partner traveled to become mothers. It’s a beautiful, moving, and insightful book.

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H

In this memoir in essays, Lamya H shares the stories from the Quran that have shaped her understanding of herself as a queer Muslim person. Struggling to understand her identity and desires as a teenager and young adult, she turns to the Quran, and finds a wealth of stories that speak to her — stories about resistance and resilience, and about people who, like her, don’t fit into neat boxes.

Leg by Greg Marshall (June 13)

In this memoir, Greg Marshall blends a whole lot of hilarity with a poignant coming-of-age story. He writes about growing up gay in the 1990s, claiming his disabled identity as someone with cerebral palsy as a young man, and all the messes that unfold in between. It’s the perfect mix of heartfelt, observant, and just a little bit absurd — because who wants to take life too seriously?

Looking for more queer book recs? Take this quiz for great recs for 2022 queer books, or this one to find your next fun queer YA read. Looking for a queer YA thriller? We’ve got a quiz for that, too! You can even design your perfect dinner party and get an under-the-radar queer rec!

Queer Road Trip Novels to Get You Craving a Vacay

Addison Rizer — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 11:32:00 +0000

I love road trips, especially with my family all crammed into one car. I love stopping at gas stations and loading up on way too much candy and soda. I hate driving, but I love sitting in the passenger seat, making road trip playlists full of classics and musicals for everyone to sing along to. I love staring out the window for hours at a time, watching the scenery pass. The typical diners, the little roadside stands, the plastic dinosaur or largest ball of yarn or the other passing “attractions” we never stop at but always say, one day, we will.

I suppose you won’t be surprised to hear I also happen to love road trip novels. The close proximity, the dealing-with-the-inevitable flat tire or spilled drink. The hours that stretch from surface level conversation to having to go deeper because there simply isn’t anything else left to do. The only-one-bed panic and awkwardness and subsequent closeness afterwards. Monotony, to me, is how love grows. Spending hours and hours and hours together, talking about anything, looking in the same direction. Pointing at the cows, counting yellow cars, trying to spot a license plate starting with the letter Z.

If you, like me, love a good road trip novel, look no further. Here are nine queer road trip books to make you want to go on a winter vacation!

Kings of B’more by R. Eric Thomas

Harrison and Linus do everything together. They’re even planning on going to college together. But then Linus has to move in with his dad in Charleston and their plans come crashing down. As a last hurrah, the boys have a Ferris Bueller-esque day of antics including a train trip, a Pride celebration, and a dance party together. It turns out escaping their parents’ attention is easier than escaping the feelings building up about saying goodbye.

Melt with You by Jennifer Dugan

Best friends Fallon and Chloe aren’t exactly on speaking terms after they hooked up at Chloe’s going-away bonfire. With Chloe off to college, they turn to avoiding each other in the aftermath. But when their moms have a big business presentation, the girls are left running their ice cream truck at festivals across the country. Now, in close proximity, their past is impossible to ignore.

Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin

Trixie and Luz need to get out of their small town, so they plan a little weekend trip. With soda, cigarettes, and Lux’s camera, they’re set. But when a stop at a bar turns violent, the girls have to outrun the media making them into examples and police hot on their heels. This modern, sapphic Thelma & Louise is a thrill ride.

The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann

When 30-year-old asexual Joy’s best friend Malcolm tells her he’s met the love of his life, she should be happy for him. Too bad her deep and very secret love for him turns in the direction of heartbreak.

When Malcolm invites her on a weekend trip with him, his girlfriend, and his girlfriend’s friend, Fox, she takes advantage of the opportunity as one last chance to get Malcolm to love her back. To do it, she and Fox devise a fake-dating scheme to get Malcolm jealous. But their plan may not be so clever or so fake after all.

Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden

Bea is a teenager on the run from a home life she doesn’t want to talk about. Lou is a twenty-something deep in grief after the loss of her mom en-route to visit family. The two set out on a road trip together, strangers both stuck with their trauma and grief. On the road, they find a lost cat, are pursued by mysterious men, and spend a lot of time in thought. This slow-moving, magical-feeling graphic novel is as beautiful as it is touching.

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

After Maria breaks up with her girlfriend Steph and loses her job, she’s thrown off kilter. Her typical routine of drinking, pills, and remembering her estrogen shots isn’t quite cutting it. In a maybe not so rational reaction, Maria steals Steph’s car and just drives until she ends up in the small town of Star City, Nevada. There, she meets James, who is just as lost as she was at his age. Maria has the chance to be a role model and friend to James in a way she never got herself.

Almost Flying by Jake Maia Arlow

Dalia’s summer plans of riding roller coasters and making friends are thrown off by her dad’s engagement. Her dad wants her to spend time with her soon-to-be stepsister, Alexa, instead. But Dalia has an idea for everyone to get what they want, and it includes a road trip to an amusement park with Alexa and a girl from Alexa’s swim team, Rani. It turns out the roller coaster might be thrilling, but the butterflies might be about whatever it is Dalia is starting to feel for Rani instead.

The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, Translated by Sophie Hughes

After a volcanic eruption detours the plane with Paloma’s mother’s body inside, she and her old friends Iquela and Felipe embark on a road trip in a hearse. With alternating point of views between Felipe and Iquela, their journey becomes one into their pasts in Chile as the children of ex-militants too. Time on the road allows them to process their complicated past together.

Love is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar

Written by queer, Muslim, Arab-American Randa Jarrar, this memoir explores her past through a road trip from California to Connecticut in 2016. The non-linear structure and varying topics like being the target of social media threats, violence experienced as a child and an adult, and discrimination keep the memoir engaging as the road trip continues on in the background. You’ll both laugh and cry reading Love is an Ex-Country.

In the mood for more road trip shenanigans? Check out these 9 feel-good road trip books or these thirty favorite road trip novels!

8 Queer Vampire Books For The Vampire Renaissance

K.W. Colyard — Thu, 24 Nov 2022 11:34:00 +0000

I regret to inform you that next year, in 2023, Twilight will be old enough to vote. Interview with the Vampire is now old enough to have a TV series reboot. Vampires have come back in a big way over the last few years, and those of us who grew up loving Lestat, Edward, and the rest are living for it. Below, I’ve picked out eight queer vampire books you should read to celebrate the vampire renaissance.

Someone once pointed out to me that vampires represent both humanity’s longing for immortality and our fear of the Tantalean. They’re constantly ravenous, but their hunger cannot be satiated. They’re permanently dehydrated, but can never quench their thirst. They’re always horny, but…well, you get the picture. That’s the trade-off vampires take to live forever: eternal dissatisfaction.

If vampires are really about how we all want to live forever in cursed debauchery, it makes sense that they sprang back to deathly life in the last decade. Between Brexit, global wildfires, the 2016 and 2020 U.S. elections, and COVID-19, much of the world has spent years in existential crisis. Our renewed interest in vampire novels, then, might represent our longings to cheat death and party like it’s 1999.

Meanwhile, more queer books are being published now than ever before, so it makes sense that these trends would meet in the form of an increase in queer vampire books.

