From contemporary to fantasy, the following upper young adult books feature LGBTQ main/major characters and queer topics. Though I haven’t personally read all these books, they come highly recommended. Synopses are provided by the publishers and brief reviews from respected sources are quoted and linked.
FINDING PRINCE CHARMING, by Jamar J. Perry, Bloomsbury YA, June 10, 2025, Hardcover, $ 19.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
In this swoonworthy YA romance, an ordinary teenage boy finds himself accidentally fake dating a crown prince.
Tyriq Howell is swearing off of love. After a fight with his cheating ex leads to missing his college scholarship interview, he vows to be done with dating for good. Until Desmond, a boy who works in the scholarship office, approaches with a curious proposal: he’ll get Tyriq another interview if he pretends to be Desmond’s date to a fancy gala in two weeks.
When Tyriq shows up to the gala, he’s shocked when photographers swarm him and Desmond. He’s even more shocked when he finds out that Desmond is Prince Desmond of Catalina. And now that the whole world knows Desmond is gay, he’s front page news.
When the King angrily summons Desmond and his new boyfriend to Catalina, Desmond begs Tyriq to play along. If his father realizes Desmond is serious about coming out, he might finally agree to let Desmond pass the crown to his sister instead. But navigating court politics and pretend relationships is harder than Tyriq imagined-especially when he realizes that he may have accidentally broken his swearing-off-of-love rule. —Synopsis provided by Bloomsbury YA
“A charming romance with meaningful representation and strong characterization.” —Kirkus Reviews
DEVILS LIKE US, by L.T. Thompson, Bloomsbury YA, June 3, 2025, Hardcover, $20.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
Our Flag Means Death meets The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue in this YA historical fantasy about three queer teens and their found family of queer pirates facing down a secret magical society.
Cas has a rule: Don’t tell anyone. Not about the nagging gender discomfort, and certainly not about the prophetic visions of untimely deaths. Cas broke this rule only once, and in response, Remy DeWindt ended their friendship forever.
Remy has spent the last eight years researching the secret society that kidnapped her father and the dark magic they practice. She’s determined to take them down and bring her father home-no matter what her former friend Cas thinks happened to him.
Finn is desperately in love with Remy, but Remy would never give in to a desire the church deems a sin. But Finn isn’t worried about sin. She already committed the worst sin of all when she made a sinister bargain for a deadly price-a price that will soon have to be paid.
When Cas’s latest vision sets the three of them on a collision course, they embark on a journey that will force them to confront hidden secrets and deadly magic-and also offer them the chance to find out who they truly are. —Synopsis provided by Bloomsbury YA
“In this taut, complex fantasy, Thompson skillfully plumbs the white-cued protagonists’ doubts, motivations, and desires, as experienced against a vivid society and setting, to examine themes of found family and identity.” — Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review
COSTUMES FOR TIME TRAVELER, A. R. Capetta, Candlewick, May 27, 2025, Hardcover, $18.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
Calisto and Fawkes are drawn to each other for the first time, again, as they travel from when to when to take on a threat to all they hold dear in this lyrical and playful fantasy from award-winning author A. R. Capetta.
Anyone who has hiked through time knows the town of Pocket. It’s the place travelers first reach after they stumble away from their hometime, passing through on their way to any other when.
To Calisto, Pocket is home. They love their grandmother’s shop, which is filled with clothes from every era that are used to make costumes for time travelers. Calisto has no intention of traveling—it’s too dangerous.
For Fawkes, traveling is life. He put on time boots when he was young and has been stumbling through eras ever since.
When he floats into Pocket, Calisto meets him for the first time, though Fawkes has seen Calisto—in glimpses of what hasn’t happened yet. He’s also seen the villains chasing them both. Now Calisto and Fawkes must rush—from Shakespeare’s London to ancient Crete to California on the eve of a millennium—to save Pocket, and travelers, from being erased. —Synopsis provided by Candlewick
“Themes of found family, self-discovery, and personal acceptance underpin Calisto and Fawkes’s slowly blossoming romance.” —Publisher’s Weekly
WHEN LOVE GIVES YOU LEMONS, By Steven Salcatore, Bloomsbury YA, May 13, 2025, Hardcover, $19.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
Ever since he was a kid, Fielder Lemon’s large, opinionated Italian-American family has lived next to Ricky DeLuca and his large, opinionated Italian-American family. For almost as long, Fielder has known that he wants to marry Ricky one day. And he thought Ricky felt the same way-until Ricky breaks up with Fielder, saying he needs to figure out who he is on his own.
One year later, Fielder is asked to be one of the best men in his cousin’s destination wedding on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, but there’s a twist: his cousin is marrying Ricky’s sister. Fielder hasn’t talked to or seen Ricky once during the last entire, terrible year, but he hasn’t given up on his first love quite yet-and isn’t a wedding in an Italian lemon grove the perfect setting to rekindle their relationship? Except Ricky might have already moved on.
