Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at emily.ecm@gmail.com.
Pride is here! While we’re all trying to be proudly queer all year long, there’s something extra sparkly about June. And this June, we’ve got brand new LGBTQ young adult novels to help us celebrate. If you love contemporary romances, if you love heart-warming stories, if you love love, you’re going to love all three of these books. They’re all out this month, and they’re all some of the most anticipated queer books of the year, so make sure to grab your copies ASAP!
Nobody in Particular by Sophie Gonzales
A sapphic romance set at an all-girls boarding school, featuring royalty? How can you NOT read this for Pride Month? Princess Rosemary of Henland has no time for romance. She’s too busy trying to recover from a major scandal that lost her the trust of not only her country but also her best friend. But of course, you know how these things go. When a cute and funny new student joins Bramppath College on a music scholarship, Rosemary is intrigued. There’s just one major issue here: the new student, Danni, is friends with Rose’s ex-best friend. And she doesn’t have the best things to say about her old bestie. Nevertheless, Danni finds herself drawn to Rose. Is love in the air? (It is.)
Amelia, If Only by Becky Albertalli
When Becky Albertalli releases a new novel during Pride Month, it’s seriously like Christmas came early. Amelia Applebaum is what you might call a SUPER FAN of bisexual YouTuber Walter Holland. She’s not in love with him because they’ve never met, but okay, maybe if they were able to meet, things would be different. So when it turns out Walter is hosting a meet-and-greet only a short drive away, Amelia hits the road with her newly single best friend Natalie. Amelia heads out on this road trip ready to potentially find love, but love ends up finding Amelia where she least expects it.
Finding Prince Charming by Jamar J. Perry
More royalty? And fake dating? 2025 Pride reads are delivering! This one follows Tyriq Howell, who is swearing off love after a messy break-up. In fact, Tyriq’s fallout with his ex was so messy that Tyriq ended up missing his college scholarship interview. But all is not lost. Desmond, a boy who works in the scholarship office, has a favor to ask of Tyriq: come with him to a fancy gala so he can get another chance to interview. Of course, Tyriq says yes. Little does he know Desmond is secretly a prince. And now that Desmond is publicly out as gay, everyone wants to know all about him and his date. Tyriq wonders what the world will say when they discover it’s all pretend. Or… maybe it’s not.
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Happy Pride, readers! Of course, we should read queer books all year long, so here are some more LGBTQ books that have come out so far this year. And if you’re looking for more YA, here are the best queer YA books that have come out since 2020.
English (US) · 