Still not convinced? Read a few of the queer vampire books on the list below and see if they can’t change your mind.

Queer Vampire Books For The Vampire Renaissance

Lost Souls by Billy Martin, writing as Poppy Z. Brite

Jason’s parents found him on their doorstep when he was a newborn. Now, at age 15, he’s just discovered his birth name: Nothing. As it turns out, Nothing is the son of an alluring vampire and a teenage girl who died in childbirth, and his vampiric godfather left him to be raised by humans. After traveling to New Orleans to see his favorite band perform, Nothing comes face-to-face with the vampire family who abandoned him all those years ago.

Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco

Remy Pendergast was born to be a Reaper: one of the elite vampire-hunters who keep the kingdom of Aluria safe. He’s the son of a powerful duke, but a rumor that he’s actually a vampire’s bastard has spurred him to total devotion to the Reapers’ cause. But Remy’s place in Aluria will soon face a major threat. He’s about to meet a couple of powerful vampires, and they’re certain to change his life.

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman

Being an archivist allows Sol to keep strange hours and spend most of his time indoors. It’s truly the perfect career for a young man infected with vampirism. Sol’s quiet life is forever shaken when Elsie shows up at his door, ready to donate her late wife Tracy’s papers. Sol knows exactly who Tracy was; she created his favorite TV show. Going through the collection together, Sol and Elsie sort through their grief and begin to blaze a new trail for themselves.

The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl

In 1987, becoming a vampire seemed like the best thing 16 year old Holly could ever do with her life. But by 2021, being immortal has lost some of its shine. Holly’s stuck working at Taco Bell with a totally ’80s hairstyle, and the vampire who turned her has dumped her. Elton has done this to a lot of girls over the last century, as it turns out. It doesn’t take much for two of them — Rose and Ida — to convince Holly to help them kill him. But can the trio save Elton’s new girlfriend before it’s too late?

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

Marion saw her chance and she took it. Working as a bloodmaid for a wealthy household is a sure-fire way to get out of the slums. Getting to live in such a luxurious manor as the House of Hunger is just an added bonus. But Marion and her fellow bloodmaids are in danger, and the longer they stay in Countess Lisavet’s court, the smaller their chances to make it out alive. Whether these wealthy blood-drinkers are technically vampires or just vampire-inspired I’ll leave to you to decide.

Court of the Vampire Queen by Katee Robert

Mina, a half-vampire, was nothing more than a pawn in her father’s political schemes. That’s how she wound up being given over to Malachi, a powerful vampire with a reputation for cruelty. He turns out to be much different than Mina imagines, however. Soon, she’s drawn into a polyamorous relationship with Malachi and two other vampires, Wolf and Rylan. It quickly becomes clear that Mina’s three vampire lovers would do anything for her…up to and including murdering her father.

Darknesses by Lachelle Seville

Oasis was still trying to pick up the pieces of her life and start fresh when she met her. Laura. The woman who completely captivated her, who seemed to know her inside and out. But just as their relationship is beginning, Oasis finds out that a powerful organization wants Laura dead. And worse — they want Oasis to help them kill her.

Desire at Dawn by Fiona Zedde

Two young women fleeing their abusive and neglectful relatives forge a tight bond in this series-starter. Kylie’s a freshly reborn vampire on the run from her new family. When she meets Olivia, a human dying alone from breast cancer, she can’t help but be drawn to her. But Kylie’s severed family ties won’t stop the vampire clan’s enemies from coming after her. Is she endangering Olivia’s life by getting close to her?

Need more vampire books for your TBR? Check out these diverse vampire novels for adults and this list of 2022’s YA vampire releases.

Say My Name: A Sapphic Rumpelstiltskin Retelling

Guest — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 11:37:00 +0000

by Dahlia Adler

Lissa Haynes is pissed.

I settle into my seat at our lunch table, chin in hand in classic I’m listening pose, as I watch her storm over, the edges of her dark bob smacking her chin with each step. Lissa has two modes—syrupy sweet (when she wants something) and missionary from hell (when she didn’t get it)—and there’s only one thing my best friend wanted badly enough to warrant the way her hazel eyes glimmer with lightning. “Tell your bestie all about it,” I say, patting the seat next to me.

It takes no other prompting to get her to spill. “Bridget Miller is such a bitch.” She punctuates the statement with a slam of her tray, and I hold back a wince. She sounds so angry that, for once, Divya Kumari curbs her speech on internalized misogyny and its terminology.

Such a good heart that girl has. It’s why she’s only allowed to sit with us twice a week.

“I take it this means you weren’t on the list,” Div says carefully instead, tugging on a strand of her thick black waistlength hair.

“Brilliant guess. Must be why you’re captain of Model UN and actually get to go places.” Lissa snaps into a carrot stick like it’s Bridget Miller’s femur, her sharp white teeth making quick work of it. “Meanwhile, some of us get screwed out of NPCHS despite being the literal best coder in the class because Bridget Miller’s daddy convinced Mr. Roy that she’s Wheeler’s answer to Steve Jobs. And since only one junior gets to go, ta-da! The girl who’s spent all of one summer at programming camp gets my spot.”

“That is extremely fucked up,” I agree, both because it is—the National Programming Contest for High Schoolers is something that Lissa’s worked toward for years and should absolutely be hers to attend—and because it would be the only right answer with Lissa even if it weren’t. But my words don’t seem to have any calming effect; the porcelain skin of her cheekbones continues to flame with heat, two poison apples in a sea of cream. Her jaw remains set, sharp as a shard of glass. The feeling of failure simmers in my bones.

I do not fail. Especially when it comes to Lissa.

“I’ll take care of it,” I say airily, stabbing a fork into a cucumber to make clear violence will be part of the job if necessary. It won’t be necessary—the beginnings of an idea are stirring in my brain already—but Lissa’s one of those girls who gets horny over bloodshed, and I’m one of those girls who gets horny over Lissa, so.

Her expression relaxes as much as it ever does, features still sharp but less feral—the face of a girl who never, ever lets her guard down. How she knows the background to Bridget getting her spot is beyond me, but that’s Lissa; don’t let her hooded eyes fool you, because they are always wide fucking open.

And she’s not alone in that. We’ve been best friends since sixth grade, when social lives got more strategic and like called to like in the natural way it does. Of course, she hasn’t yet figured out that “best friends” isn’t meant to be our final destination, but that’s fine. I’m patient. And I know she’ll get there eventually.

But first things first.

Fun fact: Lissa Haynes is not the best coder in our class. She thinks she is, and until Bridget Miller’s daddy got to his old frat brother Mr. Roy about Bridget, everyone else did, too. But that’s fine. Lissa’s happy when she thinks she’s the best, and I haven’t exactly struggled to put my talents to good use.

Her C in English that magically became an A-minus? Yours truly. Her seven absences reduced to three? Also me. Every permission slip she’s ever forgotten to get signed magically fixed by an email from Dr. Olivia Bradley-Haynes’s personal account? Come on. Who do you think?

