
So, for the past couple of years, usually in December, I like to talk about the queer middle grade books I know about coming out that year. Just for fun, really. You can see my 2019 list here, and my 2020 list here. It’s a little late this year because 2020.
As I’ve said before, I use a fairly loose definition for “Queer MG” that I wouldn’t necessarily use for YA or Adult books. When talking about middle grade, I include books where the main character isn’t queer, but someone in their life is, like a best friend or sibling, or an adult like a parent or teacher.
I believe all kids should see their lives reflected in books, including those with queer families and I don’t want kids to think queer people disappear after the age of 18. Queer kids seeing queer adults as role models is super important.
These are not final numbers of the year, but in December 2018 I found 10 upcoming books. In December 2019, I found 21. This December, 26. It is very encouraging to see more and more queer middle grade each year. And I’m sure more will be announced as 2021 progresses, and probably I will find out about more that exist that I just don’t know.
I’m not all-seeing, after all 😛
Also, thanks to Luce for making this picure for me. You’re my fave.
Let’s talk books!
Meow or Never by Jazz Taylor
Release date: January 5th, 2020 which means you can buy it now!
Summary (from goodreads): Avery Williams can sing, but that doesn’t mean she can sing in front of people. She likes to stay backstage at her new school, which is where, to her surprise, she finds a cat tucked away into a nook. Avery names the stray Phantom and visits any time she’s feeling stressed (which is a lot these days).
As she sings to Phantom one day, her crush, Nic, overhears her and ropes Avery into auditioning for the school’s musical. Despite her nerves, Avery lands the lead role!
She knows she should be excited, but mostly Avery is terrified. Can Phantom help her through her stage fright? And what will happen if anyone finds out about her secret pet?
The part where I talk: Okay this one is REALLY cool to me for several reasons. One, KITTY. Two, this is a popular line of books that a lot of kid probably read. Three, there is nothing on the summary that explicitly says this is queer. Therefore, if it’s the same on the book, then four, this is a book very likely to be in school libraries and Scholastic book orders and kids who may not have a lot of access to queer books could read it. And, five, this looks like the audience is pretty young and there’s just not a lot of queer middle grade aimed at the younger middle grade crowd.
This is really cool.
Proud of Me by Sarah Hagger-Holt
Release date: February 4th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Becky and Josh are almost-twins, with two mums and the same anonymous donor dad.
Josh can’t wait until he’s eighteen, the legal age when he can finally contact his father, and he’ll do anything to find out more - even if it involves lying.
Becky can’t stop thinking about her new friend, Carli. Could her feelings for Carli be a sign of something more?
Becky and Josh both want their parents to be proud of them…but right now, they’re struggling to even accept themselves.
Spin With Me by Ami Polonsky
Release date: February 16th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Essie is a thirteen-year-old girl feeling glum about starting a new school after her professor dad takes a temporary teaching position in a different town. She has 110 days here and can’t wait for them to end. Then she meets Ollie: delicate, blue eyes, short hair, easy smile. At first, Essie thinks she has a typical crush on a beautiful boy. But as her crush blossoms, she soon realizes that Ollie is not a boy or a girl, but gender non-binary.
Meanwhile, Ollie is experiencing a crush of their own . . . on Essie. As Ollie struggles to balance their passion for queer advocacy with their other interests, they slowly find themselves falling for a girl whose stay is about to come to an end. Can the two unwind their merry-go-round of feelings before it’s too late?
All You Knead is Love by Tanya Guerrero
Release date: March 30th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Twelve-year-old Alba doesn’t want to live with her estranged grandmother in Barcelona.
But her mother needs her to be far, far away from their home in New York City. Because this is the year that her mother is going to leave Alba’s abusive father. Hopefully. If she’s strong enough to finally, finally do it.
Alba is surprised to find that she loves Barcelona, forming a close relationship with her grandmother, meeting a supportive father figure, and making new friends. Most of all, she discovers a passion and talent for bread baking. When her beloved bakery is threatened with closure, Alba is determined to find a way to save it—and at the same time, she may just come up with a plan to make their family whole again.
The part where I talk: I don’t have a ton of information about this one, but I am very into the punny title.
Middletown by Sarah Moon
Release date: April 6th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Thirteen-year-old Eli likes baggy clothes, baseball caps, and one girl in particular. Her seventeen-year-old sister Anna is more traditionally feminine; she loves boys and staying out late. They are sisters, and they are also the only family each can count on. Their dad has long been out of the picture, and their mom lives at the mercy of her next drink. When their mom lands herself in enforced rehab, Anna and Eli are left to fend for themselves. With no legal guardian to keep them out of foster care, they take matters into their own hands: Anna masquerades as Aunt Lisa, and together she and Eli hoard whatever money they can find. But their plans begin to unravel as quickly as they were made, and they are always way too close to getting caught.
