Out on the Shelves: Lesbian

The books in this list feature Lesbian characters and experiences.

Out on the Shelves is a resource designed to connect young rainbow people with the stories that represent them, so these books are able to be enjoyed by both teen and adult readers alike.

Updated May 28, 2025
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Where sleeping girls lie
A?bi?ke?-I?yi?mi?de?, Faridah
Paper Book
A girl new to boarding school discovers dark secrets and coverups after her roommate disappears, in this "beautifully written coming-of-age mystery that should appeal to fans of Tiffany Jackson, Kara Thomas, and Jumata Emill." (Shelf Awareness, starred review)...
Clap when you land
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Paper Book
In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives. Camino Rios lives for the...
Galaxy : the prettiest star
Axelrod, Jadzia
Paper Book
It takes strength to live as your true self, and one alien princess disguised as a human boy is about to test her power. A vibrant story about gender identity, romance, and shining as bright as the stars. "An effervescent and poignant tale about discovering and embracing your truest...
And don't look back
Barrow, Rebecca
Paper Book
After her mother's death, a teen pieces together the truth of her family's past and what her mom was hiding from in this "hauntingly atmospheric and utterly engrossing" (Jas Hammonds, award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments) thriller that's perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and...
Cinderella is dead
Bayron, Kalynn
Paper Book
"Wholly original and captivating." - Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of A Curse So Dark and Lonely Girls team up to overthrow the kingdom in this unique and powerful retelling of Cinderella from a stunning new voice that's perfect for fans of...
The Last Bookstore on Earth
Braun-Arnold, Lily.
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Two teen girls fall in love and fight for survival in an abandoned bookstore weeks before another cataclysmic storm threatens to bring about the end of the world in this unforgettable YA debut. Perfect for fans of Station Eleven and The Last of...
In the shallows
Byrne, Tanya
Paper Book
From the acclaimed author of Afterlove comes a beautiful sapphic second-chance love story drenched with longing, loss and mystery. Mara's ex, Nico, is the girl of her dreams: beautiful, wild and unpredictable. She's Mara's everything, even though Mara's never sure that...
Basil and Oregano
Capriglione, Melissa
Paper Book
Porta Bella Magiculinary Academy is the finest school for the art of cooking with magic, and Basil Eyres is determined to be the top student. On the first day of her senior year, Arabella Oregano, the daughter of a renowned chef, joins the academy for her senior year as well. The two are instantly...
Gwen & Art are not in love
Croucher, Lex
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! "A total, rollicking delight. Gwen & Art gave me the same cheeky, swoony, giddy, irresistible high of the first time I saw A Knight's Tale. Lex Croucher is one of my favorite romcom authors, and they should be yours...
Dreadnought
Daniels, April (Young adult author)
Paper Book
An action-packed series-starter perfect for fans of The Heroine Complex and Not Your Sidekick. "I didn't know how much I needed this brave, thrilling book until it rocked my world. Dreadnought is the superhero adventure we all need right now."--Charlie Jane...
Cheer up! : love and pompoms
Frasier, Crystal
Paper Book
A sweet, queer teen romance perfect for fans of Fence and Check, Please! Annie is a smart, antisocial lesbian starting her senior year of high school who's under pressure to join the cheerleader squad to make friends and round out her college applications. Her former friend BeeBee is a...
What stalks among us
Hollowell, Sarah
Paper Book
From Sarah Hollowell, author of A Dark and Starless Forest, comes a spine-tingling, deliriously creepy YA speculative thriller about two best friends trapped in a corn maze with corpses that look just like them. Best friends and high school seniors Sadie and Logan make their first mistake...
Death at Morning House
Johnson, Maureen
Paper Book
An instant New York Times and Indie bestseller! From the bestselling author of the Truly Devious books, Maureen Johnson, comes a new stand-alone YA about a teen who uncovers a mystery while working as a tour guide on an island and must solve it before history repeats itself. The...
The afterward
Johnston, E. K
Paper Book
"I love this book so very much."--Robin LaFevers, New York Times bestselling author of the His Fair Assassin trilogy Romantic high fantasy from the bestselling author of Star Wars: Ahsoka and Exit, Pursued by a Bear. It's been a year since the...
Girls like girls : a novel
Kiyoko, Hayley
Paper Book
*INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* Trailblazing pop star, actor and director, Hayley Kiyoko debuts her first novel, a coming-of-age romance based on her breakthrough hit song and viral video, GIRLS LIKE GIRLS. It's summertime and 17-year-old Coley has...
She gets the girl
Lippincott, Rachael
Paper Book
She's All That meets What If It's Us in this New York Times bestselling hate-to-love YA romantic comedy from the coauthor of Five Feet Apart Rachael Lippincott and debut writer Alyson Derrick. Alex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of...
Last night at the Telegraph Club
Lo, Malinda
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book Award A New York Times Bestseller A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Century "The queer romance we've been waiting for."--Ms. Magazine Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the...
Doughnuts and doom
Lorinczi, Balazs
Paper Book