But I don’t need the recognition, or to be Queen of the Computer Nerds. If my parents found out that my sibling Miriasha has taught me everything they know, I’d be held prisoner in my room until I had pristine applications completed for Stanford, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon.

Besides, Lissa’s favorite thing to do when she wins coding competitions is to celebrate in her hot tub with her BFF, too much champagne, and wandering hands, so like. Whatever the coding version of an Emmy Award is, she can fucking have it.

The thing is, Bridget Miller is also definitely not the best coder in our class; last I snooped she was barely scraping by with a C. But I’ve seen her dad and Mr. Roy shoot the shit at fundraisers, and it’s clear the two of them are so buddy-buddy that he could make this happen if he wanted to. Which means Bridget is probably shaking in her last-season boots right now with the competition approaching.

She’ll probably need some help.

And lucky her, I know the perfect person for that.

Create new account. I could always use something like CodeMaster69—it’ll work just fine for my purposes—but it’s so lowbrow. I give myself a moment and choose LanaGintur, which sounds just enough like a real name to drive her nuts and make her think I can be Internet-stalked while actually just being an anagram of Alan Turing.

And okay, yes, I add a 69 at the end, because I’m only human.

LanaGintur69: I heard you got the junior spot on the coding team.

LanaGintur69: Congratulations.

Then I wait. It takes a few minutes, but I finally get my expected response.

UnderTheBridge: Who is this

Does Bridget know how slutty that name sounds? She must, right? “Under the Bridge” is like a terrible pun that’d be made in the boys’ locker room by a losing soccer team.

Honestly, it’s kind of brilliant.

LanaGintur69: Someone who knows that you have no idea what the fuck you’re doing.

Silence. Every now and again, an “UnderTheBridge is typing” followed by a promising ellipsis, and then . . . nothing.

She doesn’t respond again that night, but that’s fine.

She will.

The best part is watching Bridget glance furtively around herself the entire next day, like a chipmunk trying to protect its precious trove of acorns from encroaching squirrels. Of course, Lissa notices, too. Her laser eyes have been following Bridget almost as closely as mine have. “What’s up Miller’s ass today?” she asks with a snort as we reapply our lip gloss at the bathroom mirrors after third period. “Is it just me or does she look a little feral?”

There’s no small amount of glee in her voice, and it takes everything in me to tamp down my smile with a sharp tooth to the lip that immediately demands reapplication of my Watermelon Wish. “She’s definitely . . . something.”

“I hope everything’s okay,” Divya murmurs instinctively, lavishing her own lips with the berry purple she wears just as loyally as Lissa sports her blood red. Then she catches us both glaring at her. “I mean, if she’s going to steal your spot, she better not screw it up.”

Not perfect, but better. Lissa looks mollified. I know Divya has one foot out the door on this friend group, and that’s fine—I don’t need to share. But a little respect, please.

“Maybe she’s having a breakdown.” Lissa runs her hand through her hair, and I watch the dark silk trail through her fingers. “Serves her right. The first in-school competition is this Friday, and she’s going to tank. She’s gotta know she’s in over her head.”

That’s what I’m counting on.

“Definitely,” I say, watching Lissa apply one final coat of Dragon’s Blood to her lips and blow a kiss at the mirror. “She is definitely in over her head.”

Bridget cracks before the day is even over.

UnderTheBridge: Who are you

LanaGintur69: That is beside the point. Do you want the help or not?

UnderTheBridge: Who says I need help?

LanaGintur69: That would work a lot better if you weren’t here replying to a stranger who was offering it.

UnderTheBridge: Out of the goodness of your heart, I’m sure

UnderTheBridge: What do you want

Now, that’s a good question, Bridget. Because I absolutely do want something, but we’re not there yet.

I have a much better use for this question.

LanaGintur69: Just the satisfaction of putting Lissa Haynes in her place will be fine, thx

There’s another minute of silence, and I know three things are happening right now.

Bridget’s suspicion that Lissa was behind this account has now been torn apart.
Bridget actually believes she has an ally against one of the most powerful girls in school.
Bridget isn’t using this time to think it over; she’s already decided to take me up on the offer. She’s just trying not to sound too eager.

UnderTheBridge: Well, it’s hard to argue with that

UnderTheBridge: Okay

UnderTheBridge: What do I need to do

I send her an invite for a video chat under a dummy account, turn on my voice changer, and keep my screen on a shared presentation. For three hours that night, I walk her through the first three problems from last year’s competition, which took me a grand total of twenty minutes on my own. Bridget’s not a quick study, that’s for sure. I may be better than Lissa, but Lissa’s miles better than her, and every now and again I have to keep myself from screaming about the power of nepotism and shitty boys’ clubs.

Still, I press on, but Bridget’s clearly fading, not even trying anymore. It’s a good thing there’s no way she’s actually going to the competition, because it’s two hours longer than this and she would absolutely die. Finally, when I can tell I’ve fully drained her will to live, I let her go.

Sort of.

LanaGintur69: Tomorrow. 4 pm.

UnderTheBridge: I can’t at 4, I have choir practice.

LanaGintur69: Tomorrow. 4 pm. You don’t show up then, I don’t show up again at all.

LanaGintur69 has signed off.

I’ve always hated her voice anyway.

The next day, Bridget’s walking around with dark circles under her eyes, so I guess being stupid is exhausting. I’m tempted to suggest she bring coffee to our programming lesson this afternoon, but, of course, that would give things away, so she’ll just have to figure it out on her own—it’s gonna be a long night.

We do an hour of algorithm challenges as a warm-up. Then an hour of puzzles. Then another hour of problem-solving. She tries telling me her dad’s home and she has to leave for dinner, and I gently remind her that her father is the reason she’s in this situation in the first place and maybe she should point that out to him if he gives her any trouble about using this time to practice for the first in-school meet this Friday.

She doesn’t ask how I know that. After the first two hours, she’s also stopped trying to guess my identity. If she had any brain space left after all these lessons, I might be worried, but I know it’s more likely she’s just dead on her feet.

I let her go at ten.

LanaGintur69: Same time tomorrow.

UnderTheBridge: Thanks, but I think the last couple of days were really helpful, and I’ve got a lot of other work to do.

UnderTheBridge: I can take it from here.

So fucking lazy. Lissa would probably jump at the chance to spend this many hours coding. Maybe when this is all over, I’ll come clean about everything, but this is not, in fact, over.

LanaGintur69: You sure?

LanaGintur69: Because I’d hate to think about all the rumors that would spread about how you got onto the team if you crash and burn as hard on Friday as you definitely will if you don’t put any more time in.

I almost hope she tries it. Lissa and I would have so much fun spreading her “secrets” like wildfire. It’s exactly the kind of plot we would form while sprawled out on her couch, sharing her favorite roasted chickpeas from a bowl small enough to force our fingers to brush against each other every now and again.

But at least for today, Bridget’s ironically too smart for that.

UnderTheBridge: One more day. That’s it.

I debate pointing out that she’s really not in control here— not when I’m the one holding all the cards and giving her a much-needed education—but decide I’d rather let her believe she has some semblance of power.

