Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Ray Stoeve’s The Summer Love Strategy, which is out May 7th 2024.

Hayley always has a crush. The problem is, her crushes never like her back. After her latest unrequited love—a girl from her basketball team—gets a boyfriend, she decides she’s done falling for girls who are unavailable. Her best friend, Talia, wants romance too, but rarely gets crushes on anyone, and she’s tired of watching Hayley get her heart stomped on over and over. So the two girls make a they’ll help each other find summer love by putting themselves in situations that always lead to romance in movies.

To help carry out their summer love strategy, they make a list of all the places they could find their real-life the beach, the Pride parade, the pool, a MUNA concert, and a party. But as they go to each place and try to find the one , it seems like they just can’t catch a break—they don’t know how to talk to cute strangers, someone mistakes Hayley as straight, and Hayley does a truly unfortunate DIY haircut (that she cannot be held responsible for––it was a crisis!). But when Talia and Hayley finally manage to score dates, will they be able to get out of their own way and really dive into the romances they deserve? Or is summer love not as far off as Hayley thought?

It’s the first day of summer and my heart is already broken.

“I’m never falling for a straight girl again,” I say, flopping backward onto Talia’s bed with a soft thump.

“I told you Sherika only liked boys,” Talia says, rocking back and forth in her desk chair. I turn my head and glare at her. She shrugs, grinning, and rocks a bit faster. “Besides, you’ve liked queer girls before, too.”

“I knoooowww.” I drag my fingers down my face. “But they all have one thing in common. They don’t know I exist.” I roll over, smushing my face into the bed.

The chair stops squeaking, and Talia’s weight settles beside me on the bed. “I’m sorry.”

I let out a long groan into the mattress.

“Hayley.”

“Talia.”

“You’re gonna find a girl who likes you back, I promise.”

“Yeah, right.” Her purple comforter is soft under my cheek.

“At least it’s summer now so you don’t have to see her and Trey together,” she says.

“What if he comes to see her at our basketball practices?” I started an offseason practice group last year, and according to Mariah, my friend and our junior varsity point guard, Sherika’s planning on joining us this summer.

“Maybe it’ll help you get over her?” Talia pokes me.

With a huge sigh, I turn over to face her. Like me, her usually white skin is still a little sunburned from the outdoor games we did for our last gym class of the year. She’s lying on her back, looking at the stars scattered across her ceiling. They’re not glowing because it’s the middle of the afternoon and a perfect sunny day, but I’ve spent so many sleepovers staring up at them that I’ve memorized all the constellations. Talia loved astronomy as a kid, and even though she’s not into it so much anymore, she’s kept all the stars up there. It’s a comforting constant: her spacious room with its sky-blue walls and huge closet opposite the door, her bed positioned between the two windows on the left-hand wall so it takes up most of the floor space in between. On one side of it is her nightstand; on the other is her desk, built by her dad during his woodworking era. On the walls around us, posters of her favorite bands and a bulletin board covered in layers of photos and papers and other mementos. And above us, the stars.

“Hey, you cleaned your room.” I didn’t notice it when I got here, but I feel kind of silly for not saying something before. She almost never cleans her room—not that she needs to. Next to me, she looks like a neat freak.

“Mom made me,” Talia says. “Said it would be a ‘fresh start for the new season.’” She air quotes the words and rolls her eyes. She’s prickly today.

“Are you OK?”

She shrugs. “I just need to do my shot, but I’m out of estrogen.”

“Is there a shortage again?” Talia is trans, and sometimes the estrogen she takes isn’t available for some reason. I don’t know why it’s so hard to make the medicine people need, but apparently it happens pretty often. Whenever it does, Talia is stressed out for weeks.

“No, I just forgot to refill my prescription. It’s OK, Mom’s getting it today.”

“That’s good.” I flop over onto my back again, and we both stare at the ceiling. That’s the nice thing about being with Talia: we can talk or not, it doesn’t really matter. The silence is as comfortable as our conversations.

I close my eyes, and the image flashes in my mind again: Sherika’s post on social media this morning, the photo with Trey and the gushy caption. I’d noticed him hanging around her more often, but I didn’t get that many glimpses of her during the day at school. She was a junior and I was a sophomore. I’d chosen to ignore the signs, I guess, hoping for something that now I know will never happen.

