YA queer romance – Reading While Fat

But I Hate Him

But I Hate Him (publication day August 25, 2026) by Page Powars, is the story of Rory, a trans teenager who competes in the top echelons of science competitions in NYC, and is the face of his parents’ tutoring company, The Prince List, and Luca, the boy who always seems to win when they’re inContinue reading “But I Hate Him”

Fat Angie

I picked up Fat Angie (2013) by e. E. Charlton-Trujillo in the YA section of my library; I hadn’t seen it before. After reading, I have very mixed feelings, though it received a Stonewall Book Award. As the book opens, Angie is involved in a fight during gym class. There’s a mean girl, Stacy, andContinue reading “Fat Angie”

There’s Always Next Year

There’s Always Next Year (publication day December 2, 2025) by George M. Johnson and Leah Johnson (You Should See Me in a Crown, Rise to the Sun) is a cute, dual point of view queer double romance featuring cousins Dominique and Andy, who grew up together in a small town in Indiana. Dominique became aContinue reading “There’s Always Next Year”

And They Were Roommates

And They Were Roommates (Publication Day 5/27/25) is Page Powars’s second published book, and is set at the Saint Valentine’s Academy for Boys, an exclusive boarding school that promises that those who excel there have their pick of Ivies. Charlie is going as a scholarship student, the same as his Mom, who went to theContinue reading “And They Were Roommates”

Get Real, Chloe Torres

Get Real, Chloe Torres (publication day May 13, 2025) by Crystal Maldonado is young adult chick lit of the finest kind–it centers on rekindling an old friendship, through a cross-country road trip and boy-band fandom! Newly-graduated Chloe is working at her summer job as a non-Disney princess at little-kid birthday parties, when she realizes thatContinue reading “Get Real, Chloe Torres”

Run Away With Me

Run Away With Me (publication day April 1, 2025) is my first book by author Brian Selznick, though I understand that his The Invention of Hugo Cabret is beloved by many. Set in 1986, 16-year old Danny is living in a small apartment at a museum in Rome with his mother, an expert in ancientContinue reading “Run Away With Me”

Ash

I so enjoyed Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo that I sought out Ash (2009), Lo’s first published novel. A partial gender-swapped sapphic YA re-telling of Cinderella, it won multiple awards, including a Locus and a Lambda. In Ash’s world, there are those who live in the country, or woods, and followContinue reading “Ash”