Out of the Pocket


Bill Konigsberg - 2008
    They're like brothers, but they don't know one essential thing: Bobby is gay. Can he still be one of the guys and be honest about who he is? When he's outed against his will by a student reporter, Bobby must find a way to earn back his teammates' trust and accept that his path to success might be more public, and more difficult, than he'd hoped. An affecting novel about identity that also delivers great sportswriting.

Kamikaze Boys


Jay Bell - 2012
    Find yourself a kindred spirit. Then you can start fighting back.They say Connor, the one with the crazy eyes and creepy scar, tried to kill his old man. Lately he’s been seen hanging out with David, the gay guy who always eats lunch alone. They make an odd pair, the loser and the psychopath, and bad things happen to people who mess with them. Not that Connor and David are looking for trouble. Even when taking on the world, they seem more interested in each other than fighting.Kamikaze Boys is a story about breaking the chains that bind you and using them to beat down anyone that gets in your way. Better yet, it’s about holding hands with the guy you love while doing so.

Not Like Other Boys


K.A. Merikan - 2014
    Win a boyfriend. ---Ethan. Taxidermist. Goth weirdo. Can’t wait to be done with high school.Ethan is a young artist-entrepreneur with a love for quirky taxidermy. Roadkill is so much better than people. By the end of high school, all he wants is to develop his business, yet all his parents want is for him to go to law school. That is more than enough of a problem for Ethan, so any kind of love life is out of the question. That is until Robert Hunter, the quarterback of the football team, comes crashing into him. Literally.Robert. Quarterback. In the closet. More than meets the eye.Robert is the popular kid, the quarterback on his way to med school. He’s gay, but not exactly coming out since he doesn’t like to stir the pot. One night, spurred on by too much booze, he ends up causing irreversible harm to Ethan, the school’s weirdo.The aftermath.Robert will do anything to avoid charges for what he’s done, but when Ethan makes an indecent demand in return for his silence, Robert might just be in way over his head.For Ethan, it’s a simple act of revenge on a bully, but when Robert turns out to be not-so-straight, their arrangement gets complicated all too fast.POSSIBLE SPOILERS:Themes: First love, fitting in, entrepreneurship, disability, high school, jock/goth, taxidermy, artist, coming out, becoming an adult, enemies to lovers, hurt/comfortGenre: New Adult M/M romanceLength: ~ 90,000 words (Standalone novel, no cliffhanger.)WARNING: Contains steamy, passionate scenes, violent injury, themes of bullying, and a morally ambiguous proposition(This book was formerly published as ‘Diary of a Teenage Taxidermist’)

Don't Let Me Go


J.H. Trumble - 2011
    Nate Schaper found his in high school. In the eight months since their cautious flirting became a real, honest, tell-the-parents relationship, Nate and Adam have been inseparable. Even when local kids take their homophobia to brutal levels, Nate is undaunted. He and Adam are rock solid. Two parts of a whole. Yin and yang.But when Adam graduates and takes an Off-Broadway job in New York—at Nate’s insistence—that certainty begins to flicker. Nate starts a blog to vent his frustrations and becomes the center of a school controversy, drawing ire and support in equal amounts. But it is the attention of a new boy who is looking for more than guidance that forces him to confront who and what he really wants.J.H. Trumble’s debut, DON’T LET ME GO, is a witty, beautifully written novel that is both a sweet story of love and long-distance relationships, and a timely discourse about bullying, bigotry, and hate in high schools.

A Surplus of Light


Chase Connor - 2018
    From that moment, it becomes Mike's mission to find out everything about this kid. The kid who can fight better than anyone, but doesn't want to. The kid who is the greatest artist Mike's ever met. The kid who only wants to be his friend during the lightest days of summer. The kid who tells him that being his friend at school will only ruin Mike's reputation. Regardless of what the kid tells Mike, he doesn't realize that summer is the best time--it has the most light--and it makes it easier for Mike to see who he truly is. And there's no way Mike will back off once he sees this kid for who he truly is.

I Want to Kiss You in Public


Zelda French - 2020
    I attend the best high-school, in Paris no less, I’ve got the coolest best friend, the fiercest girlfriend, and more importantly, I’m absolutely, a hundred per cent straight.So no, Michael, the new British student, with his dark curls and sweet smiles, doesn’t interest me whatsoever. I’m too busy anyway. I don’t have the time, or the need, to think about him at all. Not his hair, his British accent, or the way he makes me feel at times, when I’m alone and everything morphs into his handsome face…Did I mention everything’s perfectly fine?This is not the year I’m going to lose control, and possibly everything that matters to me, just because of one disorienting, unnerving, life-shattering English guy.In this coming of age love story, Louis, a snarky student at an International High-School in Paris will struggle to admit the truth to himself and his loved ones as he wrestles with his sexuality.Will he find the courage to accept who is he before it's too late?I Want To Kiss You In Public is a story about love, friendship, truth and heartbreak, packed with funny dialogue, and comes with its own Spotify Rock Playlist. It contains soft drugs and alcohol consumption as well as cursing.This book was previously published with a different cover.

