Find OUT!

Resources for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Questioning Teens

This guide will help you find books and other materials at the San Francisco Public Library related to the topic of gender and sexual orientation. If you get stuck, or aren’t finding exactly what you’re looking for, be sure to ask a Library staff person for assistance. We get lots of questions from people who have friends and family who might be gay or lesbian, or who are doing a paper on the topic. Your questions are strictly confidential.

Materials can be found throughout SFPL’s 26 branches as well as the Main Library. You’ll especially want to check out the Teen Center and the James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center on the third floor of the Main Library as well as the collection of gay and lesbian materials gay and lesbian materials at the Eureka Valley-Harvey Milk Memorial Branch.

• Am I Blue?: Coming Out from the Silence. Bauer, Marion Dane, editor.
  Short stories by contemporary authors that examine and destroy every gay stereotype you’ve ever heard.
  
  
• Gravel Queen. Benduhn, Tea.
  Aurin’s relationships with her best friends change when together they meet Neila, and Aurin falls in love with her.
  
  
• Working Parts. Bledsoe, Lucy Jane.
  A lesbian bike mechanic who’s hiding her illiteracy decides to learn to read.
  
  
• Baby Be-Bop. Black, Francesca Lia.
  Sixteen-year-old Dirk comes to terms with being gay after a visit from his dead father and great-grandmother.
  
  
• Rubyfruit Jungle. Brown, Rita Mae.
  Molly Bolt: poor, Southern, lesbian, and unrepentant, makes a life for herself in the city.
  
  
• Entries From a Hot Pink Notebook. Brown, Todd D.
  Growing up gay in the Reagan years, Ben keeps a journal during his freshman year in high school.
  
  
• My Father’s Scar. Cart, Michael.
  Andy looks back at his difficult childhood, the rejection by his father when he came out, and the queer-bashing of his friend Evan
  
  
• Postcards From No Man’s Land. Chambers, Aidan. During a visit to the Netherlands, Jacob learns some family secrets, and explores his sexuality.
  
  
• Eight Seconds. Ferris, Jean.
  When John discovers that the boy he most admires at rodeo camp is gay, he comes to terms with his own sexuality – and his homophobia.
  
  

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• Annie on My Mind. Garden, Nancy.
  High school students Liza and Annie fall in love and face the reactions of others.
  
  
• Not the Only One: Lesbian and Gay Fiction for Teens . Grima, Tony, editor.
  Twenty-one stories of teenagers who come face-to-face with who they really are.
  
  
• B-Boy Blues: A Seriously Sexy, Fiercely Funny, Black-on-Black Love Story. Hardy, James Earl.
  The title says it all.
  
  
• Invisible Life. Harris, E. Lynn.
  African American lawyer Raymond Tyler is torn between two lovers: one male and one female.
  
  
• Jack. Homes, A. M.
  Jack thinks he’s already got problems, but now he’s stuck in a boat in the middle of a lake with his father who’s just told him he’s gay!
  
  
• Deliver Us From Evie. Kerr, M. E.
  Despite pressure from her family and small farm community, Evie manages to be true to herself.
  
  
• The Arizona Kid. Koertge, Ron.
  Billy spends the summer with his gay uncle and finds romance at the racetrack in this very funny book.
  
  
• Magic’s Pawn. Lackey, Mercedes.
  Young, spoiled Vanyel’s life and attitude changes when he falls in love with Mage Tylendel.
  
  
• Farewell My Concubine. Li, Bihua.
  Surrounded by turmoil in China, two young male opera stars develop a loving, yet torturous relationship.

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• Love & Sex: Ten Stories of Truth. Cart, Michael, editor.
  See “The Cure for Curtis,” “The Acuteness of Desire,” and “The Welcome.”
  
  
• Patience and Sarah. Miller, Isabel.
  Despite resistance from their respective families, Patience and Sarah set out to make a life together in the early 1800’s
  
  
• Does Your Mama Know?: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out Stories. Moore, Lisa C. editor.
  A collection of more than four dozen stories, poems, interviews, and essays.
  
  
• Babylon Boyz. Mowry, Jess.
  When Pook, a gay, inner-city youth, and his friends find a suitcase with a million dollars in it, unexpected possibilities open up for all of them.
  
  
• Alice on the Outside. Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds.
  When Alice’s new friend Lori comes out to her and expresses interest in Alice, Alice responds with friendliness despite not sharing Lori’s feelings.
  
  
• Luna. Peters, Julie Ann
  Fifteen-year-old Regan's life, which has always revolved around keeping her older brother Liam's transsexuality a secret, changes when Liam decides to start the process of "transitioning" by first telling his family and friends that he is a girl who was born in a boy's body.
  
