Recommended Resource: Books for LGBTQ Youth and their Families
Foster parents may feel overwhelmed and unequipped to care for LGBTQ+ youth. These books can help you to provide a welcoming, safe home.
Disclaimer: This list of resources was compiled as part of a larger project completed by a past MSW intern working with our program. They don't necessarily represent the official views or opinions of The Salvation Army. Because our staff members have not read all of these books, we recommend parents using their own discretion and previewing these resources before sharing them with their children.
Book Recommendations for LGBTQ Youth and their Families
Fiction
All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages by Saundra Mitchell
Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher
Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence by Marion Dane Bauer, Beck Underwood
Growing Up Gay/Lesbian: A Literary Anthology by Bennett L. Singer
If I was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio
It’s Not Like it’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura
Boy Meets Boy by David Leviathan
The Necessary Hunger by Nina Revoyr
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson
Nonfiction
The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime that Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle by Lillian Faderman
A Queer History of the United States for Young People by Michael Bronski
She He They Me: For the Sisters Misters & Binary Resisters by Robyn Ryle
Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned by Judd Winick
Parenting
Always My Child by Kevin Jennings, Pat Shapiro
Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell it Like it is by Abigail Garner
Gay Parents/Straight Schools: Building Communication and Trust by Virginia Casper, Steven B. Schultz
Education
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights: A Human Rights Perspective by David M. Donahue
Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality by Kim Cosier, Rachel Harper, Jeff Sapp
Tackling LGBT Issues in School by GLSEN
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