Just like every other crush.

The tears well up then and I sniffle, squeezing my eyes shut. I know it’s stupid to cry over a girl who barely knows who I am, but I can’t help it.

“Hey.” Talia’s weight shifts, and her hand curls around mine, squeezing it tight. I squeeze back. “I’m here.”

“Thanks,” I say, my voice watery. The ache in my chest eases just a little bit. I came over here as soon as I saw the post, and now I don’t want to leave. Talia’s room is so calming. “Hey, can I . . .”

“Spend the night?”

I laugh. “You read my mind.”

“We could do an ice cream run, too.”

“You’re the best.” I roll over, and we lie facing each other.

“I know.” She grins at me. “Guess what else.”

“What?”

“I saw that MUNA’s touring this summer,” she says. “And they’re playing Seattle on a very special day.”

“What?!” I sit up straight, looking down at her. “No way.”

“Yup. They’re going to be here on our birthday,” she says, sitting up too. “I can get my parents to get us tickets. I bet there will be lots of cute queer girls there, too.” She wiggles her eyebrows. “Maybe you’ll meet someone who will make you forget about Sherika.”

I can see it now. The stage. The lights, sweeping over us. The super-hot, super-cool members of MUNA rocking out as I lock eyes with a cutie. And Talia there to witness the historic moment.

Talia and I have always shared everything. We were born in the same hospital on the same day; we’ve gone to all the same schools; we came out to each other before we told anyone else; and we were there for each other when I told my parents I am a lesbian and when she told her parents she is trans. She comes to all my basketball games, and I’m always down to hear about the latest book series she’s obsessed with. We both love mint chocolate chip ice cream, and we’re even the same height: five feet, nine inches. And since we were old enough to know what a birthday was, we’ve spent every single one together. There’s no one I’d rather dance with to sad queer synth pop than Talia.

Maybe this won’t be a completely terrible summer.

~~

“Hayley!”

I swim up out of an awesome dream toward the sound of my name. I’m a little annoyed; in the dream I was kissing Sherika, and it was perfect. But that was a dream, and this is reality: I’m single, Sherika is dating Trey, and it’s time for Sunday family brunch.

I spent the past few nights at Talia’s, marathoning superhero movies—not our normal fare, but the thought of a romance movie made my heart hurt—and eating way too much ice cream. Just kidding; there’s no such thing as too much ice cream. I do still like being in my own bed, so last night I came home to sleep. But Talia promised she’d come over today to check on me.

“Hayley! Pancakes are ready!” Sam pounds on my door and runs away down the hall. She’s way too awake for a thirteen-year-old on a summer Sunday.

I groan and blink against the sunlight streaming into my room, then inch out of bed.

My room is a mess. Unlike Talia’s mom, mine doesn’t make me clean it. She was a punk in the eighties and nineties—and claims she still is—and therefore, she says she doesn’t believe in trying to control children’s personal space. My dad is the same way. It’s not that we don’t have rules; it’s just that the rules make sense, and they let me and my sisters help decide them.

Besides, my room only looks like a mess to other people. I know where everything is.

The first thing I do when I get up is go to the window and breathe in deep. Summer always smells like flowers, and it helps that Mom and Dad planted a row of sweet-smelling bushes in the side yard below. Across from me, a hedge shields my room from the neighbor’s house, but not from the morning sun. I painted my walls golden yellow, and the sun just adds to the warmth. Rainbow dots of light sparkle around the room from the faceted crystals hanging on my curtain rod. I got them when we went to the Fremont Sunday Market as a family last summer.

I dig through my pile of clean shirts and find the one I want, and then pull on my cutoffs. From the top of the stack of books beside my bedside table, I grab my phone from where it’s been charging and swipe a brush through my hair with the other hand. Then I run downstairs to breakfast.

“Finally!” Sam says when I come in.

Everyone’s already sitting around the table, waiting. Our dining room is right below my room, facing south, so sunlight comes in all day through the bank of windows, and the kitchen is beyond it. Bookshelves are built into the walls, filled with Mom and Dad’s massive collection. In the center of the room is a hardwood table dappled with fingerpaint, cup rings, and scratches as evidence of the years of use we’ve gotten out of it. Our whole house is like this: comfortably cluttered, with aging, deep-cushioned thrift-store furniture, a different color accent wall in every room, cups forgotten on every surface. I love it.

