LGBTQ+ History Month is nearly over, so I wanted to end the month with a round up of YA books that feature queer characters in the past.
As you might expect, it isn't particularly easy to find YA books that are both unapologetically queer and fall into the historical fiction category. It feels a little weird, therefore, to be including books from the mid-to-late 20th Century, because that wasn't really that long ago, particularly for older generations of the LGBTQ+ community. If I hadn't included them, however, this list would be exactly one book long. (Which doesn't make for a great rec list!) That being said: LGBTQ+ people did exist before Stonewall, even if they didn't use the same terms and labels that we do today; hopefully, we can someday see those stories reflected in our fiction without them being solely focused on the ~angst~ of being different/an abomination/whatever.
Similarly, I couldn't seem to find a historical YA book that had a transgender character that was labeled as such on page. Many stories exist where a young woman cuts her hair and dresses as a man to make her life easier or gain access to opportunities forbidden to her as a woman—and then continues to think of and refer to herself as a woman throughout the course of the book—but I couldn't seem to find one where a character is transgender in the way we might expect today.
Perhaps this is because, in the real world, we can't always tell which historical figures would call themselves trans today and which were simply disguising themselves to seek a better life. Perhaps it's due to a perceived lack of interest in the YA audience, or a lack of interest in writers. Regardless of the cause, it was still a disappointment to have to create this list without a single trans-inclusive narrative.
Fair warning: Many of these books deal with sensitive and difficult topics. It's often hard to avoid in LGBTQ+ books, and even more so with ones set in the past, when the world was less friendly towards us. If you have any concerns, please hover your mouse over the book cover on each entry for a list of content warnings. It's not possible for me to catch everything myself, however, so feel free to check out reviews on sites like GoodReads for more in-depth information.
Annie on My Mind
By Nancy Garden
This groundbreaking book is the story of two teenage girls whose friendship blossoms into love and who, despite pressures from family and school that threaten their relationship, promise to be true to each other and their feelings.
A note:
An unintended side effect of reading this book for the first time: every time I was reading/writing about/thinking about this book, I had "Annie are You Ok" stuck in my head. Oops?
By Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship--the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
A note:
Confession time. I haven't read about half of the books on this list, and Aristotle and Dante is one of them. Set in Texas in 1987, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is beautiful, poetic, and one of my girlfriend's favorite queer YA books. It was one of those books that she read just at the right moment in her life to make a huge difference for her—similarly, mine was Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard—and I know that a lot of other people feel the same way. So while I can't wholeheartedly recommend it, she can (and does)!
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue 
By Mackenzi Lee
Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.
But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.
Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.
Like a Love Story
By Abdi Nazemian
It's 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing.
Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He's terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he's gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media's images of men dying of AIDS.
Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance...until she falls for Reza and they start dating.
Art is Judy's best friend, their school's only out and proud teen. He'll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs.
As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won't break Judy's heart--and destroy the most meaningful friendship he's ever known.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post 
By Emily Danforth
When Cameron Post's parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they'll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl.
But that relief doesn't last, and Cam is soon forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone (as her grandmother might say), and Cam becomes an expert at both.
Then Coley Taylor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship--one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, ultrareligious Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to "fix" her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self--even if she's not exactly sure who that is.
A note:
I have previously reccomended this book for its representation of a Two-Spirit character, Adam, as it is one of the only YA books to do so. Upon further digging, I have since found a discussion by Debbie Reese, a Nambe Pueblo Indian woman (as she refers to herself on her blog), on the issues with Danforth's portrayal of Two-Spirit and Native identities. As a white person, I will always defer to the authority of BIPOC with these lived experiences. That doesn't necessarily make CamPost a bad book, but we always have to be aware of the issues in the media that we consume, and work not to internalize them.
Moon at Nine
By Deborah Ellis
Fifteen-year-old Farrin has many secrets. Although she goes to a school for gifted girls in Tehran, as the daughter of an aristocratic mother and wealthy father, Farrin must keep a low profile. It is 1988; ever since the Shah was overthrown, the deeply conservative and religious government controls every facet of life in Iran. If the Revolutionary Guard finds out about her mother’s Bring Back the Shah activities, her family could be thrown in jail, or worse.
The day she meets Sadira, Farrin’s life changes forever. Sadira is funny, wise, and outgoing; the two girls become inseparable. But as their friendship deepens into romance, the relationship takes a dangerous turn. It is against the law to be gay in Iran; the punishment is death. Despite their efforts to keep their love secret, the girls are discovered and arrested. Separated from Sadira, Farrin can only pray as she awaits execution. Will her family find a way to save them both?
Pulp
By Robin Talley
In 1955, eighteen-year-old Janet Jones keeps the love she shares with her best friend Marie a secret. It’s not easy being gay in Washington, DC, in the age of McCarthyism, but when she discovers a series of books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in Janet. As she juggles a romance she must keep hidden and a newfound ambition to write and publish her own story, she risks exposing herself—and Marie—to a danger all too real.
Sixty-two years later, Abby Zimet can’t stop thinking about her senior project and its subject—classic 1950s lesbian pulp fiction. Between the pages of her favorite book, the stresses of Abby’s own life are lost to the fictional hopes, desires and tragedies of the characters she’s reading about. She feels especially connected to one author, a woman who wrote under the pseudonym “Marian Love,” and becomes determined to track her down and discover her true identity.
Ziggy, Stardust, and Me 
By James Brandon
The year is 1973. The Watergate hearings are in full swing. The Vietnam War is still raging. And homosexuality is still officially considered a mental illness. In the midst of these trying times is sixteen-year-old Jonathan Collins, a bullied, anxious, asthmatic kid, who aside from an alcoholic father and his sympathetic neighbor and friend Starla, is completely alone. To cope, Jonathan escapes to the safe haven of his imagination, where his hero David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and dead relatives, including his mother, guide him through the rough terrain of his life. In his alternate reality, Jonathan can be anything: a superhero, an astronaut, Ziggy Stardust, himself, or completely “normal” and not a boy who likes other boys. When he completes his treatments, he will be normal—at least he hopes. But before that can happen, Web stumbles into his life. Web is everything Jonathan wishes he could be: fearless, fearsome and, most importantly, not ashamed of being gay.
Jonathan doesn’t want to like brooding Web, who has secrets all his own. Jonathan wants nothing more than to be “fixed” once and for all. But he’s drawn to Web anyway. Web is the first person in the real world to see Jonathan completely and think he’s perfect. Web is a kind of escape Jonathan has never known. For the first time in his life, he may finally feel free enough to love and accept himself as he is.