Coming of Age

A structurally brilliant novel that follows one unforgettable man through decades of love, loss, and resilience. Isaac Dahl is warm, funny, and achingly real—and this book will stay with you long after you finish it.

Dream Boy is devastating, lyrical, and deeply felt—a story about survival, desire, and the fraught intimacy between two boys with nowhere else to turn. The prose is stunning, the characters achingly real. But a supernatural turn and one scene that crosses into exploitation left me uncertain. Still, this is a book that lingers. A conflicted A-.

A haunted Victorian. A boy worth the risk. And a ghost that won't let them go. Paul Michael Winters' The Haunting Between Us is the tender, spooky YA romance that fifteen-year-old me needed—and today's queer teens deserve.

Fifteen-year-old Theron meets Jake in rural New Hampshire, and over the next two decades, they drift together and apart through music, drugs, and a complicated love that defies easy categories. August Thompson's debut is an atmospheric, beautifully written meditation on desire, identity, and the people who shape us. It's devastating, precise, and completely unputdownable.

David Sedaris' collection of family stories has perfect timing and unexpected heart in Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. His voice transforms familiar dysfunction into something warm and funny—essential listening for anyone who appreciates the beautiful chaos of loving difficult people.

A devastating, beautiful story about three gay teens in small-town Australia. Holden Sheppard delivers raw honesty about faith, shame, and survival. This one gets an A—and will stay with you.

Wild Dark Shore is a beautifully written book that achieves what it sets out to do, even if what it sets out to do occasionally feels a bit too earnest for its own good. Worth reading, but maybe temper those sky-high expectations.

A masterfully paced novel that transforms personal survival into political awakening—essential reading.

A sharp, funny, and big-hearted rom-com about a theater kid chasing the fantasy of love, The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King shines brightest when it lets its drama king grow beyond the script he’s written for himself.

A lyrical, quietly powerful story of first love and longing, Lie With Me traces the fragile beauty of a hidden romance and the ache it leaves behind across a lifetime.

A tender, poetic coming-of-age that sees gayness through the lens of vulnerability and cultural identity. Sáenz's lyrical prose elevates what could be a simple story into something achingly beautiful—even when it occasionally prioritizes introspection over action.