  
• The Persian Boy. Renault, Mary.
  The last days of Alexander the Great are described by his lover and servant, the slave Bagoas.
  
  
• Love Rules. Reynolds, Marilyn.
  When Kit comes out, and her best friend Lynn starts dating an African-American classmate, both face harassment and violence at school and in the community.
  
  
• Empress of the World. Ryan, Sara.
  Nic(ola) falls in love with Battle, a girl at a summer school program for the gifted, and her feelings are reciprocated – for a while.
  
  
• Rainbow Boys. Sanchez, Alex.
  These very different gay high school seniors struggle with sexuality, relationships, and the reactions of their families and friends.
  
  
• Definition. Schrag, Ariel.
  Sex, drugs, and rock and roll define one sophomore’s year at Berkeley (CA) High School in this graphic novel.
  
  
• Funny Boy. Selvadurai, Shyam.
  Growing up in Sri Lanka, Ajie is considered “funny” because he hates sports, likes to wear a sari, and plays with girls.
  
  
• Unlived Affections. Shannon, George.
  By reading old letters, eighteen year old Willie discovers that the father he’s never known was gay.
  
  

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• Toby’s Lie. Vilmure, Daniel.
  Toby wants to take Ian to his prom…at a Catholic high school!
  
  
• Peter. Walker, Kate.
  Fifteen-year-old Peter is initially horrified to find himself attracted to his brother’s gay friend.
  
  
• My Heartbeat. Weyr, Garret Freymann.
  When her older brother can’t handle his best friends James’ bisexuality, Ellen’s relationship with each of them changes.
  
  
• Girl Walking Backwards. Williams, Bett.
  Surrounded by new-age homophobia and L. A. superficiality, Skye seeks true love.
  
  
• Hard Love. Wittlinger, Ellen.
  Sixteen-year-old loner, John, bonds with Marisol over their shared interest in zines, but his feelings go beyond friendship, and Marisol is a lesbian.
  
  
• Parrotfish. Wittlinger, Ellen.
  Grady, a transgendered high school student, yearns for acceptance by his classmates and family as he struggles to adjust to his new identity as a male.
  
  
• From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun. Woodson, Jacqueline.
  Melanin Sun struggles with, and comes to accept his mother’s lesbianism and her relationship with a white woman.
  
  
• Sunday You Learn How to Box. Wright, Bill.
  Louis suffers from his violent step-father’s attempts to cure him of his effeminate ways, but his crush on a neighborhood thug helps him hold on to his dreams of a better future.
  
  
• Christ-Like. Xavier, Emanuel.
  After a brutal childhood, Mikey survives in the gritty underworld of gay New York with other gay Hispanic teens.

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• Lesbian and Gay Voices: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Literature for Children and Young Adults.
  Day, Frances Ann
  
  
• Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth – and Their Allies.
  Bass, Ellen and Kate Kaufman.
  How to come out, make healthy choices about relationships and sex, and connect with other gay youth and supportive adults.
  
  
• The Shared Heart: Portraits and Stories Celebrating Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Young People.
  Mastoon, Adam.
  A diverse group of young adults share their varied experiences of growing up queer.
  
  
• Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology.
  Sonnie, Amy, editor.
  
  
• My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely.
  Bornstein, Kate.
  This pioneering author gives a playful yet practical guide to living with or without a gender.
  
  
• Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman.
  Feinberg, Leslie.
  
  
• Reflections of a Rock Lobster: A Story About Growing Up Gay.
  Fricke, Aaron.
  From an early age Fricke knows he is different. After experiencing years of unrelenting prejudice, he wins a court case to take a male date to his senior prom.
  
  
• GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens.
  Huegel, Kelly.
  
  
• Becoming Visible: A Reader in Gay & Lesbian History for High School & College Students.
  Jennings, Kevin, editor.
  Jennings shows that people have enjoyed same-sex relationships throughout history and across a range of cultures.
  
  
• What if Someone I know Is Gay? Answers to Questions About Gay and Lesbian People.
  Marcus, Eric.
  
  
• The Drag King Book.
  Volcano, Del LaGrace.
  One of the first books to chart the explosive rise of drag kings.
  
  
• Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned.
  Winick, Judd.
  Graphic novel about the friendship that develops between straight Winick and gay roommate Pedro when the two meet on MTV’s The Real World.
  
  
• Queer 13: Lesbian and Gay Writers Recall Seventh Grade.
  Funny, sad, anguished and tender; these are stories about crushes, harassment, embarrassment and first love.
  
  
• Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay & Lesbian Reader.
  Luczak, Raymond, editor.
  
  
• How I learned to Snap: A Small-Town Coming-Out and Coming-of-Age Story.
  Read, Kirk.

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