Now, Fielder has less than a week to win back Ricky’s heart while also trying not to ruin his cousin’s wedding. But if there’s one thing Fielder knows, it’s that when life gives you lemons, take a bite! —Synopsis provided by Bloomsbury YA
“A humorous and heartfelt love story about growth, change, and clarity.” —Kirkus Reviews
LOVE AT SECOND SIGHT, by F.T. Lukens, Margaret K. McElderry Books, April 29, 2025, Hardcover, $19.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
When a teen has an unexpected vision about a future murder, he must juggle newfound interest from the supernatural community with trying to prevent the murder from happening.
Fifteen-year-old Cam Reynolds wants to spend his sophomore year flying under the radar. That shouldn’t be too hard, considering he’s a human going to school with kids who have paranormal powers, like his best friend and witch, Al, and his longtime werewolf crush, Mateo.
Then Cam has a psychic glimpse of the future in front of most of the student body, seeing a gruesomely murdered teen girl from the point of view of the killer. When Cam comes to, he knows two things: someone he goes to school with is a future murderer, and his life is about to change. No longer a mere human but a clairvoyant, one of the rarest of supernatural beings, Cam finds himself at the center of attention for the first time.
As the most powerful supernatural factions in the city court Cam and his gift, he’ll have to work with his friends, both old and new, to figure out who he can trust and who might be a werewolf in sheep’s clothing. Because the clock is ticking, and Cam and his friends must identify the girl in the vision, find her potential killer, and prevent the murder from happening. Or the next murder Cam sees might be his own. —Synopsis provided by Margaret K. McElderry Books
“Lukens delivers a riveting mystery via propulsive and carefully balanced plotting, distinctly rendered characters, and immersive worldbuilding that believably examines themes of prejudice, social pressures, family strife, and navigating unrealistic expectations.” —Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review
LIES OF A TOYMAKER: A NOVEL, By Kelly Ann Jacobson, Three Rooms Press, April 8, 2025, Paperback, $16 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
Paige (a queer 18-year-old girl) is a wooden toymaker’s daughter dragged from state to state as her mother, Petta Vitaly, hawks her creations from their caravan. When they finally return to Petta’s hometown, Paige discovers Toy Palace, her family’s animatronic toy business, but she keeps the discovery from her mother—only to find that she has begun to turn into a wooden marionette.
With the help of two girls who use Paige’s interest in them to pull off the heist, Paige breaks into Toy Palace and finds out some of the family history her mother has been hiding from her. Though Paige is abandoned by the two girls, she discovers a captive fairy in one of the upper rooms of Toy Palace, Prince Alexio, who shows her that an entire realm, the Land of Toys, has been destroyed by fairies called the Deathsprites—and that her family has been using Prince Alexio’s powers to help the evil fairies gain power through the animatronic toys they have been selling for the last eighteen years.
Unable to cope with this new information, Paige runs away from Toy Palace and the captive prince, but her mother and a Toy Palace manager end up rescuing Prince Alexio instead. He finds Paige and takes her to the Land of Toys, where the Deathsprites have been turning sweet toys into terrible monsters determined to kill everything in their path. With the help of the talking cricket and Paige’s newfound strength as a marionette, the two must cross the realm of piled toy parts and frightful creations to stop the Deathsprites from making a portal to Earth that will bring destruction on that planet, too. —Synopsis provided by Three Rooms Press
“Imaginative and meticulous, the narrative follows a wide cast of characters through shifting chapters. All have their own secrets, budding relationships, and dreams. Together, they discover who they are and where they belong.” —Foreward Reviews
RUN AWAY WITH ME, by Brian Selznick, Scholastic Press, April 1, 2025, Hardcover, $24.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
From New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Brian Selznick, a profoundly romantic YA novel about two boys finding each other and falling in love over one summer in Rome.
“I’m going to call you Danny. What are you going to name me?”
“Angelo.”
Danny is spending his sixteenth summer in Rome. As his mother spends the day at work in a mysterious museum, he wanders the ancient sites and streets. Soon after his arrival, he encounters a shadow… who becomes a voice… who becomes a boy his age. Angelo.
Soon Danny and Angelo are spending as much time as they can together, piecing together stories of the city while only gradually letting their own histories be shared. Attraction leads to affection, and affection leads to both an intimate closeness and a profound fear of what happens next. Danny has never really had a home, or known the love of another boy. Angelo seems to have more experience… but he also has secrets just out of Danny’s reach.
Run Away With Me is a stunning creation, weaving words and illustration to tell the story of a transformative love over the course of one Roman summer. —Synopsis provided by Scholastic Press
“A mesmerizing ode to poetry, art, and love that stands the test of time, Selznick’s first title for young adults is recommended for all collections.” —School Library Journal, Starred Review
Copyright © 2025 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.