Eli and Anna have each gotten used to telling lies as a means of survival, but as they navigate a world without their mother, they must learn how to accept help, and let other people in.
The part where I talk: This was also on my 2020 releases list – it was originally slated for 2020.
The Anti-Book by Raphael Simon
Release date: April 6th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Mickey is angry all the time: at his divorced parents, at his sister, and at his two new stepmoms, both named Charlie. And so he can’t resist the ad inside his pack of gum: “Do you ever wish everyone would go away? Buy The Anti-Book! Satisfaction guaranteed.” He orders the book, but when it arrives, it’s blank–except for one line of instruction: To erase it, write it. He fills the pages with all the things and people he dislikes . . .
Next thing he knows, he’s wandering an anti-world, one in which everything and everyone familiar is gone. Or are they? His sister soon reappears–but she’s only four inches tall. A tiny talking house with wings looks strangely familiar, as does the mysterious half-invisible boy who seems to think that he and Mickey are best buds. The boy persuades Mickey to go find the Bubble Gum King–the king, who resides at the top of a mountain, is the only one who might be able help Mickey fix the mess he’s made.
The part where I talk: Okay so this one isn’t obvious at first, but one, two steomoms means almost certainly queer parents, and two, check out this post by the author.
Too Bright To See by Kyle Lukoff
Release date: April 20th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): It’s the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug’s best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare. For Moira, this means figuring out the right clothes to wear, learning how to put on makeup, and deciding which boys are cuter in their yearbook photos than in real life. But none of this is all that appealing to Bug, who doesn’t particularly want to spend more time trying to understand how to be a girl. Besides, there’s something more important to worry about: A ghost is haunting Bug’s eerie old house in rural Vermont…and maybe haunting Bug in particular. As Bug begins to untangle the mystery of who this ghost is and what they’re trying to say, an altogether different truth comes to light–Bug is transgender.
Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden
Release date: May 4th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Libby comes from a long line of bullies. She wants to be different, but sometimes that doesn’t work out. Now she’s suspended again.
On the opposite side of the country lives Vincent, a kid who loves the mathematician Katherine Johnson and being a non-conformist, who’s trying hard not to get stuffed into lockers at his new school. But that’s not working out too well either.
Nearby is T, who couldn’t take living at home anymore and is determined to survive on a rainy sidewalk.
And then there’s Jack, a big-hearted kid so engaged in the fight to keep his small rural school open that he’s lost focus on the ones who need him most.
Four kids. Four different lives. And then… one card with a message of hope takes flight and starts a chain reaction, helping each kid summon the thing they need, whether it’s bravery, empathy, or understanding. But best of all, it makes each one realize they matter — and that they’re not flying solo anymore.
The part where I talk: After reading like 900 goodreads reviews BECAUSE NO ONE WILL JUST COME OUT AND SAY IT, it seems T is nonbinary.
Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas
Release date: May 11th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Brian has always been anxious, whether at home, or in class, or on the basketball court. His dad tries to get him to stand up for himself and his mom helps as much as she can, but after he and his brother are placed in foster care, Brian starts having panic attacks. And he doesn’t know if things will ever be “normal” again . . . Ezra’s always been popular. He’s friends with most of the kids on his basketball team—even Brian, who usually keeps to himself. But now, some of his friends have been acting differently, and Brian seems to be pulling away. Ezra wants to help, but he worries if he’s too nice to Brian, his friends will realize that he has a crush on him . . .
But when Brian and his brother run away, Ezra has no choice but to take the leap and reach out. Both boys have to decide if they’re willing to risk sharing parts of themselves they’d rather hide. But if they can be brave, they might just find the best in themselves—and each other.
Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea by Ashley Herring Blake
Release date: May 25, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Hazel Bly used to live in the perfect house with the perfect family in sunny California. But when a kayaking trip goes horribly wrong, Mum is suddenly gone forever and Hazel is left with crippling anxiety and a jagged scar on her face. After Mum’s death, Hazel, her other mother, Mama, and her little sister, Peach, needed a fresh start. So for the last two years, the Bly girls have lived all over the country, never settling anywhere for more than a few months.
When the family arrives in Rose Harbor, Maine, there’s a wildness to the small town that feels like magic. But when Mama runs into an old childhood friend—Claire—suddenly Hazel’s tight-knit world is infiltrated. To make it worse, she has a daughter Hazel’s age, Lemon, who can’t stop rambling on and on about the Rose Maid, a local 150-year-old mermaid myth.
Soon, Hazel finds herself just as obsessed with the Rose Maid as Lemon is—because what if magic were real? What if grief really could change you so much, you weren’t even yourself anymore? And what if instead you emerged from the darkness stronger than before?
The part where I talk: I actually thought this one was on my 2020 list, too, but I guess I must have caught it being pushed back just before I made my list.
