100 books like Breaks Vol. 1

This one has messy right in the title! Freddy keeps getting dumped by Laura Dean over and over. She gets so blinded by her “love” for Laura Dean that she takes her friends for granted. It’s a classic story with an LGBT+ twist. Part of what makes it stand out is the beautiful visual storytelling. I actually learned a lot from this one, as it’s quite different from the superhero comics I grew up with. There are moments in here where two hands will say a thousand words. 

I’m a long-time DC Comics reader, so I’ve been a fan of Mister Miracle and the other characters in this story since childhood. But they’ve never been explored like this. This is a story of two people bonded by trauma. Scott Free (Mister Miracle’s secret identity) and his wife Barda are deeply broken and deeply in love.

Their lives are messy–like on an intergalactic scale. They’re being pulled into wars on other planets by actual gods. But they would fight armies to protect their love and their family. It’s a gorgeous exploration of how being a superhuman affects people and their families, and Gerads art adds otherworldliness to the whole journey. 

Not for the kids, but a great laugh for the adults–this book is about two people who stop time when they orgasm. They decide to use this power to rob a bank so they can save the local library with the funds. But like all the books on this list, this is actually a story about relationships.

This one comes with a heavy dose of comedy…inappropriate, sexytime comedy. But there are also very relatable, heartbreaking moments where the characters grapple with their own sexuality and how it’s affected their lives and relationships. Just a great time and filled with visual gags from Zdarsky. And don’t skip the letters column!

Galaxy, also known as Taylor Barzelay, is an alien princess hiding on Earth. But to stay safe, she’s disguised as a human boy. As she struggles in a body that is not her own, she falls for a new girl in school. The relationship in this one is actually incredibly lovely.

Taylor and Kat’s romance feels like a warm blanket, and I love every minute of their teenage girl banter. What makes it messy is Taylor’s need to hide who she is for the safety of her alien family. Can she and Kat ever be together openly and honestly? Jess Taylor's vibrant colors and bold art make this a visual masterpiece. 

I really enjoyed reading all the #OwnVoice short stories, several of which have intersectional representation, in Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories. The twelve authors demonstrate a wide range of writing styles, writing about different themes in a variety of genres from medieval to contemporary to dystopian. It’s a book you can return to again and again, choosing different stories to read depending on your mood and interests. 

After reading all that historical fiction, you might be ready to learn more about the time periods and events that you’ve been introduced to. This non-fiction book is based on the author’s 2012 Stonewall Award-winning A Queer History of the United States and is adapted for teen readers. It includes some well-known figures, alongside profiles of many people that readers may never have heard of. Engaging and easy to read, this is a fascinating and richly detailed telling of queer American history, particularly in the years before the Stonewall Riots.

A few years before I came out, I remember marveling at the boldness of certain women like Frida Kahlo, Toni Morrison, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, who expressed so freely. With jealous awe I wished I could do that. But how could I? I came from a family of clergy people! In time, however, those brave women inspired me as I came out loud. The remarkable autobiographical story of Congresswoman Davids has that same power. She grew up always speaking, yet also listening, including to those often ignored. A lesbian and member of the Ho Chunk Nation, which means People of the Big Voice, she saw the lack of minority representation in Congress and boldly stepped forward. Now she listens and raises her Big Voice loud in service of others! So inspiring!

This is a stunning bilingual story about a boy whose father teaches him about songs as a way of expressing love, and then helps him write a love song for a special boy. I fell in love with the story when I first saw the short-film version and am equally enthusiastic about the picture book. The author describes the story as a “queer reclamation of the Mexican serenata tradition” and shows us a family that transmits the deep meaning of cultural traditions while also re-imagining them. The gorgeous illustrations convey a sense of softness and magic.  Along with the narrative, written in both English and Spanish, the images carry the reader into a world that is pure beauty, affirmation, celebration, and joy.  

The story is set in Canada during the 1920s but Baxter, the main character, is an immigrant from the Caribbean and exemplifies a consequence of the region’s slave history. He is part of the diaspora of descendants seeking better lives in other parts of the world. But although in a different country, Baxter does not escape the pressure to accept a position in a subservient class.

Mayr effectively creates the sense of threat that pervades Baxter’s environment, intensified by his sexual orientation. A saving grace is his peer group of fellow porters. Initially they seem cruel and disinterested, but when faced by oppressive authority, they rally around him. This book reminded me that though the physical confinement of slavery has ended, the devaluation of Blackness continues.

By showcasing the rich tradition of queer poets whose writing is inspired by nature, Queer Nature opens up the nature poetry genre.

It is the book I needed twenty years ago when I began writing poetry. In my search for queer role models I was happy to find Mary Oliver, Kay Ryan, and Elizabeth Bishop but little did I know how many others were hiding in plain sight. This expansive anthology presents up to 200 more poets from 150 years ago to the present day, with a moving introduction by editor Michael Walsh.

Funny, sad, complex, and direct; the poems explore exclusion and alienation as well as love and belonging. Above all else this anthology confirms that poetry is as boundless as nature and that together they belong to everyone.