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The ALA Rainbow Book List is an annual list of "books with significant gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender content, and which are aimed at youth, birth through age 18" produced by the American Library Association's (ALA's) Rainbow Project, which is run by the ALA's Rainbow Round Table and Social Responsibilities Round Table.[1]
Although roughly 4.5 percent of the U.S. population identifies as LGBT,[2] "the vast majority of libraries lack high-quality, comprehensive LGBT collections" and "satisfaction among LGBT patrons is low."[3] To ensure libraries have adequate LGBT books for readers of all ages, librarians should rely on resources such as the ALA's Rainbow List and the Lambda Literary Foundation.[3]
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| Year | Category | Contributors | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011[4] | Picture Books | Anna Kemp | Dogs Don't Do Ballet |
| Juvenile Fiction | Charlotte Agell | The Accidental Adventures of India McAllister | |
| Amy Ignatow | The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang | ||
| Geraldine McCaughrean | The Death-Defying Pepper Roux | ||
| Young Adult/Crossover Fiction | Jane Eagland | Wildthorn | |
| John Green and David Levithan | Will Grayson, Will Grayson | ||
| Emily Horner | A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend | ||
| Young Adult/Crossover Nonfiction | Sassafras Lowrey | Kicked Out | |
| Jeff Sheng | Don't Ask. Don't Tell | ||
| Various | The Gallup's Modern Guide to Gay, Lesbian & Transgender Life (Series, 15 titles) | ||
| 2012[5] | Picture Books | Leslea Newman with Mike Dutton (Illus.) | Donovan's Big Day |
| Middle Grade/Early Young Adult Fiction | Malinda Lo | Huntress | |
| Bil Wright | Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy | ||
| Young Adult Fiction | Cris Beam | I Am J | |
| Libba Bray | Beauty Queens | ||
| Steve Brezenoff | Brooklyn Burning | ||
| Laura Goode | Sister Mischief | ||
| Lauren Myracle | Shine | ||
| Julie Anne Peters | She Loves You. She Loves You Not | ||
| Patrick Ryan | Gemini Bites | ||
| 2013[6] | Middle/Early Young Adult Fiction | Kirstin Cronn-Mills | Beautiful Music for Ugly Children |
| Raina Telgemeier | Drama | ||
| Middle/Early Young Adult Nonfiction | Sarah Moon (Ed.) | The Letter Q: Queer Writers Notes to Their Younger Selves | |
| Young Adult/Crossover Fiction | Lisa Jenn Bigelow | Starting From Here | |
| Emily M. Danforth | The Miseducation of Cameron Post | ||
| A. S. King | Ask the Passengers | ||
| Malinda Lo | Adaptation | ||
| Madeline Miller | The Song of Achilles | ||
| Charles Rice-Gonzalez | Chulito: a Novel | ||
| Benjamin Alire Saenz | Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe | ||
| 2014[1] | Juvenile Fiction | Tim Federle | Better Nate than Ever |
| Teen Nonfiction | Kate Bornstein | My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving World Peace Through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity | |
| Ken Setterington | Branded by the Pink Triangle | ||
| Teen Fiction | Francesca Lia Block | Love in the Time of Global Warming | |
| Kristin Elizabeth Clark | Freakboy | ||
| Steven Dos Santos | The Culling | ||
| Z Egloff | Leap | ||
| Sara Farizan | If You Could Be Mine | ||
| Alaya Dawn Johnson | The Summer Prince | ||
| Laura Lam | Pantomime | ||
| 2015[7] | Picture Books | Jeffrey Bone and Lisa Bone | Not Every Princess |
| Gayle E. Pitman with Kristyna Litten (Illus.) | This Day in June | ||