Anyway, QUEER MERMAID BOOKS ARE KIND OF MY THING
How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby
Release date: May 25th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): For Pluto, summer has always started with a trip to the planetarium. It’s the launch to her favorite season, which also includes visits to the boardwalk arcade, working in her mom’s pizzeria, and her best friend Meredith’s birthday party. But this summer, none of that feels possible.
A month before the end of the school year, Pluto’s frightened mom broke down Pluto’s bedroom door. What came next were doctor’s appointments, a diagnosis of depression, and a big black hole that still sits on Pluto’s chest, making it too hard to do anything.
Pluto can’t explain to her mom why she can’t do the things she used to love. And it isn’t until Pluto’s dad threatens to make her move with him to the city—where he believes his money, in particular, could help—that Pluto becomes desperate enough to do whatever it takes to be the old Pluto again.
She develops a plan and a checklist: If she takes her medication, if she goes to the planetarium with her mom for her birthday, if she successfully finishes her summer school work with her tutor, if she goes to Meredith’s birthday party . . . if she does all the things that “normal” Pluto would do, she can stay with her mom in Jersey. But it takes a new therapist, a new tutor, and a new (and cute) friend with a checklist and plan of her own for Pluto to learn that there is no old and new Pluto. There’s just her.
The part where I talk: The new cute friend mentioned is nonbinary.
Almost Flying by Jake Maia Arlow
Release date: June 8th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Would-be amusement park aficionado Dalia only has two items on her summer bucket list: (1) finally ride a roller coaster and (2) figure out how to make a new best friend. But when her dad suddenly announces that he’s engaged, Dalia’s schemes come to a screeching halt. With Dalia’s future stepsister Alexa heading back to college soon, the grown-ups want the girls to spend the last weeks of summer bonding–meaning Alexa has to cancel the amusement park road trip she’s been planning for months.
Luckily Dalia comes up with a new plan: If she joins Alexa on her trip and brings Rani, the new girl from her swim team, along maybe she can have the perfect summer after all. But what starts out as a week of funnel cakes and Lazy River rides goes off the rails when Dalia discovers that Alexa’s girlfriend is joining the trip. And keeping Alexa’s secret makes Dalia realize one of her own: She might have more-than-friend feelings for Rani.
Both Can Be True by Jules Machias
Release date: June 8th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Ash is no stranger to feeling like an outcast. For someone who cycles through genders, it’s a daily struggle to feel in control of how people perceive you. Some days Ash is undoubtedly girl, but other times, 100 percent guy. Daniel lacks control too—of his emotions. He’s been told he’s overly sensitive more times than he can count. He can’t help the way he is, and he sure wishes someone would accept him for it.
So when Daniel’s big heart leads him to rescue a dog that’s about to be euthanized, he’s relieved to find Ash willing to help. The two bond over their four-legged secret. When they start catching feelings for each other, however, things go from cute to complicated. Daniel thinks Ash is all girl . . . what happens when he finds out there’s more to Ash’s story?
With so much on the line—truth, identity, acceptance, and the life of an adorable pup named Chewbarka—will Ash and Daniel forever feel at war with themselves because they don’t fit into the world’s binaries? Or will their friendship help them embrace the beauty of living in between?
Other Boys by Damien Alexander
Release date: September 7th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Damian is the new kid at school, and he has a foolproof plan to avoid the bullying that’s plagued him his whole childhood: he’s going to stop talking. Starting on the first day seventh grade, he won’t utter a word. If he keeps his mouth shut, the bullies will have nothing to tease him about—right?
But Damian’s vow of silence doesn’t work—his classmates can tell there’s something different about him. His family doesn’t look like the kind on TV: his mother is dead, his father is gone, and he’s being raised by his grandparents in a low-income household. And Damian does things that boys aren’t supposed do, like play with Barbies instead of GI Joe. Kids have teased him about this his whole like, the especially other boys. But if boys can be so cruel, why does Damian have a crush on one?
The part where I talk: This is a middle grade graphic mermoir.
A Touch of Ruckus by Ash Van Otterloo
Release date: September 7th, 2020
Summary (from goodreads): TENNESSEE LANCASTER HAS A HIDDEN GIFT.
She can pry into folks’ memories with just a touch of their belongings. It’s something she’s always kept hidden-especially from her big, chaotic family. Their lives are already chock-full of worries about Daddy’s job and Mama’s blues without Tennie rocking the boat.
But when the Lancasters move to the mountains for a fresh start, Tennie’s gift does something new. Instead of just memories, her touch releases a ghost with a terrifying message: Trouble is coming. Tennie wants to ignore it. Except her new friend Fox-scratch that, her only friend, Fox-is desperate to go ghost hunting deep in the forest. And when Tennie frees even more of the spirits, trouble is exactly what she gets…and it hits close to home. The ghosts will be heard, and now Tennie must choose between keeping secrets or naming an ugly truth that could tear her family apart.
