YA Pride: 2012 LGBT YA Books, July-September

Every Friday in June, I'll be listing the YA novels first published in the United States in 2012 that include LGBT main characters. Today I'm covering books published in the third quarter: July-September. Check out books published in January-March here; April-June here; and October-December are coming next week. If you haven't already read my disclaimers/explanations about how I compiled these lists, you can read them here. Meanwhile, please don't forget that I have not read the vast majority of these titles, and inclusion on this list does not mean that I personally endorse them. I make no guarantees of quality here; I'm only listing the LGBT YA titles published in 2012.

Enjoy browsing the lists!

JULY

Sara By Greg Herren Publisher: Bold Strokes Books

Publisher's Description: For Tony Martin, being a senior means being a star on the football team, classes to get through, hanging out with his friends—and dating Candy Dixon. And once he graduates, he’s getting out of Kansas and never looking back. But his best friend Glenn’s decision to come out and be openly gay at their small rural high school creates a lot of problems for the two of them. But a beautiful new student arrives at Southern Heights High—Sara. When all the kids who’ve been mean to Glenn start dying in very strange circumstances, and Glenn starts acting strangely, it’s up to Tony and Candy to get to the bottom of what’s going on in their school—before it’s too late for them.

AUGUST

Starting From Here By Lisa Jenn Bigelow Publisher: Marshall Cavendish

Publisher's Description: Sixteen-year-old Colby Bingham’s heart has been broken too many times. Her mother is dead, her truck driver father is always away, and her almost girlfriend just dumped her for a guy. When an injured stray dog lands at her feet, she decides to care for it, against her better judgment. But new connections mean new opportunities for heartbreak. Terrified of another loss, Colby bolts at the first sign of trouble, managing to alienate her best friend, her father, the cute girl pursuing her, and even her dog’s vet, who’s taken Colby under her wing. Colby can’t start over, but can she learn how to move on?

Between You & Me By Marisa Calin Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publisher's Description: Tenth-grader Phyrnia — called Phyre — knows there is something life-changing about her new drama teacher, Mia, from the moment they meet. As Phyre spends time in class, and later, in rehearsals for the school play, she comes to realize that the feelings she has for Mia go deeper than she's ever experienced with an older person. Or a teacher. Or a woman.

All the while, Phyre's best friend — addressed throughout the story in the second person, as "you" — stands by, ready to help Phyre make sense of her feelings. But just as Mia doesn't understand what Phyre feels, Phyre can't fathom the depth of her best friend's feelings ... until it's almost too late for a happy ending.

OMGQueer: Short Stories by Queer Youth Edited by Radclyffe and Katherine E. Lynch Publisher: Bold Strokes Books

Publisher's Description: Hope. Fear. Desire. Despair. Promises. Betrayals.

Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. Transgender. Questioning. Intersex.

This anthology of short stories gives voice to the rising generation as they define what it means to grow up queer in the twenty-first century. What is it like to grow up in a society that embraces you in certain ways but discriminates against you in others? How do you choose a label from the alphabet soup, and should you even have to? By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, comical and caustic, these stories, imagined and told by youth across America, provide a snapshot of queerness at the dawn of the new millennium.

Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction Edited by Carrie Ryan Publisher: Delacorte (Random House)

Publisher's Description: Richelle Mead, Lisa McMann, Michael Grant, Meg Cabot, Laini Taylor, and nine more of the hottest YA authors to hit the shelves explore the concepts of prophecy and prediction in this story collection edited by NYT bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan.

Have you ever been tempted to look into the future? To challenge predictions? To question fate? It's human nature to wonder about life's twists and turns. But is the future already written-or do you have the power to alter it?

From fantastical prophecies to predictions of how the future will transpire, Foretold is a collection of stories about our universal fascination with life's unknowns and of what is yet to come as interpreted by 14 of young adult fiction's brightest stars.

Notes: "One True Love" by Malinda Lo includes LGBT main characters.

SEPTEMBER

The Secret of Othello By Sam Cameron Publisher: Bold Strokes Books

Publisher's Description: A shooting star streaks across Fisher Key’s skies. Natural phenomenon or secret military satellite? For Steven Anderson, any mystery is a welcome distraction. He’s vowed to avoid all the island’s pretty girls until the SEALs approve his waiver request. Unfortunately his libido — and the girls — have other ideas. Meanwhile, Denny Anderson is busy wooing the boy of his dreams. If he plans things right, he won’t be the only virgin entering the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Too bad every romantic rendezvous is ruined by misunderstandings, interruptions, and pesky tourists. As the days get hotter, the twins are drawn into an underwater race against time, tide, and treason. Suddenly, true love is the least of their problems. Under the waves, no one can hear you scream…

One in Every Crowd By Ivan E. Coyote Publisher: Arsenal Pulp

Publisher's Description: Ivan E. Coyote's wry, honest stories about gender and identity have captivated audiences everywhere. Ivan's eighth book is her first for LGBT youth, written for anyone who has ever felt different or alone in their struggles to be true to themselves. Included are stories about Ivan's tomboy youth and her adult life, where she experiences cruelty and kindness in unexpected places.

Funny, inspiring, and full of heart, One in Every Crowd is about embracing and celebrating difference and feeling comfortable in one's own skin.