After School Activities


Dirk Hunter - 2015
    It started out simple enough. Step one, outsmart Adam with wit and flair, goad him into doing something stupid, and land him in detention. Step two, play video games with Kai all night and laugh about it. Go to bed. Repeat tomorrow. Only, Adam and Kai are about to change the rules on him. First, Adam's bullying turns suddenly violent, leaving Dylan to wonder if his bully really needs a friend. Then, Kai makes an unexpected move Dylan has only imagined in his most secret fantasies. Only he'd never dreamed it might come at a price. While Adam opens up, coming closer to revealing a secret he’s kept his entire life, Kai pulls away even as they get closer than ever. With everything he thought he understood turned upside down, Dylan must decide what he really wants from the men in his life—before inaction loses him the very relationships he's always relied on.No pressure, Dylan. You got this. It's just love. How hard could it be?

Shane and Trey


Anyta Sunday - 2012
    He has just started college and is stuck rooming with that bastard Trey. His sister's boyfriend. His sister's damn fine boyfriend. Uh-oh. This so wasn't going to happen. But try as he might, there's just a little too much to ignore between the two of them...

Leave Myself Behind


Bart Yates - 2003
    After his father dies, Noah's mother, a temperamental poet, takes a teaching job in a small New Hampshire town, far from Chicago and the only world Noah has known. While Noah gets along reasonably with his mother, the crumbling house they try to renovate quickly reveals dark secrets, via dusty Mason jars they discover interred between walls. The jars contain scraps of letters, poems, and journal entries, and eventually reconstructs a history of pain and violence that drives a sudden wedge between Noah and his mother. Fortunately, Noah finds an unexpected ally in J.D., a teenager down the street who has family troubles of his own.

Pray The Gay Away


Sara York - 2014
    The perfect family, looks, girls hanging on his every word, and the respect of most people in his town. But one thing was missing--a man to be his own.When Andrew Collins showed up in small town, conservative Sweet, Georgia, he looked more scrawny mutt than high school senior. Andrew's plan was to keep his head down and graduate high school, leaving his family behind to start his real life.When he meets Andrew, Jack thinks he's found heaven, but reality holds him in check until one night when his lips gently slide across Andrew's and fireworks go off.As lust and something a little deeper brings them together, compelling them to take chances, people start to notice. Then the unthinkable happens, and Jack's parents find out he likes guys. The battle lines are drawn and they vow to pray the gay away.

When Everything Is Blue


Laura Lascarso - 2018
    Theo hates lying to Chris, but in coming out, he might lose the one person who understands him best, a risk he’s not willing to take. When a relationship with another young man goes south, Theo is forced to confront his own sexuality along with his growing attraction to Chris and his stunted, tenuous relationship with his father. Will Chris abandon Theo when he learns the truth, or will he stand by him in this tumultuous season of self-discovery? In this quirky coming-of-age romance, Theo’s path to manhood is fraught with awkward firsts and a few haters, but also the unexpected comfort of a friend turned lover.

The Vast Fields of Ordinary


Nick Burd - 2009
    He has a crappy job at Food World, a "boyfriend" who won't publicly acknowledge his existence (maybe because Pablo also has a girlfriend), and parents on the verge of a divorce. College is Dade's shining beacon of possibility, a horizon to keep him from floating away. Then he meets the mysterious Alex Kincaid. Falling in real love finally lets Dade come out of the closet - and, ironically, ignites a ruthless passion in Pablo. But just when true happiness has set in, tragedy shatters the dreamy curtain of summer, and Dade will use every ounce of strength he's gained to break from his past and start fresh with the future.

Made of Stars


Kelley York - 2013
    And it is—at first. But Chance, the charismatic and adventurous boy who made their summers epic, is harboring deep secrets. Secrets that are quickly spiraling into something else entirely.The reason they've never met Chance’s parents or seen his home is becoming clearer. And what the siblings used to think of as Chance's quirks—the outrageous stories, his clinginess, his dangerous impulsiveness—are now warning signs that something is seriously off. Then Chance's mom turns up with a bullet to the head, and all eyes shift to Chance and his dad. Hunter and Ashlin know Chance is innocent...they just have to prove it. But how can they protect the boy they both love when they can’t trust a word Chance says?

My Mate Jack


Garrett Leigh - 2014
    They’ve shared everything: love, life, laughs, even Will’s first kiss. But Jack’s straight, and Will’s long-buried infatuation means nothing until their last summer together draws to a close.Then one night, everything changes, but with Will bound for university in Leeds, and Jack for his dream DJ job in Ibiza, there’s no time to explore their blurred lines. Before long all that’s left are secrets, lies, and misunderstandings.In the months that follow, anger and hurt overshadow fifteen years of friendship, and Will must dig deep to remember Jack is his mate… his best mate, and nothing matters more than that, right?

The Infinite Noise


Lauren Shippen - 2019
    Other than that his life is pretty normal. But when Caleb starts experiencing mood swings that are out of the ordinary for even a teenager, his life moves beyond “typical.”Caleb is an Atypical, an individual with enhanced abilities. Which sounds pretty cool except Caleb's ability is extreme empathy—he feels the emotions of everyone around him. Being an empath in high school would be hard enough, but Caleb's life becomes even more complicated when he keeps getting pulled into the emotional orbit of one of his classmates, Adam. Adam's feelings are big and all-consuming, but they fit together with Caleb's feelings in a way that he can't quite understand.Caleb's therapist, Dr. Bright, encourages Caleb to explore this connection by befriending Adam. As he and Adam grow closer, Caleb learns more about his ability, himself, his therapist—who seems to know a lot more than she lets on—and just how dangerous being an Atypical can be."What if the X-Men, instead of becoming superheroes, decided to spend some time in therapy?" (Vox on The Bright Sessions)