Are You There, God? It's Me, Gay Margaret

For anyone born before 1970, the concept of a young adult coming-out novel was almost nonexistent in our youth. In the 1970s and 1980s, queer/questioning preteens and teenagers had a handful of options written specifically for them. Today, new titles are published every week.

"There was a time when gay YA books numbered in the single digits, but now there seems to be 50 to 75 or more per year, which is great," says Martin Wilson, publicity manager at HarperCollins Publishers by day and author of young adult (YA) fiction by night.

"There's a definite boom, and publishers are no longer afraid to take these books on."

Leader of the Pack

He wasn't the first to create YA fiction targeting and featuring LGBTQ teens, but with books like "Two Boys Kissing," "The Realm of Possibility" and 2003's groundbreaking "Boy Meets Boy," the prolific David Levithan has definitely pushed the boundaries in this category, both as a popular author and as a longtime literary editor at Scholastic Books. Perhaps the most groundbreaking aspect of Levithan's work is that most of his LGBTQ characters are happy and fulfilled.

What qualifies as YA? "Often people think YA is fiction for teens, when really it's fiction that includes teens," says the Lambda Literary Award winner. "A majority of our readers are actually post-teenagers. The target range is 13 and up - sometimes way up."

He traces major changes in YA publishing to the late 1980s and early 1990s. "The early '90s were still the pioneer times for lesbian and gay YA," says Levithan, who joined Scholastic in the 1990s.

Before then, titles were scarce. Wilson lists a handful of pioneering books from the late 1960s through the 1980s, including the works of Nancy Garden, such as 1982's "Annie on My Mind," which was publicly burned by a minister in Kansas City, and the recently back-in-print "I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip" (1969).

John Donovan's YA novel focused on a lonely child of divorce living on the Upper East Side with his alcoholic mother, and featured a kissing scene with the hero's best friend. Donovan's 1992 New York Times obituary credited him with placing "the subject of homosexuality into a children's book for the first time and opened the way for authors to discuss topics previously considered taboo in children's literature."

Levithan says, "Now, 20 years later, the ground encompasses the full LGBT+ spectrum, and while there still may be the occasional publishing professional who says 'gay books don't sell,' they are massively out of touch with the readership, and fundamentally wrong in their perception."

Societal change has played a role, as has the Internet. The impact of e-books has been huge "with LGBT+ titles, because before there was always the hurdle of gatekeepers - in order for a kid to get a book in a library, it had to be bought by the librarian, or in order for a kid to get a book in a bookstore, it had to be brought in by the bookseller. Now readers can get any book they want with e-book access."

Levithan has been involved with two initiatives to bring more LGBTQ YA works to the public, the largest his PUSH Imprint at Scholastic.

"PUSH was founded to discover new YA writers and give them a home. We've had plenty of queer books [including Eddie de Oliveira's Lucky, one of the few YA novels with a bisexual male protagonist, and Billy Merrell's poetry memoir 'Talking in the Dark'] and books with strong queer characters, like Tanuja Desai Hidier's 'Born Confused,'" says Levithan.

He says that many YA and even middle-grade novels featuring trans characters are "in the pipeline," adding: "This fall I'm publishing Alex Gino's "George," an extraordinary middle-grade debut about a girl who everyone else sees as a boy - until she steals the part of Charlotte in her class's play of 'Charlotte's Web.'"

Levithan is also branching out by organizing the "Openly YA" Tour, where he and other authors tackling LGBTQ themes tour bookstores, reading from their work, signing copies and meeting fans.

This year's tour - which included New York's Books of Wonder - featured
Levithan, Bill Konigsberg, Aaron Hartzler, Adam Silvera, Will Walton and Robin Talley and featured stops in Philadelphia, Boston and other cities in the Northeast.

Out Down South

Three of the authors interviewed for this piece grew up in small or relatively small towns and base their coming-of-age stories there - A.S. King in Eastern Pennsylvania, where she continues to live, and Wilson and Will Walton in Alabama and Georgia, respectively.

Wilson's "What They Always Tell Us" covers a year in the life of two brothers, high school students in suburban Tuscaloosa - the older a popular straight athlete, the younger recovering from a haphazard suicide attempt while coming to terms with his sexuality and finding happiness through a romance with his brother's friend.