Being a teenage witch--or rock star--is tougher than it looks! But maybe enemies can become friends...or more? Flying brooms and electric guitars set hearts aflame in this fantastically fizzy graphic novel. When Margot meets Elena, emotions run high, magic is in the air, and...
I kissed Shara Wheeler : a novel
McQuiston, Casey
Paper Book
After seventeen-year-olds Chole and Shara, Choles rival for valedictorian, kiss, Shara vanishes leaving Chole and two boys, who are also enamored with Shara, to follow the trail of clues she left behind, but during the search, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to Shara and her small...
The bewitching hour : a Tara prequel
Poston, Ashley
Paper Book
Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan-favorite and LGBTQIA+ icon Tara Maclay gets the main character treatment in this YA prequel full of '90s nostalgia, mysterious murders, and a star-crossed romance, written by New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Ashley Poston.
She drives me crazy
Quindlen, Kelly
Paper Book
"A little sweet, a little sharp." --Booklist, starred review High school nemeses fall in love in Kelly Quindlen's She Drives Me Crazy, a queer YA rom com perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Casey McQuiston. After an embarrassing loss to...
The pirate and the porcelain girl
Riesbeck, Emily
Paper Book
Our Flag Means Death gets a magical, sapphic twist in this swashbuckling young adult graphic novel adventure full of high-stakes adventure, fantastical creatures, and a swoony enemies-to-lovers romance perfect for fans of In Deeper Waters and The Prince and the Dressmaker.<...
Juliet takes a breath
Rivera, Gabby
Paper Book
"F***ing outstanding."--Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author Juliet Milagros Palante is a self-proclaimed closeted Puerto Rican baby dyke from the Bronx. Only, she's not so closeted anymore. Not after coming out to her family the night before flying to Portland,...
Improbable magic for cynical witches
Scelsa, Kate
Paper Book
A witchy, atmospheric lesbian contemporary romance set in Salem--from the acclaimed author of Fans of the Impossible Life. Perfect for fans of Nina LaCour and Becky Albertalli. Seventeen-year-old Eleanor is the last person in Salem to believe in witchcraft--or to think that her life...
These witches don't burn
Sterling, Isabel
Paper Book
"Infused with page-turning suspense, bittersweet romance, shocking twists, and tragic turns, Sterling has written a standout debut." --Dana Mele, author of People Like Us Hannah's a witch, but not the kind you're thinking of. She's the real deal, an Elemental with the...
Cold
Tamaki, Mariko
Paper Book
A boy, a murder, a girl, a secret. From award-winning author Mariko Tamaki comes Cold, a haunting YA novel about a shocking crime, told by a boy who died--and a girl who wants to know why. Who was Todd Mayer, and why don't any of his fellow students at...
The comedienne's guide to Pride
Thomson, Hayli
Paper Book
Wicked funny and hella gay, it's time for Taylor Parker to come out about a lot of things. Taylor Parker has always been a funny girl--but when she is accepted as a finalist for a diverse writers' internship at Saturday Night Live, it turns her life upside down....
Dodge City
Trujillo, Josh
Paper Book
Dodge City is a YA sports comedy about making sense of a chaotic world and growing up against the insane backdrop of competitive dodgeball, told through the eyes of oddball Tomás and his teammates. Life comes at you fast, but dodgeballs come way faster! Tomás is a...
Bunt! : striking out on financial aid
Ukazu, Ngozi
Paper Book
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year Molly Bauer's first year of college is not the picture-perfect piece of art she'd always envisioned. On day one at PICA, Molly discovers that--through some horrible twist of fate--her full-ride scholarship has vanished! But the...
The grief keeper
Villasante, Alexandra
Paper Book
This stunning YA debut is a timely and heartfelt speculative narrative about healing, faith, and freedom. Seventeen-year-old Marisol has always dreamed of being American, learning what Americans and the US are like from television and Mrs. Rosen, an elderly expat who had employed...
On a sunbeam
Walden, Tillie
Paper Book
"Tillie Walden is the future of comics, and On a Sunbeam is her best work yet. It's a 'space' story unlike any you've ever read, with a rich, lived-in universe of complex characters." --Brian K. Vaughan, Saga and Paper Girls Two timelines. Second chances....
Stars in their eyes
Walton, Jessica
Paper Book
A Stonewall Honor Book In this lighthearted YA romance, Maisie and Ollie discover that nothing beats the feeling of falling in love for the first time. Maisie is on her way to Fancon! She's looking forward to meeting her idol, Kara Bufano, the action hero from her...
Shatter the sky
Wells, Rebecca Kim
Paper Book
New England Book Award Finalist "A top-notch dragon story...Both nuanced and real." --Shelf Awareness (starred review) "I absolutely devoured it." --Mackenzi Lee, bestselling author of The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue "Perfect for fans...
Poison Ivy. Vol. 4, Origin of species
Wilson, G. Willow
Paper Book
The GLAAD Media Award-winning team of G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara tell a story decades in the making--the origin of Pamela Isley! Long has her tale been told by others, but witness for the first time, in intimate detail, the one true secret origin of Poison Ivy as revealed...
Witchlight
Zabarsky, Jessi
Paper Book
Love -- loss -- witches -- this YA fantasy graphic novel has it all! This thoughtful, emotional story will entrance you with its moving story and organic artwork. Lelek is a witch. That's all Sanja knows when she meets Lelek in the marketplace. But Lelek is hiding...

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