My Side Of The Story


Will Davis - 2007
    I'm sixteen (just) and I have two remarkably undivorced parents, along with a sister and a grandmother and we all live in the same house together just like in a TV show. I've just started my A levels too, which me and Al are planning to fail, which is our way of saying Fuck You to the British educational standard.So what if your parents hate each other and want you to have therapy? So what if your holier-than-thou sister and her posse have decided you're going to hell? So what if the school tyrant and his goons are hunting you down, or if your best friend has just outed you to a neo-Nazi? Jaz isn't planning to lose any sleep over it -- at least until he meets the guy of his dreams at the local gay bar. Suddenly things are a lot more complicated...Witty, acerbic, and incredibly funny, My Side of the Story is the perfectly rendered portrait of a precocious, troubled teenager faced with the awkward process of growing up and coming out.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson


John Green - 2010
    One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers are about to cross paths. From that moment on, their world will collide and lives intertwine.It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old - including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire - Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical.

The Coming Storm


Paul Russell - 1999
    Russell's award-winning novel is the story of four interlocking lives - Louis Tremper, the headmaster at the Forge School; his wife Claire; Tracey Parker, a 25-year old gay man and recently hired teacher at the Forge School; and Noah Lathrop III, a troubled student; all of whom struggle with their own inner demons, desires, and conflicted loyalties. When Tracey and Noah become involved in an illicit relationship, dark incidents from the school's past begin colliding with the current growing confusion that all of them must face. Compelling and poignant, this is the finest work yet from one of the best contemporary American novelists.

What's Not Broken


D.J. Parker - 2013
    He goes to school and hates it, plays football and loves it, and goes to church because it's expected. Everything in his life is right on track until an incident in the football locker room with a fellow teammate ignites feelings he didn't know he had and turns it all upside down, setting him on a life-changing journey to find out the truth about the secret he's now harboring. A secret that makes him question everything. A secret that has the potential to change the way everyone else feels about him. A secret that no one on earth knows but his best friend Sam.What's Not Broken follows the life of sophomore Eli Ridgewood on his search for truth and how it affects those around him in a poignant story of life and love and loss.

Fjord Blue


Nina Rossing - 2016
    It’s not like he didn’t deserve it. After all, he crashed his dad’s vintage Bonneville in a car-chase duel on a Miami freeway. Ben is mad at the world and not ready to reveal the reason for his bad behavior the past year, when he partied and got into fights to forget his attraction to his best friend’s hot cousin Dino. Norway is cold and rainy, the farm is desolate and resists modernization, and the grandparents are quiet and religious. On to the scene waltzes Even, the eighteen-year-old farmhand, who counters Ben’s restlessness and complaints with friendship, fresh perspectives, and problems of his own.With the mounting expectations of Ben taking over the farm one day, getting closer to Even becomes Ben’s only reason to stay put. As the friendship deepens, the two boys learn that secrets can turn into both beautiful and ugly truths, and that support can be found in unexpected places.

Finlater


Shawn Stewart Ruff - 2008
    Cliffy, black, and Noah, Jewish, are teens of their time, segregated by neighborhood, skin color and opportunity, yet neither boy has ever had a friend like the other.

The Boy I Love The Most


J.J. Riley - 2020
    Hiding among the choir, he was content to be ignored at school. But in order to make his singing dreams come true and win the scholarship, he has to push aside that shyness and stand out. When new kid, Maverick Cole shows up, all of Ashton’s plans are thrown into chaos. Now he has to work with his new duet partner to perfect their song for the biggest choir competition in the country. The moment things start to look up, Ashton suddenly finds himself at the lowest point in his life. His new friend steps in to save him, proving their friendly rivalry might be more than friendship, on and off the stage. If only he could tell Maverick how he really feels. With his heart and his future on the line, will Maverick and Ashton be able to work together to make this work or will the pressure of winning tear them apart? The stakes are high, so Ashton will have to be ready to not only stand out, but come out. Especially if he wants to win both the competition and his Maverick’s heart. Besides, who needs therapy when you have harmony? *The Boy I Love The Most is a young adult gay romance*

The Blue Lawn


William Taylor - 1999
    Sixteen-year-old Theo is an outsider, not altogether likable, and not particularly interested in making friends. Initial hostility turns to an unlikely friendship, masking a growing attraction neither boy understands. A powerful novel of relationships, set against the backdrop of a small New Zealand town, exploring the complicated emotions of two young men who don't yet understand what they are feeling and have nowhere to turn for help.

Good Times/Bad Times


James Kirkwood Jr. - 1968
    Hoyt, Peter begins to pen the letter that makes up the pages of Good Times/Bad Times.From Peter’s elaborate involvement on campus and meeting the closest friend he’s ever had to the unwelcome sexual advances he received from Mr. Hoyt, this letter tells of the ups and downs of Peter’s time at school.As the good times give way to bad and a series of compelling incidents steadily heighten the tension of his time as a student at Gilford Academy, readers fall under the spell of the magnificent storyteller Peter exposes himself to be. Good Times/Bad Times pulses with warmth and laughter of the young and still honest, complete with strong and memorable characters.

The Irreversible Decline of Eddie Socket


John Weir - 1989
    "There's no moving away from this wrenching, beautifully told story".--Los Angeles Times.

More Happy Than Not


Adam Silvera - 2015
    Sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto is struggling to find happiness after a family tragedy leaves him reeling. He's slowly remembering what happiness might feel like this summer with the support of his girlfriend Genevieve, but it's his new best friend, Thomas, who really gets Aaron to open up about his past and confront his future.As Thomas and Aaron get closer, Aaron discovers things about himself that threaten to shatter his newfound contentment. A revolutionary memory-alteration procedure, courtesy of the Leteo Institute, might be the way to straighten himself out. But what if it means forgetting who he truly is?

The Boys on the Rock


John Fox - 1984
    How Billy faces up to himself-and his friends-as he discovers the complexities of life, the exuberance of sex, and what it means to be an adult in our imperfect world, makes for a touching, wise, and very moving novel.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe


Benjamin Alire Sáenz - 2012
    Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari's features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself.But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other―and the power of their friendship―can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.

Whatever.: or how junior year became totally f$@ked


S.J. Goslee - 2016
    He and his friends have a crappy band (an excuse to drink cheap beer and rock out to the Lemonheads) and hang out in parking lots doing stupid board tricks. But when Mike's girlfriend Lisa, who knows him better than he does, breaks up with him, he realizes he's about to have a major epiphany that will blow his mind. And worse--he gets elected to homecoming court.It's like the apocalypse came, only instead of nuclear bombs and zombies, Mike gets school participation, gay thoughts, and mother-effin' cheerleaders.With the free spirit of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the raw voice of Winger, and characters reminiscent of Freaks & Geeks, this debut YA offers a standout voice and a fresh, modern take on the coming-out story.

Breakfast with Scot


Michael Downing - 1999
    But when eleven-year-old Scot's mother suddenly dies, the couple is determined to make good on a wine-soaked promise made years before. They hang a tire swing in the back yard and call the neighborhood school to arrange enrollment. Scot arrives just in time to start fifth grade—with a pair of lacy white socks in his duffel bag. With wry dialogue, frothy characters, and an offbeat plot, Michael Downing's mastery reaches new heights of brilliance in Breakfast with Scot.About the Author:Michael Downing is the author of the novels Perfect Agreement, Mother of God, and A Narrow Time. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.