Mariposa Gown By Rigoberto Gonzalez Publisher: Lethe Press

Publisher's Description: In the sequel to The Mariposa Club, devoted Maui, fabulous Trini, and Goth-boy Liberace discover that the miedo and drama of life as a senior in high school is never-ending. The cure: friendship. But the bonds between the trio are tested; Sebastian, the handsome son of a wealthy developer crushes on Maui's eye — and the attraction is mutual but oh-so-complicated; Trini must go back to living with her parents, which means dressing as a girl is no longer allowed; and Lib has to decide his future after graduation, one that could take him far away from Caliente Valley High and friends he's known for years. But before caps and gowns can be donned a different, crucial event is fast coming. Prom. And this new Fierce Foursome wants to make a statement about acceptance and diversity. Which means one of our activists will be wearing a gown at prom. Chic Manifique! Maybe. Hopefully, he'll still have a strong arm — and friends — to lean on when wearing matching heels.

Tilt By Ellen Hopkins Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (Simon & Schuster)

Publisher's Description: Three teens, three stories—all interconnected through their parents’ family relationships. As the adults pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the lives of the teens begin to tilt…

Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year—and decides to keep the baby?

Shane turns sixteen that same summer and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister’s impending death. Can he accept Alex’s love, knowing that his life, too, will be shortened?

Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Love, in all its forms, has crucial consequences in this standalone novel.

Personal Effects By E.M. Kokie Publisher: Candlewick

Publisher's Description: Ever since his brother, T.J., was killed in Iraq, Matt feels like he’s been sleepwalking through life — failing classes, getting into fights, and avoiding his dad’s lectures about following in his brother’s footsteps. T.J.’s gone, but Matt can’t shake the feeling that if only he could get his hands on his brother’s stuff from Iraq, he’d be able to make sense of his death. But as Matt searches for answers about T.J.’s death, he faces a shocking revelation about T.J.’s life that suggests he may not have known T.J. as well as he thought. What he learns challenges him to stand up to his father, honor his brother’s memory, and take charge of his own life. With compassion, humor, and a compelling narrative voice, E. M. Kokie explores grief, social mores, and self-discovery in a provocative first novel.

Andy Squared By Jennifer Lavoie Publisher: Bold Strokes Books

Publisher's Description: Seventeen-year-old twins, Andrew and Andrea Morris, have always been close. They share everything — from their friends to a room — and they both enjoy star positions on their high school’s soccer teams. All’s right with the twins...or is it?

When new student Ryder Coltrane moves from Texas to their small New York town, he spins Andrew’s world upside down. All of Andrew’s past relationship troubles begin to make sense and his true feelings start to click into place after Ryder comes out to him. His friendship with Ryder turns secretively romantic, but secrets, they soon find out, are hard to keep. Once rumors start to fly, so-called friends turn on them, and the boys’ relationship turns into a bomb about to explode. But Andrew never expected it would be his own twin, Andrea, holding a lighter to ignite it.

Adaptation By Malinda Lo Publisher: Little, Brown

Publisher's Description: Across North America, flocks of birds hurl themselves into airplanes, causing at least a dozen to crash. Thousands of people die. Fearing terrorism, the United States government grounds all flights, and millions of travelers are stranded.

Reese and her debate team partner and longtime crush David are in Arizona when it happens. Everyone knows the world will never be the same. On their drive home to San Francisco, along a stretch of empty highway at night in the middle of Nevada, a bird flies into their headlights. The car flips over. When they wake up in a military hospital, the doctor won’t tell them what happened, where they are—or how they’ve been miraculously healed.

Things become even stranger when Reese returns home. San Francisco feels like a different place with police enforcing curfew, hazmat teams collecting dead birds, and a strange presence that seems to be following her. When Reese unexpectedly collides with the beautiful Amber Gray, her search for the truth is forced in an entirely new direction — and threatens to expose a vast global conspiracy that the government has worked for decades to keep secret.

Willful Impropriety Edited by Ekaterina Sedia Publisher: Running Press Kids

Publisher's Description: The Season has finally arrived, filled with the magnificent balls, scandalous gossip, and clandestine romances that every lord and lady in good society has come to expect. But far within the walls of lavish estates and in the dark corners of the city lies a world that the aristocracy dares not touch, with rules and risks that glamour cannot overpower. Yet true love has no boundaries, and heiresses and street thieves alike must use their savvy and strength to create new beginnings and happily-ever-afters. Sometimes luck is enough, but every once in a while, a touch of magic may be needed.

Deliciously alluring, these thirteen historical romances from a talented array of YA authors will make even the most cynical heart swoon.

Notes: "Steeped in Debt to the Chimney Pots" by Steve Berman; "The Unladylike Education of Agatha Tremain" by Stephanie Burgis; "Outside the Absolute" by Seth Cadin; "Resurrection" by Tiffany Trent; and "The Dancing Master" by Genevieve Valentine include LGBT main characters.

Cursed By H. Rachelle Graham Publisher: Bella Books

Publisher's Description: Hailey Mancini can’t believe that her best friend Lisa White is letting the new girl write her phone number on her hand. No good Mormon girl should have anything to do with the likes of Megan.   Lisa knows what the Prophets say happens to girls like Megan. But her prayers for the strength to resist have gone unanswered. She can’t help liking Megan as more than a friend. Desperate, she tells Hailey the truth. The worst happens—Hailey shuns her and soon everybody knows why.   Her parents try to have her cured by one of the Mormon “treatment” groups. When that doesn’t work she’s thrown out of the house. Feeling as if she’s cursed, Lisa thinks she has nothing to live for. The one thing she didn’t count on was how watching Lisa’s torment—and her tormentors—would help Hailey admit to secrets of her own.