LanaGintur69: See you at 4.

It isn’t one more day, as we both knew would be the case, but at least the lessons have paid off—Bridget comes in first in the practice competition on Friday, which, ironically, seems to prove her father right. Lissa is pissed, as I knew she would be, but I know she’ll be happy when she witnesses a much larger crash and burn.

“It’s just luck,” I assure Lissa. “Don’t worry. She isn’t going to make it to the real thing.”

“And how would you know that?” Lissa demands, fire lighting up her eyes.

“I told you to trust me. So trust me.”

Slowly, the anger melts off Lissa’s face and her lips curve into a Dragon’s Blood smile. “Of course I trust you.” She leans over and leaves a red imprint I can feel on my cheek. “More than anybody.”

I keep that with me going into one last evening with Bridget.

LanaGintur69: Congratulations.

UnderTheBridge: We really did it. I can’t believe it. Thank you, I guess.

You guess? Oh, honey. Whatever guilty feelings I might’ve had about what I’m doing to you would’ve been gone with that, if they’d ever existed in the first place.

LanaGintur69: You’re welcome.

LanaGintur69: Now it’s time to get ready for the big show.

UnderTheBridge: Did you see my results? I crushed my entire team.

UnderTheBridge: And Lissa was definitely not happy

UnderTheBridge: We both got what we wanted

UnderTheBridge: We’re done here

LanaGintur69: Oh, are we?

LanaGintur69: So I guess you don’t want to take a look at the NPCHS challenges together.

UnderTheBridge: We already did that.

LanaGintur69: We looked at last year’s, not this year’s.

Silence. Sweet, sweet silence. I send a quiet thanks to Miriasha for sending me the problems from last year’s international collegiate competition when I told them I wanted to help a friend study; Bridget isn’t going to be able to tell the difference.

Miriasha did make me promise it wasn’t Lissa I wanted them for; they’re not exactly her biggest fan. And technically, they’re not for Lissa. The fact that this whole thing will also help her in the long run is just a nice coincidence.

But really, isn’t everything I do to help Lissa in the long run?

My big sib should know this.

Even if no one else does.

UnderTheBridge: How do you have this year’s questions

UnderTheBridge: Who are you

LanaGintur69: How did I know your daddy got you onto the team?

LanaGintur69: How did I know you had no idea what you were doing?

LanaGintur69: How do I know your name is Bridget Alma Miller, you live at 4 Timothy Lane, you’re allergic to cat hair and strawberries, you lied about hooking up with Ben Bandy on the class trip last year, and you told your parents you lost the necklace from your grandmother but actually sold it on eBay?

LanaGintur69: I just know things.

UnderTheBridge: Seriously, who the fuck are you

LanaGintur69: Tomorrow, 4 pm.

LanaGintur69: Fuck choir practice.

LanaGintur69 has signed off.

She lost her solo after skipping two practices last week to meet with me, so really, she’s not missing much.

I give her two problems the next day and cut her off by six. She’s better, but not that much better. I knew what questions were going to be in the practice competition, and that’s what we studied; it’s pretty much the sum total of what she knows, and it isn’t nearly enough.

UnderTheBridge: What about the rest of them?

LanaGintur69: Like you said, you got it from here. And I’m sure you can learn Python on your own.

She absolutely cannot learn Python on her own. I’m not sure she even knows what it is. I do know she’s screwed without it.

LanaGintur69: You’ve already won once. Of course, that contest was just practice, but who cares if you come in dead last in the real thing?

LanaGintur69: At least you get to go.

LanaGintur69: You’ll be fine.

LanaGintur69: I’m sure your dad won’t be humiliated.

LanaGintur69: And no one will wonder if you cheated the first time and how you possibly got on the competition team.

LanaGintur69: Good luck.

I give it thirty seconds, and that’s all it takes.

UnderTheBridge: Wait

UnderTheBridge: Please

UnderTheBridge: I still need your help

Why, yes; yes, you do.

LanaGintur69: The price has gone up.

UnderTheBridge: What do you want?

Now, that is the correct question. But I suspect she is not going to like the answer.

LanaGintur69: Your spot in the competition.

UnderTheBridge: What the fuck? Obviously I’m not giving you that

UnderTheBridge: That’s the whole point of this

LanaGintur69: No, see, you got off with making it look like your daddy isn’t a liar. You’re welcome for that.

LanaGintur69: But that’s all you’re getting.

LanaGintur69: That spot isn’t yours, and you aren’t keeping it.

LanaGintur69: And if you try to, I will make you pay.

UnderTheBridge: What the FUCK

UnderTheBridge: I did pay. Lissa is miserable, just like you wanted.

UnderTheBridge: And so am I.

UnderTheBridge: I’m behind in all my classes, got dropped down in choir . . .

UnderTheBridge: I have paid. I don’t have anything else for you.

LanaGintur69: Did I stutter?

LanaGintur69: You. Have. The. Spot. I. Want.

LanaGintur69: Give it up.

UnderTheBridge: Even if I gave it up, it’d go back to Lissa, not you.

LanaGintur69: Now you’re catching on.

UnderTheBridge: IS THIS FUCKING LISSA

LanaGintur69: No, it is definitely not fucking Lissa.

LanaGintur69: And if you tell Lissa how she got her spot back, I will end you.

UnderTheBridge: If you really expect me to believe this isn’t Lissa, then tell me

UnderTheBridge: Who

UnderTheBridge: You

UnderTheBridge: Are

UnderTheBridge: You asshole

In a perfect world, I’d love for Lissa to know how brilliant I am. And I’d love for her to know we have this passion and talent in common. But I know that won’t work for her, that she won’t take it well. She doesn’t like sharing any spotlights, and that’s fine.

All she has to know is that I did exactly what I said I would, with some bonus life wreckage for Bridget in the process.

The how doesn’t matter. It isn’t important.

And yet, I can’t risk dangling the carrot, just for a little catharsis.

LanaGintur69: Tell you what.

LanaGintur69: You figure that out, complete with my full name, by noon tomorrow, and you can keep your spot.

It sounds risky, I know, but it isn’t. Even if she somehow figures out that it’s me, no one—not even Lissa—knows my legal name. And they never will. Considering it isn’t even on my birth certificate, I know I’m safe.

The fact is, at noon tomorrow, Bridget will be forced to give up her spot, Lissa will slide back in as if nothing happened, and I’ll be her hero, who happens to be ready with a celebratory bottle of sparkling cider (and one of champagne in my car for later).

It’s going to be a very good day.

My phone rings just then, and I smile at the picture of Miriasha that fills the screen. “Hey, Mir. Thanks again for those challenge questions. They came in super handy.”

“Dude. What the fuck is wrong with your voice?”

“Oh, shit.” I turn off the voice distorter I use for my sessions with Bridget. “Sorry about that.”

“Why were you using a voice changer?”

“Oh, it’s for . . .” Turns out, that’s a hard thing to make up an excuse for on the spot. “Um.”