Dad shakes his head and laughs. Mom’s already dishing pancakes up, and my older sister, Ella, is texting furiously.

My dad says her name in that patient tone, and she sets the phone down. Our meals together are family time, so we’re not supposed to have our phones out. I sit beside her. Then I do a double take across the table at Sam.

“Your hair!”

She pets her head, cheeks turning pink. Her shoulder-length green-streaked brown hair is gone, replaced by a skintight buzz.

“We did it this morning,” Dad says, rubbing his palm over her scalp, and she grins.

“Can I touch?” I ask, and she leans forward. “Wow, it’s so soft.”

“Thanks,” she says.

“Why . . . ?”

“I just felt like it,” she says quickly in that Sam voice that means she’s done talking about it. Sam’s stubbornness is legendary in our family. If she doesn’t want to do something, there’s no way you can make her.

“Can we turn down the music?” Ella asks, and Mom does. She loves blasting punk and new wave while she and Dad cook on Sunday mornings, but Ella hates it. Well, she doesn’t hate it, just how loud it is. Between the music and our family, something has to get turned down, and it’s not going to be us.

“OK,” Dad says, once we’re all settled. “Weekly check-in time. What’s the new news, what’s the hot gossip? What’s up, what’s going down?”

“Oh my god,” Ella mumbles. “You’re so cringe.”

He grins. “I’m fifty-two, I’m supposed to be cringe.”

“That’s one of the things I love about you,” Mom says, and they kiss.

“Gross!” Sam says, making a face. Ella rolls her eyes. I just smile. Yeah, our parents are corny sometimes, but I kind of like it. I want to still be starry-eyed about my person when we’re in our fifties.

“Carry on,” Mom says, flapping her hand at us. “Answer the man.”

“Well, there’s this,” Sam says, pointing at her head. She rubs it, staring down at her plate. “And . . . um . . . I don’t want you to call me my full name anymore, for any reason ever. It’s just Sam now, OK?” She says it really fast, looking at all of us like she’s expecting a challenge.

We all nod and say some variant of “sure!” all at the same time. I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on, but I don’t want to rush her or make her self-conscious by pressing her on it.

“OK,” she says and sits back. “You go, Ella.”

“Um.” Ella looks up, thinking. “I start my summer job tomorrow? And I’m feeling kind of, I don’t know. Anxious, I guess.”

“How come?” Mom asks.

Ella shrugs. “It’s just a lot of new stuff to learn. And what if it’s overwhelming or I’m not good at it?” One hand twirls her hair. She turned out a dark brunette, like Dad; my hair is starting to fade from its pastel-pink dye job, but it’s usually blonde, like Mom (at least, when her hair isn’t dyed punk-rock black). Sam is somewhere between the two of us.

“You love books, sweetie,” Dad says. “You’re gonna do fine.”

Ella’s going to college in the fall and got her first job this summer at a local bookstore. It makes sense; she fits the part. She’s wearing a T-shirt with artwork of the Pride and Prejudice cover on it right now, and if it was winter, she’d probably have a cardigan from her massive collection on over it. Dad pats her arm. Her mouth twists, but she nods.

Then everyone looks at me. “Talia’s coming over later,” I say. “She’s helping me through my heartbreak.”

“I’m sorry about Sherika, honey,” Mom says.

I pick at my pancake. “Thanks.”

My family is probably used to this by now. I’ve had too many crushes to count, and when I like someone, I can’t keep my mouth shut about them: how cute their smile is, whatever cool thing they wore today, how much I liked what they said in class. Well, except when it comes to telling the actual person I like.

“You’ll find someone, sweetie,” Dad says. “Probably when you least expect it.”

“Totally,” Mom says. She glances at Dad, smirking. “Maybe someone you usually avoid.”

“Oh god.” Ella buries her head in her hands. But I’m ready, leaning forward, hands clasped together. I love this story. I’ve heard it a million times and I never get tired of it.

“Like a flaky punk boy in a band?” Dad says, grinning at Mom.

“Well, you were a drummer. I was right to be cautious.”

“Of course, of course.”

“But then Debbie, my best friend at the time, set me up on a blind date.” Mom laughs. “She told me to go to our favorite diner—”

“Beth’s Café,” Dad says.

