by Naomi Bates

Lesbian. Gay. Bi-sexual. Transsexual. Queer. If there is one topic of contention in the United States, it has been the topic of homosexuality. There are even opinions if the letter Q should be added or deleted from the acronym LGBT(Q). This topic, especially in young adult literature, has evolved with the times. LGBT is becoming more mainstream, and with this advancement more young adult books are being published that not only are thematically about LGBT content, but many novels have characters that are gay, even if the premise of the book isn’t about the topic. When putting together this list, I found that LGBT content, although heavily genrefied in real life fiction, has crossed into genres such as fantasy and graphic novels. Here is a list of YA books published last year that either tackle the issue or have LGBT characters in them:

Nimona by Joelle Stevenson. Harper Collins. (graphic novel)	Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. St. Martin’s Griffin. (fantasy)
The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow. Margaret K. McElderry Books. (dsytopia, series Prisoners of Peace)	The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons. Tor Teen. (dystopia)
Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. Balzer + Bray. (real life reads)	Six of Crows. Henry Holt and Company. (fantasy, series Six of Crows)
The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Sean David Hutchinson. Simon Pulse (real life reads)	City of Savages by Lee Kelly. Saga Press. (dystopia)
Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash. Candlewick Press. (non-fiction, graphic novel).	The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. (fantasy).

And not to leave out 2016, here are some titles to watch out for:

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp. Sourcebooks Fire. (realistic fiction)	As I Descended by Robin Talley. Harper Teen (fantasy)
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin. Balzer + Bray. (realistic fiction)	Love Blind by Christa Desir and Jolene Perry. Simon Pulse. (realistic fiction)
On The Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis. Amulet Books. (dystopia/science fiction)	A Tryanny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls. Candlewick Press (story collection).

Naomi Bates is a teacher librarian at Northwest High School in Justin Texas.  She has worked with students K-12 in both small and large school districts in Texas.  Currently, she is serving as a school library representative-at-large for the Texas Library Association.  She can be reached via Twitter @yabooksandmore or email at nbates@nisdtx.org