Queer YA Series

I was curating my goodreads shelf, as one does, and started thinking about all my favorite LGBTQ YA books. It turns out, the vast majority of queer YA books are standalone books. (If I’m wrong, please correct me! I’d love to add more queer YA series to my TBR pile.)

I don’t know really know why — my guess is that generally, sci-fi and fantasy books end up as series, and most of the queer YA I know of are contemporary fiction — such as ‘issue’ stories, coming out narratives, or romance. And of course, I imagine it’s hard to sell a single queer YA book to a publishing industry that isn’t interested (big sigh), much less an entire series.

Whatever the reason, I decided to round up all the queer YA series (starring PoC of course!) that I’ve read. Here they are:

Not Your Sidekick (Sidekick Squad #1) by C.B. Lee: This series is all about queer teen superheroes fighting the system, falling in love, and being the best friends they can be. Just thinking about this series warms my heart, and I can’t recommend it enough. There’s 3 books in this series!

The Abyss Surrounds Us (The Abyss Surrounds Us #1) by Emily Skrutskie:  This series follows Cassandra Leung as she trains to become a Reckoner (read: sea monster!) trainer. When her inaugural mission goes horribly wrong, she must survive among pirates. There’s everything you could possibly want: Pirates! Sea monters! Girls falling in love! More sea monsters!

Lumberjanes: I’m counting comics in this list because as you can see, it’s a pretty short list! Lumberjanes is an excellent graphic novel about five friends at summer camp, and all the supernatural, weird shenanigans they get up to. The series features queer characters in its main cast and along with a discussion of they/them pronouns (in Volume 9!). One of its writers, Noelle Stevenson is behind the wonderful and very queer She-Ra reboot, so if you haven’t checked out Lumberjanes already, definitely do it!

There’s also two queer YA SFF books I’ve read recently that are getting sequels — huzzah!

Girls of Paper and Fire (Girls of Paper and Fire #1) by Natasha Ngan:  This is a story of survival, love, and trauma in an intricately built-up fantasy world. The story follows Lei, a golden-eyed girl chosen to part of the cruel king’s chosen Paper Girls. But, she’s soon drawn into a conspiracy and a love that changes everything. TW: violence and sexual abuse.

 We Set the Dark on Fire (We Set the Dark on Fire #1) by Tehlor Kay Mejia: This book isn’t so easy to summarize, so I’ll point you to Goodreads for that. It’s an amazing read, and feels especially relevant right now.

So, what are your favorite queer YA series? Are they also all sci-fi or fantasy? Let us know!