This book is definitely in my top 10 books of this year. I loved the portrayal of lgbtq+ themes with fantasy. It also has a mythological aspect to it. It’s honestly refreshing to see a book that has lgbtq+ as a subplot and focuses more on fantasy. Most lgbtq+ book are more slice of life or coming of age, although those are fun to read from time to time. Overall I loved this book.
After Virgil’s parent’s divorce he finds himself in a small town in Florida where he sticks out like a sore thumb. One night he stumbles into the streets, bruised and bloody. Virgil was attacked by a monster in the forest. But nobody believes that he was attacked like he says. Suddenly, the most painful night of his life turns into something he gets constant ridicule for. Grappling with this and trying to sort out what attacked him is hard. He must be careful though; he doesn’t want to become a monster himself. But after that night things just aren’t right...
What If It’s Us is about two guys named Ben and Arthur who met at a New York City post office. Arthur was on his way to work, while Ben was sending off a heartbreaking box with his ex-boyfriend's belongings in it. When the two crossed paths, they were unable to forget each other even though they thought they would never see each other again. They defied all odds and find each other once more and decide to start a relationship, but will their flourishing relationship last?
This novel is presented as a letter from a 29-year-old author, Little Dog, to his illiterate mother. His writings flow from his youth in an abusive home, his relationship with his Vietnamese mother and grandmother, to his first job in the sweltering tobacco fields. The narrator, freed from the pressure of anyone ever reading it, pours his heart and story onto the pages. The result is a beautiful story of love, danger, family, abuse, race, class, and coming-of-age as Little Dog recalls his youth.
The Song of Achilles, written by Madeline Miller, is a fictional romance novel, set in ancient Greece. Set from the point of view of Patroclus, a young boy exiled from his home to the kingdom of the young prince Achilles, whose mother is a small god. Patroclus is one of the many boys Achilles’ father has taken in, but as Patroclus and Achilles become closer, Patroclus becomes his right-hand man. Achilles is everything Patroclus is not, strong, smart, and charismatic.
The Magic Fish is a heartwarming graphic novel that showcases beautiful parallels between the fairytales Tien reads with his parents and Tien’s own story of trying to tell his family that he’s gay. There’s a lot of difficulties in communicating with parents that don’t speak English well, and wanting to them something so important as being gay. As this young boy navigates through his own struggling Vietnamese, this book shows us that happiness can be reached even through the language barrier.
Cemetery Boys is an amazing novel that follows the story of Yadriel, a Latinx, gay, and transgender teenager, as he becomes determined to prove himself as a real brujo to his traditional family. But doing so, he accidentally summons a spirit who just so happens to be the resident “bad boy” at his school and follows Yadriel around. By helping the ghost of his schoolmate, Julian, this would be the perfect opportunity for Yadriel to prove he deserves being a Brujo in his community.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a historical fiction novel set in San Francisco in the 1950’s, where high-schooler Lily Hu goes through her queer awakening. Lily Hu is the “model” Chinese-American daughter, who gradually comes to realize her sense of identity as she befriends her math classmate and heads off towards a lesbian bar. Caught in the overwhelming feelings of confusion and exhilaration, the threat of risking old friendships and even her father’s deportation looms over her.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a story about Lily Hu in 1954 Chinatown. She’s stuck between complications with Red-Scare paranoia affecting her family, and her friend Shirley trying to set her up with Will, a boy from school that she has zero interest in. But everything gets turned upside down when Lily meets Kathleen Miller and realizes that there’s an obvious reason why she isn’t interested in Will.