They sigh. “Does this have anything to do with the questions you asked for? The ones that weren’t for your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I snap, hating how the very idea of the impossible brings heat into my cheeks. “And they weren’t for Lissa. I’ve been helping a girl at school who’s going to NPCHS and has no idea what she’s doing. Or at least she didn’t.”

“Is that so? You’ve been helping some girl who’s not Lissa out of the goodness of your heart?”

I think I’m offended. “I happen to be an excellent tutor, Miriasha Stilton.”

“I’ll bet you are—”

“Mir, if you use my full name I am going to pull out your tongue through the phone.”

“You know you didn’t have to let Mom petition for the name change, right? It was an absolutely deranged thing to do.”

“Yes, sorry that when I was a toddler, I didn’t think to stand up to our Twihard mother in defense of a name I didn’t even know how to spell yet.” I sigh, because it isn’t our first time having this conversation, and it won’t be our last, but come eighteen, I will definitely be heading back to court to fix that mistake. “Anyway, you rang?”

“Just wanted to see if the questions were helpful, but now I think maybe I don’t wanna know any more about what’s going on here. You still coming to see me next weekend?”

“As long as you keep my name out of your mouth,” I say sweetly. As long as everyone does.

We hang up, and I immediately open my messages to Lissa. Tomorrow, I tell her. You’ll have your spot back. Cafeteria at noon. It’s gonna be a good time.

I keep an eye out for Bridget from the second I walk into school, eager to see the anxious expression she’s been carrying around since the day I first made contact. She doesn’t look like a girl who’s about to be humiliated in front of the entire school, but then I suppose I can spare her that if she wants to go quietly to Mr. Roy and drop out that way.

But no matter how long I stare at my phone, waiting for an excited text from Lissa that lets me know she’s been reinstated, it doesn’t come. So I guess we’re doing this the hard way.

Okay, that’s fun, too.

The noon bell rings for junior lunch period, and I gather up my stuff and head over to the cafeteria, not even bothering with my usual pre-lunch freshening up. Honestly, the promise of getting to exact humiliation against Bridget and reap the gratitude from Lissa gives me a special dewy glow my bronzer can’t replicate anyway.

Expecting to be one of the first to the caf, I’m surprised to see Bridget already waiting at a table smack in the center. Guess her curiosity got the best of her. But of course, it also killed the cat, or whatever. I start to do an about-face to have a helpful conversation with Mr. Roy when a voice cuts through the room.

“Where are you going, Ren?”

I freeze in my tracks a split second before realizing it’s a mistake. Bridget Miller and I are not friends. She does not call me from across the room. She does not call me at all, and I certainly do not stop to answer.

But it’s fine. So she knows I’m Lana Gintur. What’s she gonna do about it? Reveal that—gasp!—I’m actually super smart and she isn’t? She isn’t holding any of the cards here, and I was perfectly clear on her needing my full legal name. “Ren,” which is what literally everyone but my mother calls me, isn’t gonna cut it.

I turn around and smile sweetly. “I was just going to have a fascinating conversation with Mr. Roy. Did you wanna come? Might be a little awkward, but . . .” I offer a helpless shrug.

“I’ll bet it will be,” she says, but instead of looking nervous, she looks . . . triumphant? Everyone’s watching us now, faces alight with curiosity, and for the first time since this whole plan began I feel a flutter in my stomach that things might not go my way.

But no, it’s not possible.

Is it?

No.

“I think I’ll stay here, though.” She steps up onto the center of the table in her delicate ballet flats. “What do you think of that plan, Renata?”

I snort. “I think that’s just fine. I don’t really need you around for this conversation anyway. But that was a nice try.”

“Was it, Serena?”

“Not really,” I say, tut-tutting. “But you did try. And as you were always meant to do, you failed.” I flash her a smirk. “I’ll let you know how the conversation goes.”

I turn on my heel and am almost at the door when her voice splits the air again. “I don’t think you will, Renesmee Carlie Stilton.”

I never understood what it meant to feel the blood drain from your face, but I do now. I feel my lifeblood seeping out of me, physically feel myself fading, as the rest of the room turns and gawks at me.

What.

The.

Fuck.

And then.

“Ren, what’s going on?”

No.

I turn slowly to see Lissa standing behind me, arms crossed in her pristine white sweater, gaze traveling from Bridget back to me. “Why is that freak even talking to you? And did she just call you . . . Renesmee?”

“That is her name after all,” Bridget says gleefully. “Which means that thanks for all the help, Ren, but I really will be just fine without you.” She shifts her gaze to Lissa and narrows her eyes into a glare. “Nice effort, though.”

“Ren, seriously, what the hell is she talking about?”

My brain is whirring with possible answers, but somehow, Bridget’s morphed into someone who can actually think on her feet. “I’m talking about your girlfriend trying to blackmail me into giving you my spot at NPCHS, but for someone so smart—and she is so smart, by the way; did you know she’s better at coding than you are?—she’s awfully stupid sometimes.” She looks almost drunk when she turns back to me and stage-whispers, “Next time, computer whiz, you might want to sign out before you take a phone call.”

It takes everything in me to meet Lissa’s gaze, to search for a sign she knows I did this all for her, lied for her, got her what she wanted, but the only way to possibly read her expression is a cross between anger and disgust. The entire room has exploded into one giant shitshow, and it’s all just so much that I slam my foot hard enough to embed my heel into the linoleum.

If you were ever unsure how much lower you could go, try being forced to use both hands to unstick your foot from the floor while the entire room watches, your former best friend looks like she wants to puke for ever having been associated with you, and the girl you tried to blackmail into humiliation gets the last laugh.

As soon as my foot is free, I bolt.

I don’t know if Lissa ends up with the spot, or if Wheeler High wins or even places. Miriasha won’t let me look it up, won’t let me torture myself any further. They’re letting me stay with them, got me a coding gig, and promised that the minute I turn eighteen, they’ll drive me to the courthouse so I can pick any name I want.

I am definitely done with this one.

And truth be told, Lana Gintur has grown on me.

At Midnight: 15 Beloved Fairy Tales Reimagined edited by Dahlia Adler, out today

“Say My Name” by Dahlia Adler, based on “Rumpelstiltskin” by The Brothers Grimm. Excerpted from AT MIDNIGHT: 15 Beloved Fairy Tales Reimagined edited by Dahlia Adler. Copyright © 2022 by Dahlia Adler. Reprinted with permission from Flatiron Books. All rights reserved.

9 Great New Queer Middle Grade Books (+3 To Preorder for 2023!)

Mikkaka Overstreet — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 11:31:00 +0000

This year has been a good year for queer middle grade books. I know I say this all the time, but I am so happy to live in a time where there are more than enough books to populate queer children’s book lists. I grew up without access to queer literature, thus, I’m proud that today’s young readers don’t have to face that issue.

This year has included some big name releases. For example, we got the (re)release of Melissa by Alex Gino. Formerly titled George, this classic queer middle grade book is a triumph, as the title now reflects who the main character truly is. Gino had long lamented their inadvertent deadnaming of their title character, so it’s wonderful they’ve had the opportunity to make it right.

