Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction: July-December 2025
After We Burned by Marieke Nijkamp (July 1st)
A terrible accident. A horrible loss. A regrettable tragedy. That’s all anyone in Fenix can talk about when a fire consumes the local high school, taking the life of a student. The town mourns, except who really knew―let alone cared about―Eden when she was alive? And why was she in the building that night?
Five teens each hold a piece of the truth…
The Marble Queen by Anna Kopp, illustrated by Gabrielle Kari
Saint Juniper's Folly by Alex Crespo
Voting ended onSep 14, 2024
Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:
The Marble Queen, written by Anna Kopp, illustrated by Gabrielle Kari
Princess Amelia’s kingdom, Marion, is in shambles after months of their trade routes being ravaged by pirates, and now the only seemingly option left is for her to save it through a marriage alliance. When she gets an exorbitant offer from the royalty of Iliad—a country shrouded in mystery—Amelia accepts without question and leaves her home to begin a new life.
But she lands on Iliad’s shores to find that her betrothed isn't the country’s prince, but the recently coronated Queen Salira.
Shocked, Amelia tries to make sense of her situation and her confused heart: Salira has awakened strange new feelings inside her, but something dark hides behind the Queen's sorrowful eyes. Amelia must fight the demons of her own anxiety disorder before she can tackle her wife's, all while war looms on the horizon.
Graphic novel, young adult, fantasy, romance, secondary world
Saint Juniper's Folly by Alex Crespo
Endorsement from submitter: YA queer coming of age story featuring young gay crises and love, witches, haunted houses, and ghosts all set in a New England town that hates anything out of the ordinary. A little fantasy and a little mystery!
For Jaime, returning to the tiny Vermont town of Saint Juniper means returning to a past he’s spent eight years trying to forget. After shuttling between foster homes, he hopes he can make something out of this fresh start. But every gossip in town already knows his business, and with reminders of his past everywhere, he seeks out solitude into the nearby woods, called Saint Juniper’s Folly, and does not return.
For Theo, Saint Juniper means being stuck. He knows there’s more out there, but he’s scared to go find it. His senior year is going to be like all the rest, dull and claustrophobic. That is until he wanders into the Folly and stumbles on a haunted house with an acerbic yet handsome boy stuck—as in physically stuck—inside.
For Taylor, Saint Juniper is a mystery. The surrounding woods speak to her, while she tries—and fails—to practice the magic her dad banned from the house after her mother died. Taylor can’t seem break out of her spiral of grief, until a wide-eyed teenager barges into her life, rambling on about a haunted house, a trapped boy, and ghosts. He needs a witch.
The Folly and its ghosts will bring these three teenagers together. But they will each have to face their own internal struggles in order to forge a bond strong enough to escape the Folly’s shadows.
Young adult, mystery, fantasy, romance, paranormal
This one surprised me! A little witchy ghost story closer to a light fantasy than truly scary told by three lovable characters. Crespo’s new YA novel cast a charm on me! 🏳️🌈
Middle Grade
Splinter & Ash 2: City of Secrets by Marieke Nijkamp
The second book in New York Times bestselling author Marieke Nijkamp’s immersive medieval fantasy trilogy! A shadowy conspiracy threatens the city, and two determined misfits must uncover the secret plot—and reveal their own secrets—in order to save everyone.
It’s only been a few months since Princess Adelisa, who goes by Ash,…
