This Pride Month, dive into some LGBTQIA2S+-inclusive reads for middle-graders (roughly 3rd-6th). Check out these new titles as well as a few of my perennial favorites!
Skating on Mars
Huntoon, Caroline, author.
jFICTION/Huntoon Caroline
Still coping with the death of their father, twelve-year-old Mars tries to figure out their place on and off the rink as they navigate being nonbinary in a traditionally gendered sport.
Answers in the pages
Levithan, David, author.
jFICTION Levithan David
"When Donovan left his copy of The Adventurers on the kitchen counter, he didn't think his mom would read it--much less have a problem with it. It's just an adventure novel about two characters trying to stop an evil genius. But soon the entire town is freaking out about whether the book's main characters are gay, Donovan's mom is trying to get the book removed from the school curriculum, and Donovan is caught in the middle"--
Different kinds of fruit
Lukoff, Kyle, author.
jFICTION/Lukoff Kyle
Annabelle Blake fully expects this school year to be the same as every other: same teachers, same classmates, same, same, same. So she's elated to discover there's a new kid in town. To Annabelle, Bailey is a breath of fresh air. She loves hearing about their life in Seattle, meeting their loquacious (and kinda corny) parents, and hanging out at their massive house. And it doesn't hurt that Bailey has a cute smile, nice hands (how can someone even have nice hands?) and smells really good. Suddenly sixth grade is anything but the same. And when her irascible father shares that he and Bailey have something big--and surprising--in common, Annabelle begins to see herself, and her family, in a whole new light. At the same time she starts to realize that her community, which she always thought of as home, might not be as welcoming as she had thought. Together Annabelle, Bailey, and their families discover how these categories that seem to mean so much--boy, girl, gay, straight, fruit, vegetable--aren't so clear-cut after all.
The Civil War of Amos Abernathy
Leali, Michael, author.
jFICTION Leali Michael
"Amos Abernathy lives for history. Literally. He's been a historical reenactor nearly all his life. But when a cute new volunteer arrives at his Living History Park, Amos finds himself wondering if there's something missing from history: someone like the two of them. Amos is sure there must have been LGBTQ+ people in nineteenth-century Illinois. His search turns up Albert D. J. Cashier, a Civil War soldier who might have identified as a trans man if he'd lived today. Soon Amos starts confiding in his newfound friend by writing letters in his journal--and hatches a plan to share Albert's story with his divided twenty-first century town. It may be an uphill battle, but it's one that Amos is ready to fight."--Amazon.com.
Too bright to see
Lukoff, Kyle, author.
jFICTION Lukoff Kyle
It's the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug's best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare. For Moira, this means figuring out the right clothes to wear, learning how to put on makeup, and deciding which boys are cuter in their yearbook photos than in real life. But none of this is all that appealing to Bug, who doesn't particularly want to spend more time trying to understand how to be a girl. Besides, there's something more important to worry about: a ghost is haunting Bug's eerie old house in rural Vermont...and maybe haunting Bug in particular. As Bug begins to untangle the mystery of who this ghost is and what they're trying to say, an altogether different truth comes to light--Bug is transgender.
Martin McLean, middle school queen
Zaczek, Alyssa, author.
jFICTION Zaczek Alyssa
Seventh-grader Martin McLean has trouble expressing himself except at Mathletes competitions and, now, as a female impersonator but his first-ever drag show falls on the same night as an important Mathletes tournament.
In the key of us
Lockington, Mariama, author.
jFICTION Lockingt Mariama
While twelve-year-old Andi has suffered from anxiety attacks ever since her mother died ten months ago, Zora starting hurting herself whenever she feels out of control; they are both at Camp Harmony, an elite summer music camp, trying to deal with their problems and also the stress of competition--but as the summer passes they find themselves increasingly drawn to each other, and maybe not just as friends.
Snapdragon
Leyh, Kat, author, artist.
jGRAPHIC NOVEL Leyh
"Snap's town had a witch. At least, that's how the rumor goes. But in reality, Jacks is just a crocks-wearing, internet-savvy old lady who sells roadkill skeletons online--after doing a little ritual to put their spirits to rest. It's creepy, sure, but Snap thinks it's kind of cool, too. They make a deal: Jacks will teach Snap how to take care of the baby opossums that Snap rescued, and Snap will help Jacks with her work. But as Snap starts to get to know Jacks, she realizes that Jacks may in fact have real magic--and a connection with Snap's family's past."--Provided by publisher.
The real Riley Mayes
Elliott, Rachel, author, illustrator.
jGRAPHIC NOVEL Elliott
"Fifth grade is just not Riley's vibe. Everyone else is squaded up--except Riley. Her best friend moved away. All she wants to do is draw, and her grades show it. One thing that makes her happy is her favorite comedian, Joy Powers. Riley loves to watch her old shows and has memorized her best jokes. So when the class is assigned to write letters to people they admire, of course Riley's picking Joy Powers! Things start to look up when a classmate, Cate, offers to help Riley with the letter, and a new kid, Aaron, actually seems to get her weird sense of humor. But when mean girl Whitney spreads a rumor about her, things begin to click into place for Riley. Her curiosity about Aaron's two dads and her celebrity crush on Joy Powers suddenly make more sense"--Amazon.com
Hazel Hill is gonna win this one
Horne, Maggie, author.
jFICTION Horne Maggie
"Seventh grader Hazel Hill is too busy for friends. No, really. She needs to focus on winning the school-wide speech competition and beating her nemesis, the popular and smart Ella Quinn, after last year's embarrassing hyperbole/hyperbowl mishap that cost her first place. But when Hazel discovers Ella is being harassed by golden boy Tyler Harris, she has to choose between winning and doing the right thing. No one would believe that a nice boy like Tyler would harass and intimidate a nice girl like Ella, but Hazel knows the truth, and she's determined to prove it, even if it means risking everything"--
Frankie & Bug
Forman, Gayle, author.
jFICTION Forman Gayle
In the summer of 1987 in Venice, California, ten-year-old Bug and her new friend Frankie learn important lessons about life, family, being your true self, and how to navigate in a world that is not always just or fair.
The best at it
Pancholy, Maulik, 1974- author.
jFICTION Pancholy Maulik
Twelve-year-old Rahul Kapoor, an Indian-American boy growing up in small-town Indiana, struggles to come to terms with his identity, including that he may be gay.
The only black girls in town
Colbert, Brandy, author.
jFICTION Colbert Brandy
In a predominately white California beach town, the only two black seventh-graders, Alberta and Edie, find hidden journals that uncover family secrets and speak to race relations in the past.
A high five for Glenn Burke
Bildner, Phil, author.
jFICTION Bildner Phil
After researching Glenn Burke, the first major league baseball player to come out as gay, sixth-grader Silas Wade slowly comes out to his best friend Zoey, then his coach, with unexpected consequences.
The list of things that will not change
Stead, Rebecca, author.
jFICTION Stead Rebecca
Despite her parents' divorce, her father's coming out as gay, and his plans to marry his boyfriend, ten-year-old Bea is reassured by her parents' unconditional love, excited about getting a stepsister, and haunted by something she did last summer at her father's lake house.
The moon within
Salazar, Aida, author.
jFICTION Salazar Aida
Eleven-year-old (nearly twelve) Celi Rivera, who is a mix of Black-Puerto Rican-Mexican Indian is uncomfortable about her approaching period, and the changes that are happening to her body; she is horrified that her mother wants to hold a traditional public moon ceremony to celebrate the occasion--until she finds out that her best friend Magda is contemplating an even more profound change of life.