That’s the gift of offering queer representation in children’s literature. It allows kids to see themselves reflected in literature as they’re in crucial stages of identity development. During their tweens, many children feel awkward and isolated, especially if they are navigating questions about their gender identity or sexuality. Books like the ones on this list remind them that they are not alone and their identities are valid and valued.

Read on for some of the best queer middle grade books of 2022 and a few to eagerly anticipate in 2023!

Great Queer Middle Grade Books from 2022

Moonflower by Kacen Callender

I’m sure I don’t have to sell this book if you’ve read anything by Kacen Callender. In this forthcoming middle grade fantasy, Callender delivers yet again. Moon’s depression makes life in the real world incredibly difficult. Luckily, at night Moon can travel to the spirit realm and visit their only friend, Wolf. When the spirit realm is threatened, it’s up to Moon to save it and all its inhabitants.

Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff

Next, another author who needs no introduction. I particularly adore Lukoff’s picture books, but he is one of those infuriatingly talented writers who can apparently write anything well. If you, like me, loved Too Bright to See, then you’re in for another treat. Protagonist Annabelle Blake is delighted when a new kid arrives in town. She loves their stories from their previous life — and not just because they’re cute and they smell good. However, when Annabelle’s dad comes out as trans, Annabelle realizes that new things can come with new challenges.

The Trouble with Robots by Michelle Mohrweis

STEM meets identity exploration in this great queer middle grade book written by an actual middle school robotics and engineering teacher. Eighth graders Evelyn and Allie are forced to work together to win a robotics competition. Unfortunately, Evelyn is a perfectionist while new kid Allie has quickly been flagged as a behavior problem. If they are going to win the competition and save the school’s robotics program, they’ll have to learn to work through their differences, while also learning more about themselves.

Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms by Jamar J. Perry

Cameron Battle has been through a lot. After the tragic loss of his parents, he moves in with his grandmother. The Book of Chidani, a family heirloom and his only link to his missing parents, tells of a kingdom that isolated and hid itself to protect the Igbo people. He knows it’s dangerous to read the book that caused his parents’ disappearance, but it calls to Cameron. When Cameron and his best friends open the book, they quickly learn that Chidani is real, because they’re transported to it!

The Science of Being Angry by Nicole Melleby

Joey is angry. It doesn’t matter that she has a loving home with supportive moms and loving siblings. Eleven year old Joey just can’t seem to control her anger. Her angry outbursts often end with people getting hurt, like when she pushes her crush/BFF too hard one day. Finally, one of Joey’s meltdowns ends in her family being evicted from their apartment. After a science class lecture on genetics, Joey wonders if maybe she inherited her anger from the donor her moms used.

Nikhil Out Loud by Maulik Pancholy

I had the absolute privilege of reading Maulik Pancholy’s fantastic queer middle grade book The Best at It in my teacher book club. Now, Pancholy has gifted us with another lovable brown queer kid dealing with life in small town USA. Nikhil is famous for voicing an openly gay cartoon character on a popular kid’s show. He’s used to fame, but not being famous in a conservative community where his classmates’ parents protest his involvement in the school play. Navigating his family’s move to Ohio to care for his sick grandfather, bigotry, and the middle school changes that will mean giving up his animated voice job, Nikhil realizes real life is much harder than television.

An Eighth Grade Gay-Straight Alliance by Daniel Micko

Brooklyn and Sydney grew up together in a dull, surprisingly conservative California town. Unexpectedly, the two get to know one another better and fall in love. Now, they have to stand together to make the community a better place for two queer Muslim girls of color and others like them.

The One Who Loves You the Most by Medina

In this coming-of-age queer middle grade book, 12 year old Gabriela is trying to find their place in the world. It’s hard being an adoptee in a white family. It’s even harder when each day you feel less and less comfortable in your own body. Luckily, a new school year, new queer and trans friends, and a queer social media community combine to help Gabriela find their purpose.

The Insiders by Mark Oshiro

In this magical middle grade debut, Mark Oshiro introduces us to Héctor Muños. Héctor being gay wasn’t a big deal at his middle school in San Francisco, but it doesn’t go over well in his new school in Orangevale. After attempting to hide in the janitor’s closet, Héctor instead finds himself in a magical room with two other kids from different corners of the country. What follows is a heartwarming story of friendship and belonging.

Bonus: Queer Middle Grade Books to Preorder for 2023

Ellie Engle Saves Herself! by Leah Johnson (May 2, 2023)

I am seriously looking forward to Leah Johnson’s middle grade debut. Her award-winning YA novel You Should See Me in a Crown is legitimately one of my favorite books of all time. Johnson introduces us to Ellie, another nerdy Black girl we’re sure to love. Ellie likes going unnoticed, leaving the spotlight to her best friend Abby. Unfortunately, when an earthquake gives Ellie resurrection powers, her time in the shadows is over — whether she likes it or not.

Skating on Mars by Caroline Huntoon (May 30, 2023)

Twelve year old Mars is having a rough time. Their father died recently, and the worst part is they never got to tell him that they’re nonbinary. As if grief and 7th grade woes aren’t enough, Mars soon finds their one place of refuge threatened. After a high school skating champion sees Mars’ skills on the ice, he challenges Mars to skate as a boy so they can compete. Though Mars accepts the challenge, they soon fear that there’s no longer a place for them in the skating world they love so much.

Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom by Nina Varela (February 14, 2023)

As if it isn’t hard enough relocating to the middle of nowhere, Juniper Harvey has also started having strange dreams. When she wakes up to the girl from her dreams holding a sword at her throat, things really start to get out of hand. Suddenly, Juniper finds herself on a quest to find a crown, avoid dangerous pursuers, and to navigate the massive crush she’s developing on her new companion.

For more queer children’s lit recommendations, consider the following Book Riot gems:

Happy Holigays! New LGBTQ Holiday Romances for 2022

Rachel Brittain — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 11:31:00 +0000

Are you ready to make the Yuletide gay? Because these new LGBTQ holiday romances are sure to do just that. They bring the holiday cheer and the queer representation we all crave — and just in time for the holidays! I’ve been keeping track of the new LGBTQ holiday romances coming out in 2022 since the beginning of the year because I was shocked — and thrilled! — to see just how many we were getting all at once. I mean, I’d be pleased with a handful, and here we are getting double digits? I guess we all made the nice list this year.

One account I’ve been following all that time is the #holigays22 group comprised of several of the authors on this list, including Alison Cochrun, Timothy Janovsky, Helena Greer, Jake Maia Arlow, and Courtney Kae. It’s always fun to see authors banding together to support each other and their work. I’d say it warms my grinchy heart, but if this isn’t already obvious, there isn’t a grinchy bone in my body. I’m a Buddy the elf to my very core. Still, regardless of your feelings on the holidays or thoughts about what exactly makes the season bright, you’re going to love these new LGBTQ holiday romances full of fluff and cheer.

