Hey there, GGA! Welcome to another edition of Queer Tested, Teacher Approved. This time we’re talking about sex (baby!), specifically sex-positivity in queer YA books. Thus, what follows is a list of thirteen sex-positive YA novels. Sex can be complicated, complex and sometimes downright confusing. Most animals, human and otherwise, have sex. That’s it. That’s the reality. So like, bravo to fiction that doesn’t ignore it or treat it as dirty, right?
And, if you’re wondering why a thirty-something is writing about teenagers having sex — besides the above — if I’d read any of the books on this list as a kid, it would’ve saved me a ton of heartache.
Further, the fact of the matter is teens are among said humans who have sex, and in a lot of the world, sexual education sucks, especially when it comes to anything about LGBTQ+. And queer youth are more at risk of, like, everything than their cishetero peers. Every person needs to decide when it’s time to have sex (if ever). But without any access to education, how can they?
Fiction isn’t a stand-in for comprehensive sex education, but it can go a long way in showing you you’re not alone. It was a little disheartening to discover how difficult this list was to curate and how imbalanced representation was between different queer identities and intersectionalities.
Though I suppose it’s not surprising that it’s hard to find YA books about sex, let alone about queer sex, harder still about queer people of color — check out how many of the most frequently challenged books (US) contain one or more of these themes. But! Some books fit the criteria; this list can exist.
RELATED: Check out more of our Queer Tested – Teacher Approved pieces!
How this piece is organized
I’ve divided the works into two sections — “sex-forward” and “generally sex-positive.” The books in both categories all contain on-page sex or foreplay, in varying degrees of “graphicness.” Therefore, readers should consider how comfortable they are reading about sex before diving in. As always, I’ve also included content warnings.
In the “sex-forward” category, sex makes up many of the novel’s plot; most of these books have other things going on, but sex is either a central theme or a significant subplot. It’s important to note that while the novels themselves are net sex-positive, they don’t mean the characters are always. In the “generally sex-positive” category, sex isn’t the main plot point, but rather weaved sex into the story so well it deserves mentioning.
All that said (in no particular order) —
“Sex-forward” Novels:
Jay’s Gay Agenda
Our first sex-positive YA novel, Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June, is marketed as such, and it is! It’s also hilarious, bittersweet and real. The main character Jay is lonely — he’s the only out gay kid in his tiny Washington town. When he gets the chance to move to Seattle, he’s around other LGBTQIA+ kids for the first time. That means he can start crossing firsts off his Gay Agenda (it exists!).
Unfortunately, Jay soon learns that life, sex and love are more complicated than ticking items off a list. One thing that makes Jay’s Gay Agenda stand out in this list is that it tackles exclusivity and casual sex, which is rare in YA. Content warnings: Homophobia, cheating, racism, vomiting.
Full Disclosure
Full Disclosure by Camryn Garret is a heavy-hitter that doesn’t read like an Important Book™®, ya know? The main character Simone is HIV+, Black, bisexual, and an adoptee (with two dads, to boot, one of whom is Black, the other Mexican). There are many teaching moments in Full Disclosure, and it succeeds in doing so without feeling preachy.
Simone deals with everything every teen does, like balancing her social life, but she’s also blackmailed about her HIV status. Also, she likes this boy Miles, but relationships mean disclosing her status, and she’s not sure she wants to do that. Also, there are good discussions about sex and asexuality. Content warnings.
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Any Way the Wind Blows
Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell is a crash course in communication and enthusiastic consent. The main characters, Simon and Baz, have to navigate both the romantic and sexual parts of their relationship (amidst fantasy elements, such as vampirism and dragon-boy-being).
Any Way the Wind Blows is a raw look at trauma and its effect on relationships. If it weren’t the final book in the Simon Snow series, wherein the characters begin as teenagers, I’d probably label this new adult since the characters are 20. Content warnings.
The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky
The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky by Mackenzi Lee is the next sex-positive YA novel on our list. Well, it’s a follow-up novella to her book, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. Getting Lucky is about just that — Monty and Percy are just trying to find some alone time to get it on! Err, well, it’s about more than that.
It’s about wondering if you’re good enough for love, how trauma, addiction and mental illness affect sex, how sex with a new person can feel scary no matter how many times you’ve had sex, how there’s no such thing as “perfect,” etc. Content warnings.