A-Okay by Jarad Green
Release date: Sptember 7th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): A semi-autobiographical story featuring Jay, a 13-year-old with severe bouts of acne who’s battling his skin, the side effects of a potent acne prescription, and his understanding of being ace, all while trying to survive eighth grade.
The part where I talk: ACE MIDDLE GRADE, ACE MIDDLE GRADE, ACE MIDDLE GRADE. I am so happy about this. We’ve got like 3 now! Three whole books!
Also, September 7th is going to be a cool day.
The Insiders by Mark Oshiro
Release date: September 21st, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): HarperCollins has bought middle grade novel The Insiders by Mark Oshiro.
The book features a queer boy who, fleeing from bullies, discovers a magical closet that not only provides him sanctuary, but also unites him with two other kids facing persecution at their own schools across the country, helping them find friendship and strength in one another.
Candidly Cline by Kathryn Ormsbee
Release date: November 9th, 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Stephanie Stein at HarperCollins has bought, at auction, world English rights to Kathryn Ormsbee’s Candidly Cline.
The middle grade contemporary novel features an aspiring country singer-songwriter trying to find her voice as she navigates her family’s money troubles, a changing relationship with her grandmother, a difficult friendship breakup, and her first crush on a girl, while dreaming of her big break from her small Kentucky town.
Publication is set for fall 2021; Beth Phelan at Gallt and Zacker Literary brokered the deal.
The Devouring Wolf by Natalie C. Parker
Release date: An unknown date in 2021
Summary (from goodreads): In this queer take on werewolf mythology, a young werewolf is distraught when she doesn’t transform into a wolf the summer following her 12th birthday, like everyone else in her community. To get to the bottom of the mystery, she’ll need to unearth her community’s deepest secrets and face a terrifying creature from legend.
The part where I talk: So a movie came out recently called Wolfwalkers that I really want to watch soon and I’m kind of hoping this has a similar vibe.
Queer werewolves just seems like a naural match.
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz
Release date: An unknown date in 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Little, Brown has acquired Deya Muniz’s debut middle-grade graphic novel, The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich, in which Lady Camembert, a denizen of the Kingdom of Fromage, must disguise herself as a man in order to inherit her father’s estate, but her secret becomes difficult to keep once she falls in love with the royal Princess Brie. Publication will begin in spring 2021.
The part where I talk: I can’t tell if the cheese puns here are killing me or giving me life but I find this concept hilarious.
Tidesong by Wendy Zu
Release date: Sometime in 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Features an ambitious 12-year-old who moves to a seaside town with her aunts for an apprenticeship in magic and realizes that it may be more than she bargained for.
The One Who Loves You Most by medina
Release date: Fall 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Nick Thomas at Levine Querido has bought, in a preempt, The One Who Loves You the Most by medina, founder and executive director of inQluded and 2019 SCBWI Emerging Voices winner.
The middle grade novel follows 1-year-old Gabriela who lives at the intersection of multiple identities as they long to find their place in the world, but a school project, new trans and queer friends, and a YouTube channel help Gabriela find purpose in their journey and find community. Publication is set for fall 2021; Marietta Zacker at Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency brokered the deal for North American English and world Dutch rights.
This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us edited by Katherin Locke
Release date: Sometime in 2021
Summary (from goodreads): The middle grade fiction anthology collects short stories, poetry, and comics about LGBTQIA+ characters and experiences by contributors Locke, Melleby, Eric Bell, Lisa Jenn Bigelow, Ashley Herring Blake, Lisa Bunker, Alex Gino, Justina Ireland, Shing Yin Khor, Mariama Lockington, Marieke Nijkamp, Claribel Ortega, Mark Oshiro, Molly Knox Ostertag, Aida Salazar, and A.J. Sass. Publication is slated for fall 2021.
The Lock Eater by Zack Loran Clar
Release date: Sometime in 2021
No goodreads summary available.
Obie is Man Enough by Schuyler Bailar
Release date: Sometime in 2021
No goodreads summary available.
Ellen Outside the Lines by A. J. Sass
Release date: Sometime in 2021
Summary (from goodreads): Lisa Yoskowitz at Little, Brown has bought Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass (Ana on the Edge), a middle grade novel in which Ellen, an autistic 13-year-old, travels to Barcelona on a class trip and finds herself navigating a new city, shifting friendships, a growing crush, and her queer and Jewish identities. Publication is slated for fall 2021; Jordan Hamessley at New Leaf Literary negotiated the deal for world English rights.
Hopefully I didn’t break the formating of this post too badly. This one is always tricky.
So this was fun! Did I miss any you know about? Let me know!
Peace and cookies,
Laina