"Society does not make it easy for young people, regardless of their sexual orientation, to find accurate, nonjudgmental information about homosexuality. It makes it even more difficult for young homosexuals to find positive role models in fiction either written or published expressly for them or if published for adults relevant to them and their lives. The Heart Has Its Reasons examines these issues and critically evaluates the body of literature published for young adults that offers homosexual themes and characters. Cart and Jenkins chart the evolution of the field of YA literature having GLBTQ (gay/lesbian/bisexual, transgendered, and/or queer/questioning) content. They identify titles that are remarkable either for their excellence or failures, noting the stereotypic, wrongheaded, and outdated books as well as the accurate, thoughtful, and tactful titles. Useful criteria for evaluating books with GLBTQ content are provided. Books and resources of all types are reviewed based on a model that uses the category descriptors of Homosexual Visibility, Gay Assimilation, and Queer Consciousness/Community. An annotated bibliography and a number of author-title lists of books discussed in the text arranged by subject round out this valuable reference for teachers, librarians, parents, and young adults."

Analyzes homosexual characters from YA novels published between 1969 and 1982, aiming to assess their literary quality and determine if their image of homosexual characters is negative.

As one of the only highly praised resources on this important topic, this thoughtfully compiled book examines and suggests picture books and chapter books presenting LGBTQ content to children under the age of 12.
* A foreword by K.T. Horning of the Cooperative Children's Book Center
* An extensive bibliography of picture books, easy chapter books, nonfiction books and nonprint materials with LGBTQ content for children ages 12 and under
* An index of key terms for each title provides easy access to titles representing a specific aspect of LGBTQ culture

**Also available to UNI patrons as an ebook**

I'LL GET THERE. IT BETTER BE WORTH THE TRIP. was the first novel published for young adults with a gay main character. Our copy is the 40th anniversary edition, which includes some retrospective essays.

From the early years of young adult fiction, RUBY follows an 18-year-old young woman who has just moved from the West Indies to New York, where her friendship with another young woman leads her to discover her romantic interest in women.
UNI Special Collections also has a copy of this book.

One of the earliest examples of lesbian YA fiction, ANNIE ON MY MIND served as a touchstone for a generation.

"Sixteen short stories from well-known young-adult writers who have something meaningful to share about gay awareness and want to present positive, credible gay role models."

M. E. Kerr (one of several pseudonyms used by Marijane Meaker) wrote many beloved young adult novels; this story about a young lesbian in rural Missouri is a good place to start with her work. On the same shelf, you'll find her 1986 novel NIGHT KITES, about a boy whose brother has AIDS.

BABY BE-BOP was a 1996 Stonewall Literature Finalist, long before they had an award specifically for children's and young adult literature. It's part of the cycle of books revolving around Weetzie Bat and her friends, all of which are significant in the history of LGBTQ+ representation in YA.

Judd Winick and Pedro Zamora were housemates on The Real World: San Francisco in 1994, when reality TV was rarer and more documentarian. After Pedro's death at the age of 22 from AIDS-related illness, Judd (a professional cartoonist) told the story of Pedro's life, and of their friendship, in this work of graphic nonfiction.

RAINBOW BOYS, later to be followed by RAINBOW HIGH and RAINBOW ROAD, was one of the first gay YA novels of the 21st century. It shows up frequently in scholarship about gay characters in YA literature; it also got challenged several times. (And yes, that dark hair with bleached tips was SUPER cool in 2001.)

In a review for BOOKLIST, Michael Cart called BOY MEETS BOY "the first upbeat gay novel for teens." Set in a utopian high school universe where gay people just ARE, David Levithan's first novel is often seen as a milestone in gay YA.

LUNA was one of the first mainstream YA novels to focus on a transgender person's life, albeit through the eyes of her younger sister. (While only a little over a decade has passed since LUNA's publication, a lot has changed about how we talk about trans people and identities.)

THE VAST FIELDS OF ORDINARY, which takes place in fictional "Cedarville", Iowa, won the FIRST Stonewall Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature in 2010.