Grasshopper Jungle
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith might be the strangest book I’ve ever read. It might also be one of my favorites. The primary elevator pitch is this: Austin is in love with both his girlfriend and his male best friend, and then they have to fight off six-foot-tall praying mantises, who, just like our main character, are always horny. Seriously, the word horny is used 65 times in the book. Fair warning, though Grasshopper Jungle is itself sex- and queer-positive, Austin has a lot of internalized guilt. Content warnings.
Red Scrolls of Magic
Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu is the first book of one of the Eldest Curses trilogy, part of the Shadow Hunters universe, which focuses on queer couple Alec Lightwood, a shadow hunter, and Magnus Bane, a warlock. Yes, this is an immortal/mortal relationship, so you know, read at your digression. Anyway, while there is ostensibly a magic-related adventure plot in this book, the story is basically that #Malec takes a vacation so they can have sex for the first time. Content warnings.
“Generally Sex-Positive” YA Novels:
At the Edge of the Universe
The first sex-positive YA novel in this category is At the Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson, a sci-fi mystery, and sort of not. Ozzie’s boyfriend Tommy up and disappears one day. The weird thing is, only Ozzie can remember he ever even existed. Oh, and the entire flipping universe is shrinking. The book only gets sadder and more poignant as its mystery — and the universe — continue to unravel. If I say anymore, I’ll spoil the whole thing. Content warnings.
Noah Could Never
Noah Could Never by Simon James Green is the sequel to Noah Can’t Even. Essentially, it’s true: Noah can’t, and he could never. Boy is a hot mess. In book one, he fell in love with his best friend, Harry, but it took him the whole book to realize it. In this book, they’re happy together, but the horror of s-e-x is looming. Not to mention being followed by police and a hot French exchange student. Oh, la la. Content warnings: homophobia, cheating, femmephobia, blood, absent parent, blood.
If This Gets Out
If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich asks what would happen if two members of a famous boy band fell in love. The answer is that it would be sweet and romantic but also messy. As I mentioned in my review, this was not an easy read.
However, it feels realistic and honest in its depictions of sex, the entertainment industry and first love. Content warnings: substance use and misuse, racism, forced closeting, queerphobia (internalized/external), emotional abuse (parental and employer), disordered eating.
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When the Moon Was Ours
When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore is another sex-positive YA novel. It’s full of beautifully written prose and fascinating ideas. Though not everything came together for me, this novel is on the list for its pure honesty in portraying emotions. When you take away all the magical realism and outing blackmailing, what’s left is a bittersweet first love story that’s deeply personal. Content warnings.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Last Night and the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo is truly a remarkable book and deserves every accolade bestowed upon it. It primarily takes place in San Francisco’s Chinatown and North Beach districts in the 1950s. On one level, as a SF Bay Area native, it was amazing to learn about the history of my hometown. But, frankly, that Lo could weave together a tale of queer awakening, Bay Area, lesbian and Chinese-American history and the Red Scare so seamlessly makes this novel a masterpiece. Content warnings.
Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun
Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa is beautiful, bold, unapologetic and uplifting. Jonny has dedicated this book to “[their] QTBIPOC family. [their] queer Latinx family. [their] queer Chicanx and Mexican American family.” That dedication and love are made abundantly clear in every detail, down to Jonny’s exuberant use of unitalicized, untranslated Spanglish (and, to a lesser extent, Vietnamese). Nearly the entire cast is queer and/or a person of color. And safe sex is advocated! Though, since the book brings up “cleanliness” before sex, I thought I’d drop this here. Content warnings.
Annie on My Mind
The final sex-positive YA novel on our list is Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden, which was published in 1982, y’all, and it has a happy ending! Liza and Annie are two high school seniors who meet by chance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Their fast friendship quickly blossoms into romance.
Sadly, there are “consequences” to their love, but both girls are steadfast in the knowledge that being gay is about love — and that there’s nothing wrong with either of them. Fun fact: Nancy Garden had a golden retriever named Loki. Content warnings.
There you have it folx, 13 LGTBQ+ sex-positive YA books. While this isn’t an exhaustive list, I will say that I read more than 20 books and did several hours to compile it. And though I’m so, so glad these books exist, I hope to see more variety in the types of people represented in sex-positive YA fiction. Or just fiction in general. Until next time my friends, stay safe and happy out there.
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/queer-tested-teacher-approved-23-queer-ya-genre-books/
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