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Friends in Our World - LGBTQ+ Friends (Kids)

Chapter books for children with characters that represent the LGBTQ+ Community.

The deepest breath by Meg Grehan

Struggling with her feelings for a female classmate, an eleven-year-old Irish girl tries to confide in her mother, the person she trusts most in the world.

Alice Austen lived here by Alex Gino

Middle school student Sam is comfortable with their nonbinary identity, and their family has accepted it too (as long as they do their homework and chores), so when their history teacher assigns as a project coming up with a proposal for the new statue honoring a historical Staten Islander (there is a contest involved) they and their friend TJ decide to focus on Alice Austen, a lesbian photographer, whose house on Staten Island is a museum--but they have to overcome the presumption on the part of their teacher that only straight males are eligible.

Frankie & Bug by Gayle Forman

In the summer of 1987 in Venice, California, ten-year-old Bug and her new friend Frankie learn important lessons about life, family, being your true self, and how to navigate in a world that is not always just or fair.

The real Riley Mayes by Rachel Elliott

Riley meets two classmates and their growing friendship helps spark a journey of self-discovery within herself.

Moonflower by Kacen Callender

Moon is convinced that they do not belong to this world: that most of the time they are invisible (unless they stay still too long), that they belong to the stars, and want to go back to them--they live entirely in their imagination with an imaginary spirit guide who can appear in any shape and refuses to speak to anyone, lest their words tie them to a world they reject.

Almost flying by Jake Maia Arlow

Future stepsisters, Dalia and Alexa, embark on a roadtrip and when Alexa reveals that her girlfriend will be joining, Dalia promises to keep her secret, but realizes she may have one of her own.

Rick by Alex Gino

Eleven-year-old Rick Ramsey has generally gone along with everybody, just not making waves, even though he is increasingly uncomfortable with his father's jokes about girls, and his best friend's explicit talk about sex; but now in middle school he discovers the Rainbow Spectrum club, where kids of many genders and identities can express themselves--and maybe among them he can find new friends and discover his own identity, which may just be to opt out of sex altogether.

A home for goddesses and dogs by Leslie Connor

"After the death of her mother, Lydia moves in with her aunts and learns to find a new family of inspiring women and loving dogs"--

It feels good to be yourself : a book about gender identity by Theresa Thorn

Ivy Aberdeen's letter to the world by Ashley Herring Blake

"Twelve-year-old Ivy Aberdeen's house is destroyed in a tornado, and in the aftermath of the storm, she begins to develop feelings for another girl at school"--

Kenzie kickstarts a team by Kit Rosewater

Fifth-grade best friends Kenzie "Kenzilla" and Shelly "Bombshell" dream of becoming roller derby superstars one day, but when a junior league forms and they must recruit teammates, will their friendship survive?

The list of things that will not change by Rebecca Stead

Despite her parents' divorce, her father's coming out as gay, and his plans to marry his boyfriend, ten-year-old Bea is reassured by her parents' unconditional love, excited about getting a stepsister, and haunted by something she did last summer at her father's lake house.

The magic misfits by Neil Patrick Harris

"Six young magicians and illusionists team up to save their small town from a crooked carnival owner and his goons"--

The moon within by Aida Salazar

Eleven-year-old (nearly twelve) Celi Rivera, who is a mix of Black-Puerto Rican-Indigenous Mexican is secretive about her approaching period, and the changes that are happening to her body; she is horrified that her mother wants to hold a traditional public moon ceremony to celebrate the occasion; she must choose loyalty to her life-long best friend who is contemplating an even more profound change of life or the boy she likes.

Pride : celebrating diversity & community by Robin Stevenson

Looks at the Pride events of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities from around the world, exploring the history of Pride celebrations and the multifaceted meanings and purposes of the events.

This would make a good story someday by Dana Alison Levy

Although not thrilled when her summer plans are upended for a surprise cross-country train trip with her family and embarrassed because one of her moms is writing a tell-all book about the trip, twelve-year-old Sara Johnston-Fischer finds herself changingalong with the landscape outside the train windows.

Middle school's a drag : you better werk! by Greg (Gregory Steven) Howard

In Charleston, South Carolina, a young business entrepreneur, newly out as gay, starts his own junior talent agency and signs a thirteen-year-old aspiring drag queen as his first client.

Genius Jolene by Sara Cassidy

Eight-year-old Jolene enjoys a long road trip with her truck driver father, as she does every year, but this year it is different because her parents have separated and her father is with another man.

Hazel's theory of evolution by Lisa Jenn Bigelow

Hazel knows a lot about the world but feels insecure dealing with the changes in her life as she enters eighth grade.

Zenobia July by Lisa Bunker

Zenobia July, an excellent coder and hacker, investigates a mystery while wrestling with the challenges of a new school, a new family, and presenting her true gender for the first time.

The best at it by Maulik Pancholy

Twelve-year-old Rahul Kapoor, an Indian-American boy growing up in small-town Indiana, struggles to come to terms with his identity, including that he may be gay.

Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart

"Lily Jo McGrother, born Timothy McGrother, is a girl. But being a girl is not so easy when you look like a boy. Especially when you're in the eighth-grade. Norbert Dorfman, nicknamed Dunkin Dorfman, is bipolar and has just moved from the New Jersey townhe's called home for the past thirteen years. This would be hard enough, but the fact that he is also hiding from a painful secret makes it even worse. One summer morning, Lily Jo McGrother meets Dunkin Dorfman, and their lives forever change"--

Recipient of the National Medal, the nation's highest honor for libraries.