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun

The author of The Charm Offensive is back with a sapphic Christmas romance, and I couldn’t be more excited. After a failed Christmas Eve romance last year and the loss of her job, Ellie Oliver is just looking for some stability in her life. Now, she’s working at a bookshop, trying to make ends meet. But when the shop’s landlord proposes a desperate, drunken plan to enter into a marriage of convenience to access his inheritance and help alleviate Ellie’s financial problems, she soon finds herself agreeing to spend the holidays with his family to keep up the ruse. There, she finds the last person she ever expected to see again: the woman who broke her heart last Christmas, who happens to be her fake fiancé’s sister. Is a real chance at love worth risking a fake but certain future?

The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish

This festive romance is a bit like The Holiday if it were queer. It follows two couples finding their happy ending over the holidays. Greta, a lesbian in small town Maine, and Truman, who just discovered his long-term boyfriend had a secret husband and daughter, are both desperately looking for an escape from home. Fortunately, their mutual friend Ramona facilitates a month-long house swap for the two, giving them each a chance to try out a new life and maybe even discover the partner of their dreams. But the holidays don’t last forever, and when you find love so far from home, can it really be happily ever after?

You’re a Mean One Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky

Timothy Janovsky made a big splash with his first LGBTQ romance earlier this year, Never Been Kissed, and now he’s back with a holiday romcom for the ages. Matthew Prince is an entitled rich kid with anxiety who’s just been banished to his grandparents’ small town for Christmas. No galas, no ritzy NYC parties, and no credit cards: his parents cut him off. To make matters worse, he won’t be alone. His grandparents have taken in a student whose judgmental attitude instantly sets Matthew on edge. But maybe Hector isn’t the only one being judgmental. And maybe a small town Christmas is exactly what Matthew needs to figure out what he wants and who he wants to be.

Season of Love by Helena Greer

After losing her beloved great-aunt, artist Miriam Blum learns she’s inherited Carrigan’s Christmas tree farm. Miriam has no interest in running a Christmas tree farm, of all things. She plans to sit shiva for her aunt and then head home with Carrigan’s in her rearview mirror. But when she learns the farm is going under, she realizes she won’t be able to leave that easily. And with the grumpy farm manager, Noelle Northwood, being equal parts unhelpful and all too attractive, Miriam is going to have her work cut out for her. But if they’re going to save this Jewish Christmas tree farm, Miriam and Noelle are going to have to work together — which might not be such a bad thing after all.

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow

In this sapphic Jewish holiday romance, a college freshman’s plans to focus on her paleoichthyology internship and forget about her recent break-up are jeopardized by the cute girl she’s snowed in with on Christmas eve. Is she ready to open up her heart again after her ex-girlfriend dumped her just before winter break? Or is this thing with May just another relationship doomed to fail?

In the Event of Love by Courtney Kae

An event planner returns home after a tabloid scandal blew up her career, but charming though her mountainous hometown may be, she also left it behind for a reason. And that reason is heartbreak. So of course it would be her ex-best friend/crush Rachel Reed who would be the one to rescue her from a muddy fall on her first day back. And Rachel is sporting some serious muscles from working on her family’s Christmas tree farm. When Morgan finds out the Reed’s family farm is struggling and is the one thing standing between Fern Falls and corporate Christmas sell out, she decides to put her event planning experience to good use with a fundraiser. But just because she’s determined to save the farm doesn’t mean the thing between Rachel and her can be saved — right? After all, it would take a Christmas miracle for the two of them to have a chance.

Whiteout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon

This snowy follow up to Blackout is an anthology full of Black joy and cozy Christmas romance. As the city of Atlanta grinds to a halt in a whiteout just before Christmas, 12 teens come together to help one friend pull off an apology of epic proportions. Will the storm stop them in their tracks, or will romance win out in spite of it all?

A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

This steamy holiday romance follows two bi actors who fall for each other while filming a Hallmark-esque Christmas movie together. The only problem? One of them is a former boy band member trying to refurbish his image and the other is an adult film star trying to keep her alter ego under wraps. Can the two hide their growing feelings for one another and their not-so-squeaky-clean images from a studio that is looking for a chaste holiday romance?

Make You Mine This Christmas by Lizzie Huxley-Jones

A bit of drunken kissing at a holiday party and suddenly Haf is supposedly in a relationship with Christopher and planning to spend the holidays with his family in Oxlea. Not exactly the outcome to the evening of fun and frivolity she had planned. But to save him from embarrassment, she agrees to play along. One day it’ll be a funny story. But when Haf meets Christopher’s sister, Kit, she realizes that love might’ve been waiting for her in Oxlea all along.

Christmas Mouse by Rachel Spangler

Two Christmas-obsessed women make a bet about which place makes for the better holiday: Ava’s small town Vermont or Bex’s glittering New York City. Now they’re splitting the holiday to see whose version of an ideal Christmas is the real winner. But the more snowy days and starlit nights they spend together, the more they realize that spending Christmas together might be the thing that makes it most special of all.

Felix Navidad by Nathan Burgoine (December 1, 2022)

A last-minute Christmas vacation and a canceled flight seem to spell the end of Felix’s attempts to be more impulsive, but when he runs into the handsome farmer he recently danced with at a friend’s wedding, it might just be a second chance for some holiday spontaneity. And driving to Toronto together might be a great idea, or it might end with the two of them stranded in a too-small cabin for Christmas. But either way, why not enjoy the ride?

Picture-Perfect Christmas by Charlotte Greene (December 13, 2022)

This second chance Christmas romance follows a photographer who thought she’d never look back after moving away from her small home town, but now wants nothing more than to return to Gleenwood Springs. A seasonal job for the town’s new tourism campaign offers her a chance to spend the holidays back home while promoting the town she’s learned to love. There’s just one problem: Quinn, her high school rival and crush, is also working on the project. And Nicole isn’t sure whether their reunion will spell disaster or romance.

Okay, But Where’s the Diversity?

*sigh*

You might have noticed this list is overwhelmingly white (as well as overwhelmingly focusing on Christmas). Disappointing, I know. I’d like to blame it on the fact that I’m covering such a niche topic here, but the fact of the matter is that’s still not a great excuse. If the publishing industry can publish more LGBTQ romances, then they can publish more LGBTQ romances by BIPOC authors. So even though there sadly aren’t many new releases to gush about this year (and trust me, I’ve looked), here are some great queer holiday romances by BIPOC authors from years past to round out your winter reading list:

Mangos & Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera

In this adorable holiday novella, a cooking competition in the UK brings together a single-minded Dominican pastry chef and a home cook trying to reacquaint herself with her love of baking. It’s got all the fun, foodie holiday vibes you could possibly want, as well as a grumpy/sunshine romance. Truly a match made in holiday romance heaven.

