The best novels on unbridled queer teenage love written by and about people of color

Ocean Vuong’s poetic quality of writing stunned me. His beautiful use of language captured the mutual attraction between two lonely teenage boys who become lovers, coupled with the pain and complexity of their lives. I felt the novel stepped away from the personal torment and anguish often seen in books about teenage same-sex love, though it didn’t refrain from acknowledging the impact of the Vietnam war, abuse, poverty, drugs, and dysfunctional family dynamics. I liked the book because the boys’ love and desire for one another had the power to temporarily circumnavigate their differences, personal torments, and sexual boundaries. The flashbacks Little Dog (the protagonist), had about his family and his mother’s memories of Vietnam were also haunting.

I really enjoyed Lo’s writing and how she intersected the love and passion between two teenage girls (Lily, who is Chinese American and Kath, who is Caucasian), and the risks they take to be together. This is a historical novel set in 1954 and Lo artfully juxtaposes their growing desire alongside the oppression and harassment of queer people at the time. I found it captivating how Lily’s family and Chinese tradition impact the story, along with the constraints of living in San Francisco’s Chinatown and the ongoing red-baiting at the time. The illicit nature of same-sex desire added to the tension and heightened the girls’ quest to remain together. Lo didn’t shirk from addressing the impact of racism, sexism, and repression of Chinese and Chinese American people by the US government.

Also interesting was how she brought to light the clubs in SF’s North Beach where male impersonators performed and how queer women frequented them for the experience of joy, companionship, and comradery. Lo is a fabulous writer who tells a dynamic story set in a world most of us have rarely heard about or witnessed. 

Rivera has a fun and snappy style of writing and brings to life Juliet, a 19-year-old Puerto Rican student from the Bronx who falls in love with another young woman her first year of college, then struggles with their separation when the school year ends. I enjoyed how Rivera wove a feminist self-empowering guidebook written by a White lesbian into the narrative that inspires Juliet to talk her way into a summer internship with the author who lives across the country. Rivera addresses issues of race and class in the story and seamlessly entwines these dynamics. I especially enjoyed Juliet’s voice and her quest for familial acceptance of her love of women, then having to also deal with the feminist author’s personal and professional limitations. These parallel stories made the novel interesting and entertaining. Juliet’s blossoming as a young, woman-loving-woman sparkles with the give and take of family dynamics and personal growth.  

This compelling and beautifully written story begins in 1968 during the Biafran civil war in Nigeria, creating a unique setting of hardship, hunger, and death afflicting the people living in the area. Ijeoma, the 11-year-old protagonist, is sent away after a life-changing event and lives in a squalid hut when a young girl from another tribe comes to stay. Despite the difficulties surrounding them, the girls fall in love and the intensity of their desire continues as they grow. I enjoyed how Okparanta writes of the naturalness of this first love and how they cared for each other. Though the girls are separated, they reunite, but face religious repression from their community, which uses the Bible against them. The girls move on with their lives and Ijeoma finds another love, but this too, suffers from cultural and religious constraints. According to Okparanta (who lives in NY), Nigeria is a very religious country where LGBTQI people are often persecuted, and though reading this novel was sometimes difficult, the writing was superb and wonderfully conveyed. 

I liked this novel because it is rough, heartfelt, and engaging. This story is unusual in that the protagonist, Chulito, a 16-year-old Puerto Rican high school dropout, lives in the South Bronx and is in love with his childhood friend Carlos, but with the barrio’s rampant, ongoing homophobia, he attempts to play straight. Chulito is recruited by a local dealer to sell drugs, and though he acts the tough guy, his love for Carlos persists, even though he struggles to keep his true desire secret. Everything changes when Carlos comes home for the summer after his first year of college and Chulito’s life breaks free.

Their love for each other rises above the trove of hostile masculinity surrounding them, bringing vibrancy to their lives. Yet the struggles persist, as Chulito needs to negotiate the options available for a queer high school dropout caught between limited choices. I enjoyed Rice-Gonzalez’s vibrant writing as he offers a rare glimpse of a love shared between two young men in a ferocious world.