“—at 7 P.M. So I put on my nicer battle jacket, not the one crusted with blood from that one show. You played that show, remember?”

Dad groans and shakes his head.

“And I walk in looking for this guy she’s been talking up all week. And it’s you. I almost walked out—”

“You’d dated way too many drummers!” I exclaim. I know this bit by heart.

Mom smiles at me. “Exactly.”

“But I saw her before she could leave! I convinced her to stay for a milkshake, and we ended up hanging out there almost all night. They had to kick us off the arcade games eventually.” Dad laughs.

“That’s what I want,” I say with a sigh, leaning back in my chair. “I want a story as cute as that.”

“You’ll get it. There’s no rush.” Mom digs into her scramble.

That’s easy for her to say. She has her person. She doesn’t have to worry about heartbreak or liking someone who has no idea she exists.

What if she’s wrong? What if I never find someone?

I push the thought away and cut off another piece of pancake, letting the sweetness fill my mouth.

~~

That afternoon, I fall into a rabbit hole of makeup tutorials on my phone, watching people transform their faces with bright eyeshadow looks. When someone clears their throat a few feet away from me, I shriek and bolt upright on my bed.

Talia grins at me. “Classic.”

“Don’t scare me like that! You know I’m dead to the world when I’m looking at a screen.” I’m complaining, but I’m smiling, too.

“Hey, I was standing here for two whole minutes before I coughed the slightest of coughs to shake you out of your social media vortex.”

“Whatever.” I roll my eyes.

“Sam’s hair looks cool.”

“First of all, yes.” I look at her. “But also, today she asked us—”

“Not to use her full name again ever? That was the first thing she said to me when she opened the door.” Talia and Sam have a friendship of their own, almost like Talia had been Sam’s babysitter growing up instead of my friend who’s over at our house all the time. Sam always thought Talia was cool, but it really ramped up when Talia transitioned. At first, I thought all the questions Sam had for her were invasive, or offensive. But Talia had a different take.

“Do you think she’s getting ready to come out as nonbinary?” Talia asks me now.

“I think so? It’s been slow. She started dressing differently last year, more clothes from the boy’s section, but mix and match, which is cool. And now the hair and name thing in one day. She was probably thinking about it for a while, though.”

“Yeah, that’s usually how it goes.”

“I guess she’ll do it when she’s ready. If she is nonbinary. She might not be.”

“Also true.” Talia joins me on the bed. “What do you wanna do today? How are you feeling?”

I shrug. “I still feel shitty about the whole Sherika thing. Can we watch another movie? I think I’m ready for a romcom. I want to pretend that love isn’t a lie.”

“Oh my god, Hayley.” Talia laughs. “OK. Let’s distract you from your woes.”

We scroll through the various streaming services on my laptop for way too long until we finally pick a movie, some office romance with an actress I kind of recognize, and settle back against the pillows. The opening credits roll, some cheesy pop song blasting through my Bluetooth speakers.

A few scenes in, the main characters have their meet-cute at a poolside cocktail party. One of them turns around from a conversation and runs right into the other one, knocking them into the water fully clothed.

“These movies make it look so easy,” I say, watching the woman help the guy out of the pool in his soaking wet suit.

Talia nudges my arm. “Come on, you could do that.”

“Knock someone into a pool?”

She laughs. “Well, yes. Knowing you, that’s exactly what would happen.”

I swat her arm. “Shut up!”

She rolls away from me, giggling. “I meant you could meet someone there.”

“That’s not a thing.”

She rolls back. “You’re just bummed because you’re still pining for Sherika.”

“No, I mean, that’s not real life,” I say, watching the movie but not really seeing it. “We go to the pool every summer, and nothing happens.”

“OK, but we’ve never gone with the intention of meeting people,” Talia says. “We could try.”

“We?” I look over at her.

A small smile curls up the corners of her lips. “You know how you have a new crush every month on people who never like you back?”

“Wow, you don’t have to drag me like that.”

“Oh my god, no, I just meant—” she shakes her head. “Like, that always happens to you, and I almost never like anyone. But what if we changed that this summer?”

“What do you mean?”

She pushes her tortoiseshell-frame glasses up on her nose. I can see the light in her eyes that she always gets when she’s making a plan.

“Let’s try and meet people. Like for real. Let’s go to the pool and the concert and see if we can.”

