Affirming Reads for National Coming Out Day

Happy National Coming Out Day from Team OTB! We are so happy to call you a part of our amazing community of booklovers, wherever you may find yourself on your journey. We believe that love is love, that trans lives are valid and matter, and that every person is deserving of kindness, empathy, joy, and so much more. We hope that the following recommendations will help you celebrate LGBTQ+ narratives, open your eyes to the experiences of others, and/or see yourself represented in the wonderful world of books.

Kids:

  • Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders

  • Julián at the Wedding by Jessica Love

  • Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer and Holly Clifton-Brown

  • The Adventures of Honey and Leon by Alan Cumming and Grant Shaffer

  • The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead


Young Adult:

  • Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

  • Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

  • The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

  • A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

  • Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Fiction:

  • This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar

  • Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

  • The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

  • Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

  • Enter the Aardvark by Jessica Anthony

Romance:

  • The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

  • Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

  • It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat Sebastian

  • Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner

  • When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri

Memoir:

  • Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

  • Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place by Jackson Bird

  • Buffering by Hannah Hart

  • Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love by Jonathan Van Ness

  • Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock

Non-Fiction:

  • Glitter Up the Dark: How Pop Music Broke the Binary by Sasha Geffen

  • Out of the Shadows: Reimagining Gay Men’s Lives by Walt Odets

  • A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski

  • The Stonewall Reader, edited by the New York Public Library

  • The Queer Advantage: Conversations with LGBTQ+ Leaders on the Power of Identity by Andrew Gelwicks

Blog contribution, additional photos, and editing by Shannon McCarthy (she/her/hers).