"I have gotten a good number of these types of responses, both from actual teenagers, but also from older readers, who tell me they wished they'd been able to read my novel when they were younger," says Wilson.

"I've corresponded with a closeted gay teen from Arkansas to a sixty-something man who lives in Belgium, and pretty much everything in between, even young women. That's been the best part about having this book out in the world - hearing from readers and knowing it has made an impact on some people's lives. It's very cool."

Small-Town Boy

Levithan's PUSH recently published "Anything Could Happen" by first-time novelist Will Walton, a recent University of Georgia graduate. The story of a boy falling in love with his best friend is set in a small town similar to Walton's own: Perry, Georgia. It hit shelves the last week of May.

Walton has already received (mostly) positive response from readers. "I wrote "Anything Could Happen" for my 15-year-old self. I was always hoping for something that was going to say something optimistic," he says. "My experience wasn't as easy as the characters in the book."

Readers searching for the tortured teen angle have been disappointed. "A few people have found the optimizing isolating," he admits. "On Goodreads, some people have said it's a little bit boring."

A bookseller at Avid Books - an independent bookstore in the college town of Athens, Walton - and a few coworkers have started a queer fiction book club.
He sees YA fiction moving in an empowering direction: away from stories about tortured youth and more toward "characters who are regular, functioning gay people." And he gives Levithan the lion's share of credit for this shift.
"Before David, the message was 'you're going to have a tough time.' That's why his books have been so incredibly progressive," he says.

Walton believes both publishers and bookstores are working to make YA fiction more diverse. "You can almost hear the booksellers making the battle cry."

Girl Power, Acceptance and Magical Realism

Walton is a big fan of A.S. King, whose award-winning "Ask the Passengers" has meant a lot to queer and questioning readers of all ages.

"She's trailblazing, borderline experimental, but still highly readable," says Walton. "Its about a girl falling in love with a female coworker, and includes a scene where they make out in a bakery. It's one of my favorite YA books of all time."

Now in her 40s, married to a man and the mother of two, Amy King is pleased to see more books that reflect her experience. Growing up in a conservative Pennsylvania town, she coped with discrimination and expectations as a questioning teen with an openly gay sister.

"'Ask the Passengers' was based on my teen years, when you're supposed to have this space to figure it [your sexuality] out," she says.

"It was based on intense pressure on both sides [from straight and lesbian friends].
They were saying, 'pick one,' and that's where I stayed for quite some time." King says younger readers have indicated that 'Ask the Passenger's helped them become more comfortable with indecision about declaring their sexuality. "They say it has helped them come out or realize they don't have to come out. They realize there's no ticking clock."

King's fan letters show that powerful fiction can have an impact. "About half my readers tend to be adults, and both adults and teens have said, 'I wish this book was around when I was in high school,' " she says.

"A woman in Texas wrote that she had been antigay, and this book 'made me understand being gay. I had the wrong idea the whole time. I understand now. I can still be a Christian and love gay people.' "

King is pleased with the growing array of LGBTQ YA fiction and believes more books featuring trans, bi and questioning characters are on the way.

A final thought: Levithan, Wilson, Walton and King are all proud to write for the YA market, defending teen and tween readers as incredibly bright and receptive to new ideas and nonlinear forms.

In King's words: "I like bending minds. I do write surrealistic fiction. I think teenagers have more flexible minds than most adults."

A Summer YA Reading List

If you're heading off to Fire Island, P-Town, Rehobeth or just a day at Coney Island, the four authors featured in this article have some suggestions for books you'll love now and wish you'd read in junior high.

Levithan recommends stuffing your public television tote bag with Bill Konigsberg's "The Porcupine of Truth," Nina LaCour's Everything Leads to You and Alex Gino's George and Walton's "Anything Could Happen." Walton is a big fan of Nina LaCour's "Everything Leads to You."

King recommends "Grasshopper Jungle" by Andrew Smith ("It's about the end of the world, and one of the most realistic portrayals of a boy in love with his girlfriend and his best friend at the same time"); "Rapture Practice" by Aaron Hartzler, a memoir about growing up and coming out in "a highly Christian home"; and "Honor Girl," a graphic novel by Maggie Thrash.