I raise my eyebrows, but it does have potential. Even if we don’t find anyone, it could be fun. Besides, I need something to distract me from Sherika. My heart twinges at the thought of her: that gorgeous smile, her tall frame rising to block an opposing player, the bright colors she always wears that make her dark brown skin shine, how funny she is, and the way she always cheers the team on even when we’re losing badly. We would have made such a good couple.

“OK,” I say.

“Yes!” Talia pumps her fist.

I laugh. “You really want to do this? You want to find someone too?”

She shrugs. “I mean, that would be nice. And I get to help you feel better. Win-win.”

I lean my head on her shoulder. The faint lavender smell of her lotion, shampoo, and conditioner—it’s her favorite scent—drifts around me. Whether we really end up meeting girls this summer or not, it’s fun to imagine trying and being each other’s wingwomen, scoping out the hotties together. That sounds a lot better than pining for a girl I can’t have.

The post Read The First Chapter of ‘The Summer Love Strategy’ by Ray Stoeve appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Coffee Boy by Austin Chant

After graduation, Kieran expected to go straight into a career of flipping burgers—only to be offered the internship of his dreams at a political campaign. But the pressure of being an out trans man in the workplace quickly sucks the joy out of things, as does Seth, the humorless campaign strategist who watches his every move.

Soon, the only upside to the job is that Seth has a painful crush on their painfully straight boss, and Kieran has a front row seat to the drama. But when Seth proves to be as respectful and supportive as he is prickly, Kieran develops an awkward crush of his own—one which Seth is far too prim and proper to ever reciprocate.

GEORGE by Alex Gino

When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she’s not a boy. She knows she’s a girl.

George thinks she’ll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte’s Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can’t even try out for the part . . . because she’s a boy.
With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte — but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily ever after. But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

A trans boy determined to prove his gender to his traditional Latinx family summons a ghost who refuses to leave. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

When the Moon was Ours by Anne Marie McLemore

To everyone who knows them, best friends Miel and Sam are as strange as they are inseparable. But as odd as everyone considers Miel and Sam, even they stay away from the Bonner girls, four beautiful sisters rumored to be witches. Now they want the roses that grow from Miel’s skin, convinced that their scent can make anyone fall in love. And they’re willing to use every secret Miel has fought to protect to make sure she gives them up.

I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman

For Angel Rahimi, life is only about one thing: The Ark – a pop-rock trio of teenage boys who are currently taking the world by storm. Being part of The Ark’s fandom has given her everything – her friendships, her dreams, her place in the world. Jimmy Kaga-Ricci owes everything to The Ark too. He’s their frontman – and playing in a band is all he’s ever dreamed of doing. It’s just a shame that recently everything in his life seems to have turned into a bit of a nightmare. When Angel and Jimmy are unexpectedly thrust together, they will discover just how strange and surprising facing up to reality can be.

May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor

A trans boy enters a throw-down battle for the title of Homecoming King with the boy he dumped last summer in ZR Ellor’s contemporary YA debut.

All Kinds of Other by James Sie

In this tender, nuanced coming-of-age love story, two boys—one who is cis and one who is trans—have been guarding their hearts to protect themselves, until their feelings for each other give them a reason to stand up to their fears.

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Felix Ever After meets Becky Albertalli in this swoon-worthy, heartfelt rom-com about how a transgender teen’s first love challenges his ideas about perfect relationships.

The (Un)Popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez

Red, White, and Royal Blue meets The West Wing in Jasper Sanchez’s electric and insightful #ownvoices YA debut, chronicling a transmasculine student’s foray into a no-holds-barred student body president election against the wishes of his politician father.

Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve

Dean Foster knows he’s a trans guy. He’s watched enough YouTube videos and done enough questioning to be sure. But everyone at his high school thinks he’s a lesbian—including his girlfriend Zoe, and his theater director, who just cast him as a “nontraditional” Romeo. He wonders if maybe it would be easier to wait until college to come out. But as he plays Romeo every day in rehearsals, Dean realizes he wants everyone to see him as he really is now––not just on the stage, but everywhere in his life. Dean knows what he needs to do. Can playing a role help Dean be his true self?

The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon

To save a fae kingdom, a trans witch must face his traumatic past and the royal fiancé he left behind.

Do you have any other recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!