Under the Mistletoe by Everly James

Samantha Evans might be a popular lesbian romance author, but she’s got a bad case of writer’s block and a book due by New Year’s Eve. She’s hoping a writer’s retreat might be just what she needs to get her creativity back on track. She’s hoping for quiet, concentration, and a cabin all to herself to finish her book before her NYE deadline. The last thing she needs is eager aspiring author Gia Torres. Gia is hoping to finish her very first novel and break into the publishing world. It seemed like a writing retreat was the perfect way to do both. But she definitely wasn’t expecting for one of her favorite authors to be waiting for her there. And after a disastrous first impression, both women must overcome their misgivings to give into their creativity and their growing feelings for one another.

Keeping the Cookies by Briana Lawrence

After kicking out his cheating boyfriend, Ty needs to take on an extra job to help make ends meet. Unfortunately, that job requires red-and-white tights and a whole lot of holiday cheer that Ty really isn’t feeling as a mall elf. A handsome janitor could be just the thing to sweep Ty off his feet. But with his heart still in pieces over his ex, Ty isn’t sure he’s ready to try on a new Christmas romance just yet.

Her Christmas Cookie by Katrina Jackson

A small town baker, the local fire chief, and the police chief decide to finally let their families into their relationship this Christmas in this steamy holiday romance featuring a M/M/F polyamorous triad. Things are getting serious, and Knox wants to finally introduce Mary and Santos to his family as his partners. But why only meet one family when you can meet three? It’s a holiday road trip just waiting to happen.

Amor Actually edited by Mackenzie Walton

This anthology was one of the best holiday romance gems to come out of 2021, and I cannot recommend it enough. With an incredible team of authors, including Adriana Hererra, Alexis Daria, and Mia Sosa, the interlocking stories come to life, featuring a diverse cast of Latine characters. You’ll fall in love with the characters and the authors before you’re through.

You didn’t think those were the only LGBTQ holiday romances we had to recommend, did you?

20 Must-Read Queer Holiday Romance for Hallmark Movie Lovers

5 Lesbian and Gay Holiday Romances to Read This Season

Why Queer Holiday Stories are Necessary

Queer Space Adventures that are Out Of This World

Jessica Pryde — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 11:31:00 +0000

Rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster Tennalhin Halkana can read minds. Conscripted into the military under dubious circumstances, Tennal is placed into the care of Lieutenant Surit Yeni, a duty-bound soldier, principled leader, and the son of a notorious traitor general. Whereas Tennal can read minds, Surit can influence them. Surit accepted a suspicious promotion-track request out of desperation, but he refuses to go through with his illegal orders to sync and control an unconsenting Tennal. So, they lie: They fake a sync bond and plan Tennal's escape. Can two unwilling weapons of war bring about peace?

Who doesn’t love a good space adventure, amirite? They’ve always got the best elements of storytelling: character, community, and a problem to solve. And to some extent they’ll even have a bit of fun! (Some more than others.)

In the modern era, we’ve got two key archetypes of what makes a space adventure: Hard Science Fiction (AKA Star Trek) and Space Opera (AKA Star Wars). Hard Sci Fi digs into the details of space travel and interplanetary communications, often exploring concepts of colonization and consumption. The space adventures in these stories often include quieter battles, often including one group or person addressing some element of people’s lives that could change for the better. Think Lilith’s Brood or The Martian. Space Opera, on the other hand, is Fantasy In Space. The science is a little wobbly, there are galactic monarchies and empires, and the battle is against the Big Bad who might be oppressing all beings across many galaxies. We’re talking Dune elements of grandeur. There are people who like one or the other; but both are pretty awesome, and there are some great people doing super interesting things in the sci-fi world.

And then, you make it queer, and nothing else matters, because that’s the best thing an author can do to make their story even more attractive. (If they’re doing it right and respectfully, obviously. And works by queer authors are often going to feel more authentic than those that aren’t by queer authors, but there’s still some fun to be had. Wait and see.) The queerness of a space adventure doesn’t have to involve a romantic relationship between central characters, but sometimes that makes it all the more fun — well, for me anyway.

No matter what kind of queer space adventure you might be looking for, you should find something worth your while in this list!

The 5th Gender by G.L. Carriger

Tristol lives on a human space station, even though he himself is not human. He mostly spends his time people-watching and admiring a handsome human detective. When a ship of beings from a reclusive and xenophobic society dock at the station, hoping to get help to solve a murder — an event that is so rare to them, they don’t even have a word for it — he and the detective have to work together to figure it out…because Tristol is one of them.

The Kindred by Alechia Dow

Joy and Felix are Kindred. They have a mental bond that only they share, which gives them an intimacy like no other. And yet, they’ve never met. Joy is a commoner and Felix a royal; their pairing is a societal norm but their love for each other is not. When the pair end up having to escape their planet due to an assassination attempt, they find themselves stuck on Earth.

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

In Misery’s world, their special power could indicate that one is a saint or in danger of going voidmad. They have that power, and are not certain which direction their mind will go, especially since their mother has already been taken by the madness. But when two warring factions want to use Misery as their pawn, they must figure out how to survive with their mind intact.

Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

Some might tell you that this is an exciting interstellar love story between two women of different castes. Others might say this is a very…gooey story. Both would be right. These two women are both part of a society that inhabits a somewhat alive beast that can carry them across space. They use the beast’s resources and then move on to the next beast. (They are basically a human sized virus, I guess?) But things don’t always go as planned.

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

Who wants a space heist with found family that is also a retelling of the Dreamworks Anastasia? Because that’s what this book (and the second in the duology, Soul of Stars) will give you. Ana is an orphan whose oldest friend is an android named D-9. She’s part of a ragtag space family who doesn’t always participate in legal galactic activities. But this is Anastasia, so of course, there’s lots of other stuff happening.

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard

This novella is one of many set in de Bodard’s Universe of Xuya, and is full of all the things that she does best. There is the titular citadel, which has vanished. There is time travel, in which an engineer seeks to go back to the height of its power. There is imperial intrigue and personal drama. There is the bigger universe and the need for interpersonal communication. It’s not very long but really firmly establishes this piece of Xuya.

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White

There are space robots coming to destroy humanity and the world has decided to go out with a bang. And in Gus Kitko’s case, that banging happens on a piano. But one of the mechas that was supposed to kill him saves him instead. Now it’s just Gus and the space robots, off to save humanity.

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

If you’re into graphic novels, this one is a thick-but-quick story in two timelines of a pair of teenagers trying to work out where they belong and who they are. It’s a combination of coming-of-age, found family, mystery, and adventure story, and I promise you’re going to cry.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

The HSS Matilda is a vessel organized like the Old South when it comes to rank and class. Aster is one of the lowest ranking people there, among the darker-skinned sharecroppers treated like less than human, and is in the newest of many generations of people whose lives have been imposed upon in this way. The last of humanity is all trapped together on the way to the Promised Land…which probably doesn’t exist? I don’t know, it’s all very dark and depressing, which is a different tone from most of the books on this list.

Queer space adventures can be exciting and ridiculous, or darker and heartbreaking. Or somewhere in the middle. The main characters’ (or their friends’, family’s, and societal) gender and sexual identities could have a central purpose and connection to the story, or they could instead inform their personality and actions without being the story. They could be Important Stories or a fun romp across the galaxies. Either way, we love them to the Moon and back.