Beginning in May 2021, Scarsdale Public Librarians Jennifer Brinley (She/her/hers; They/them/theirs) and Katie Karkheck (She/her/hers) teamed up with Greenburgh Public Librarian Emily Dowie (She/her/hers) to offer Teen GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliance), a monthly series of chats hosted over Zoom to be a safe space for queer or questioning teens *and* their allies to meet and discuss young adult literature or whatever's on their minds.
The program meets during the school year. Please check this site again in Fall 2022 for updates on the meeting schedule.
Past Book Selections and Other Recommendations and Resources:
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. [Get the book in print, audio, or ebook formats (click on your desired format to get the book).
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malindo Lo. [Get the book in print, audio, or ebook formats (click on your desired format to get the book).
The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters. [Get the book in print or ebook formats (click on your desired format to get the book).]
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. [Get the book in print or eBook or eAudiobook formats (click on your desired format to get the book).]
Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler. [Click here to request the book]
Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee. [To read this book electronically, get it on OverDrive/Libby as an eBook. To get a physical copy of this book to read, click here to request the book.]
Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve. [Get the book in print, audio, or ebook formats (click on your desired format to get the book).]
Jay's Gay Agenda by Jason June. [Get the book in print, eBook on OverDrive/Libby, or eBook on cloudLibrary (click on your desired format to get the book).]
Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon. [Get the book in print, eAudiobook, or eBook formats (click on your desired format to get the book).]
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera. [Get the book in print or eBook formats (click on your desired format to get the book).]
More Things to Read:
Subscribe to them. magazine, a great source of queer news and perspectives. https://www.them.us/tags/magazine
American Library’s Association’s Stonewall Book Award Winners: https://www.ala.org/rt/rrt/award/stonewall/honored
Lambda Literary’s Finalists and Award Winners in the LGBTQ+ Young Adult category: https://lambdaliterary.org/awards/previous-winners-3/?a_search=&award_year=&award_classifications=&award_status=&award_categories=lgbtq-young-adult
Reading Lists from Book Riot:
https://bookriot.com/2020-queer-ya-books/
https://bookriot.com/best-queer-books/
https://bookriot.com/lgbtq-reads-second-half-of-2021/
Reading Lists from Epic Reads:
https://www.epicreads.com/blog/lgbtq-ya-books-pride/
https://www.epicreads.com/blog/25-must-read-ya-books-featuring-gay-protagonists/
WEBTOON (The smartphone app is free. Just tap “skip” on the login page to read these webcomics anonymously and free.):
- Acception (a variety of European high schoolers navigating identity and relationships)
- The four of them (cinnamon rolls in queer love triangles)
- I want to be a cute anime girl (transgender story with sweet sibling relationships)
- Aerial magic (gorgeous art, writing, and music; lesbian romance)
- Boyfriends (slice of life with queer/polyamorous college students)
- Lavender Jack (historical mystery/crime-fighting action story with queer main characters)
- Serious trans vibes (A slice of life written by Sophie Labelle, a Canadian cartoonist who is transgender)
- Fluidum (An edgy dystopia in which everyone has two bodies--one female and one male--until a certain age when they have to pick one to live in and let the other die)
- My NIS agent (A romance between the guy under surveillance and the guy surveilling him.)
- Mage & Demon Queen (A top demon-slayer woos the Queen of Demons -- what could possibly go wrong in this lesbian romance fantasy?)
- Heir’s Game (Political intrigue, sweet queer romances all over the place, and so many swordfights make this story about the son of a homophobic duke and the top soldier in the Heir’s Game quite appalling and delightful.)
- Brimstone and Roses (Demon-summoners--one innocent and one selfish--wind up in a relationship. Who will become a human sacrifice? But funny and deep as well.)
Things to Watch:
TV Shows
Pose (Netflix)
Gentleman Jack (HBO Max)
Elite (Netflix)
Love, Victor (Hulu)
Euphoria (HBO Max)
Sex Education (Netflix)
Young Royals (Netflix)
Betty (HBOMax)
Genera+ion (HBO Max)
Skins (Hulu)
Pretty Little Liars (HBO Max)
I Am Jazz (Hulu)
We Are Who We Are (HBO Max)
Julie and the Phantoms (Netflix)
One Day at a Time (Netflix)
The Bold Type (Hulu)
Trinkets (Netflix)
The Politician (Netflix)
Dickinson (AppleTV+)
Feel Good (Netflix)
It’s a Sin (HBO Max)
Schitt’s Creek (Netflix)
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix)
Special (Netflix)
Queer Eye (Netflix)
Tales of the City - both the original and the reboot (Netflix)
Transparent (Amazon Prime)
The Other Two (HBO Max)
Difficult People (Hulu)
Sense8 (Netflix)
Movies
Moonlight (Hulu)
The Half of It (Netflix)
The Birdcage (Hulu)
The Boys in the Band (Netflix)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Hulu)
Happiest Season (Hulu)
Call Me By Your Name (Hulu)
Circus of Books (Netflix)
Pride (Amazon Prime)
Love, Simon (Hulu)
Disclosure (Netflix)
Booksmart (Hulu)
Blue is the Warmest Color (Amazon Prime)
God’s Own Country (Hulu)
Ammonite (Hulu)
Disobedience (Hulu)
But I’m a Cheerleader (Amazon Prime)
The Handmaiden (Amazon Prime)
The Kids Are All Right (Amazon Prime)
Tangerine (Amazon Prime)
The Normal Heart (HBO Max)
A Fantastic Woman (Rent)
Carol (Rent)
Pariah (Hulu)
The Favourite (Rent)
Rocketman (Rent)
Paris is Burning (Rent)
The Case Against 8 (Hulu)
A Secret Love (Netflix)
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
Sites and Centers to Visit for Inspiration and Support:
Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
The Network focuses on improving school climate and champion lesbian, gay, transgender issues in K-12 education.
A Westchester-based LGBTQ+ community center that aims to further the cause of inclusion, diversity, and pride through education, advocacy, and celebration with events and support groups.
The Rockland County Pride Center
Offers a variety of services, events, and support groups. They also host a youth drop-in (Mondays and Fridays).
CANDLE Youth Pride provides numerous trainings for youth-serving professionals, parents, and young people. Training topics include numerous subjects related to the prevention of drug use, risky behaviors, and violence amongst youth. CANDLE works with schools and organizations to create the most appropriate training for your unique needs.
The Center serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning community by providing free & confidential peer-support and local resources.
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
PFLAG is committed to advancing equality and full societal affirmation of LGBTQ people through its threefold mission of support, education, and advocacy.
Toll-Free Hotline: (866) 488-7386
The Trevor Project provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to young LGBTQ people under 25.
Jacobs Family Pride Wellness Center of Montefiore Nyack
The Center offers affirming and confidential community based medical care for the LBGTQ+ community. All of the providers and staff are experts in LGBTQ+ healthcare and many are members of the community.
Last Modified December 26, 2024