The post #ReadWithPride: Trans Visibility Day Book Recommendations appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

If you thought 2020 was a year of breathtaking and riveting queer releases, you ain’t seen nothing yet. With highly anticipated new stories from authors such as Casey McQuiston, Ciara Smyth, and Kelly Quindlen as well as promising debut authors like Morgan Rogers and Robbie Couch, 2021 is shaping up to be the most inclusive and LGBTQIAP+ friendly year yet (and we couldn’t be happier to see it)!

Now, our focus was mainly YA and middle-grade releases, but we’ve also thrown in a couple of queer fantasy, mystery, and romance releases too!  Want even more 2021 releases? Check out our list of Most Anticipated releases, Fantasy and Sci-Fi releases, Young Adult releases, Romance releases, and Queer SFF releases.

Read on to get a glimpse at some of the January to June 2021 #LGBTQIAP+ novels we cannot wait to get our hands on! And as always, tell us what other queer releases you’re looking forward to in the comments below!

JANUARY

Lava Red Feather Blue by Molly Ringle
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

On a magically hidden North Pacific island, when a man awakens a sleeping beauty of a prince, it’s only the beginning of the fairy tale, as breaking the spell unleashes a dangerous force among the fae too.

Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Project Runway goes to Comic Con in an epic, queer love story about creativity, creation, and finding the courage to be your most authentic self.

Wench by Maxine Kaplan
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

A funny, fiercely feminist YA epic fantasy—following the adventures of a tavern wench.

When Tara Met Farah by Tara Pammi
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

“Sunshine Girl needs math lessons” in this sapphic grumpy meets sunshine new adult romance.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
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Acclaimed author of Ash, Malinda Lo returns with her most personal and ambitious novel yet, a gripping story of love and duty set in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the 1950s.

Not Quite Out by Louise Willingham
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

William Anson is done with relationships, thanks. He’s starting the second year of his medicine degree single, focused, and ready to mingle with purely platonic intentions. Until he meets Daniel, a barely recovered drug addict that turns his world upside down.

The Heiress by Molly Greeley
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

In this gorgeously written and spellbinding historical novel based on Pride and Prejudice, the author of The Clergyman’s Wife combines the knowing eye of Jane Austen with the eroticism and Gothic intrigue of Sarah Waters to reimagine the life of the mysterious Anne de Bourgh.

FEBRUARY

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

A refreshingly timely and relatable debut novel about a young woman whose life plans fall apart when she meets her wife.

100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell
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An irreverent, sensitive, and inimitable look at gay dysfunction through the eyes of a cult hero

A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth
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The Cruel Prince meets City of Bones in this thrilling urban fantasy set in the magical underworld of Toronto that follows a queer cast of characters racing to stop a serial killer whose crimes could expose the hidden world of faeries to humans.

Love is for Losers by Wibke Brueggemann
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In this wry and hilarious queer romantic comedy, fifteen-year-old Phoebe realizes that falling in love is maybe not just for losers.

As Far as You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper
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The author of The Gravity of Us crafts another heartfelt coming-of-age story about finding the people who become your home – perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli.

Let’s Get Back to the Party by Zak Salih
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Rich with sharply drawn characters and contemporary detail, provocative, and emotionally profound, Let’s Get Back to the Party is sure to appeal to readers of Garth Greenwell, Alan Hollinghurst, Claire Messud, and Rebecca Makkai.

The Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough
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A funny and heart-warming queer Indigenous YA novel, set in a rural Australian community, about seventeen-year-old Jackson finding the courage to explore who he is, even if it scares him.

MARCH

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales
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In Sophie Gonzales’ Perfect on Paper, Leah on the Offbeat meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: a bisexual girl who gives anonymous love advice to her classmates is hired by the hot guy to help him get his ex back.

Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley
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In this charming debut fantasy perfect for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and Girls of Paper and Fire, a witch cursed to never love meets a girl hiding her own dangerous magic, and the two strike a dangerous bargain to save their queendom.

Bruised by Tanya Boteju
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Whip It meets We Are Okay in this vibrant coming-of-age story, about a teen girl navigates first love, identity, and grief when she immerses herself in the colorful, brutal, beautiful world of roller derby. From the acclaimed author of Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens.

The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore
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When two teens discover that they were both sexually assaulted at the same party, they develop a cautious friendship through her family’s possibly magical pastelería, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, and the swallows returning to their hometown.

She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard
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Inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray comes an electric romance set against a rebel art scene that sparks lethal danger for two girls in this expertly plotted YA thriller. For fans of E. Lockhart, Lauren Oliver and Kara Thomas.

I Think I Love You by Auriane Desombre
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A YA contemporary rom com about two girls who start as rivals but after a twist of events, end up falling for one another–at least they think so.

Follow Your Arrow by Jessica Verdi
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For fans of Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, this is a riveting and irresistible take on love, life, and identity – both online and off.

APRIL

The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch
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Sky’s small town turns absolutely claustrophobic when his secret promposal plans get leaked to the entire school in this witty, heartfelt, and ultimately hopeful debut novel for fans of What if it’s Us? and I Wish You All the Best.

Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve
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A moving #ownvoices YA debut about a trans boy finding his voice—and himself.

These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy
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Three Dark Crowns meets Wicked Saints in this queer #ownvoices retelling of The Firebird, a Russian folktale, by debut author Alexandra Overy.

Zara Hossain Is Here by Sabina Khan
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From the author of the “heart-wrenching yet hopeful” (Samira Ahmed) novel The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali, comes a timely, intimate look at what it means to be an immigrant in America today, and the endurance of hope and faith in the face of hate.

Malice by Heather Walter
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A princess isn’t supposed to fall for an evil sorceress. But in this darkly magical retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,” true love is more than a simple fairy tale.

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen
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High school nemeses fall in love in this queer YA rom com perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Casey McQuisten

The Key to You and Me by Jaye Robin Brown
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A sweet and funny #ownvoices LGBTQ+ romance perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Julie Murphy, from the critically acclaimed author of Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit!

MAY

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee
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Felix Ever After meets Becky Albertalli in this swoon-worthy, heartfelt rom-com about how a transgender teen’s first love challenges his ideas about perfect relationships.

It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland
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In Miel Moreland’s heartfelt young adult debut, four queer teens realize that sometimes you have to risk hitting repeat on heartbreak.

How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby
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11-year-old Pluto struggles with her depression and anxiety diagnosis, which feels like a big black hole sitting on her chest making it too hard to do anything. She makes efforts to find balance with an assist from the friendly voice on the Hayden Planetarium’s Astronomy Question and Answer Hotline.

Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth
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From the author of The Falling in Love Montage, this queer coming-of-age story about a slacker who inadvertently becomes her school’s underground problem-solver is wry, multilayered, and unflinchingly honest—perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Nina LaCour.

Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler
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Cool for the Summer is a story of self-discovery and new love. It’s about the things we want and the things we need. And it’s about the people who will let us be who we are. 

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
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To All the Boys I Loved Before meets LGBT romance in this funny, heart-warming rom-com about first love and identity.

May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor
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A trans boy enters a throw-down battle for the title of Homecoming King with the boy he dumped last summer in ZR Ellor’s contemporary YA debut.

JUNE

The (Un)Popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez
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Red, White and Royal Blue meets The West Wing in Sanchez’s electric and insightful #ownvoices YA debut, chronicling a transmasculine student’s foray into a no-holds-barred student body president election against the wishes of his politician father.

Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June
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From debut novelist Jason June comes a moving and hilarious sex-positive teen rom-com about the complexities of first loves, first hookups, and first heartbreaks—and how to stay true to yourself while embracing what you never saw coming.

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
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They Both Die at the End meets The Loneliest Girl in the Universe in this mind-bending sci-fi mystery and tender love story about two boys aboard a spaceship sent on a rescue mission.

The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon
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To save a fae kingdom, a trans witch must face his traumatic past and the royal fiancé he left behind. This debut YA fantasy will leave you spellbound.

Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage
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A propulsive, scorching modern gothic, Yes, Daddy follows an ambitious young man who is lured by an older, successful playwright into a dizzying world of wealth and an idyllic Hamptons home where things take a nightmarish turn.

Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin
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A queer YA reimagining of Thelma & Louise with the aesthetic of Riverdale.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue comes a new romantic comedy that puts a queer spin on Kate & Leopold.

What queer 2021 book releases are you looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Anticipated Queer Book Releases You Can’t Miss In 2021 appeared first on The Nerd Daily.