| Young Adult Fiction | Janet E. Cameron | Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World | |
| Sara Farizan | Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel | ||
| Jandy Nelson | I'll Give You the Sun | ||
| Tess Sharpe | Far from You | ||
| Andrew Smith | Grasshopper Jungle | ||
| Julia Watts | Secret City | ||
| Young Adult Nonfiction | Tim Anderson | Sweet Tooth | |
| Laurel Golio and Diana Scholl | We Are the Youth: Sharing the Stories of LGBT Youth in the United States | ||
| 2016[8] | Graphic Novels | Jillian Tamaki | SuperMutant Magic Academy |
| Juvenile Fiction | Ami Polonsky | Gracefully Grayson | |
| Brian Selznick | The Marvels | ||
| Juvenile Nonfiction | Cory Silverberg with Fiona Smyth (Illus.) | Sex is a Funny Word: A Book about Bodies, Feelings, and YOU | |
| Young Adult Fiction | Becky Albertalli | Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda | |
| Carrie Mesrobian | Cut Both Ways | ||
| Raziel Reid | When Everything Feels Like the Movies | ||
| Kate Scelsa | Fans of the Impossible Life | ||
| Karelia Stetz-Waters | Forgive Me If I've Told You This Before | ||
| Young Adult Nonfiction | Jack Andraka with Matthew Lysiak | Breakthrough | |
| 2017[9] | Graphic Novels | Katie O'Neill | Princess Princess Ever After |
| Picture Books | Yasmeen Ismail | I'm a Girl | |
| Jessica Walton | Introducing Teddy: A Gentle Story About Gender and Friendship | ||
| Young Adult Fiction | Yvonne Cassidy | How Many Letters are in Goodbye? | |
| Shaun David Hutchinson | We Are the Ants | ||
| Seanan McGuire | Every Heart a Doorway | ||
| Anna-Marie McLemore | When the Moon Was Ours | ||
| Laura Nowlin | This Song Is (Not) for You | ||
| Na’amen Gobert Tilahun | The Root | ||
| Kiersten White | And I Darken | ||
| 2018[10] | Board Books | Stella Blackstone and Sunny Scribens with Christiane Engel (Illus.) | Baby's First Words |
| Middle Grade Fiction | Lisa Bunker | Felix Yz | |
| Barbara Dee | Star-Crossed | ||
| Young Adult Nonfiction | Ash Hardell[a] | The ABCs of LGBT+ | |
| Dashka Slater | The 57 Bus | ||
| Young Adult Fiction | Nina LaCour | We Are Okay | |
| Julie Murphy | Ramona Blue | ||
| Adam Silvera | They Both Die at the End | ||
| Courtney Stevens | Dress Codes for Small Towns | ||
| James Tynion IV and Rian Sygh | The Backstagers Vol. 1 | ||
| 2019[13] | Picture Books Fiction | Daniel Haack and Stevie Lewis | Prince & Knight |
| Gayle E. Pitman | Sewing the Rainbow | ||
| Middle Grade Fiction | Kacen Callender | Hurricane Child | |
| Young Adult Fiction | Ashley Herring Blake | Girl Made of Stars | |
| Claire Kann | Let's Talk About Love | ||
| Adib Khorram | Darius the Great s Not Okay | ||
| Natasha Ngan | Girls of Paper and Fire | ||
| Lev A. C. Rosen | Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) | ||
| Nic Stone | Odd One Out | ||
| Hamish Steele | DeadEndia: The Watcher's Test | ||
| 2020[14] | Picture Books Nonfiction | Rob Sanders and Jamey Christoph | Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution. |
| Picture Books Fiction | Kyle Lukoff and Kaylani Juanita | When Aidan Became a Brother | |
| Heather Smith and Brooke Kerrigan | A Plan for Pops | ||
| Young Adult Nonfiction | Shaun David Hutchinson | Brave Face | |
| Young Adult Fiction | Akwaeke Emezi | Pet | |
| Sabina Khan | The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali | ||
| Bill Konigsberg | The Music of What Happens | ||
| Tehlor Kay Mejia | We Set the Dark on Fire | ||
| Tillie Walden | On a Sunbeam | ||
| Suzanne Walker and Xu Wendy | Mooncakes | ||
| 2021[15] | Early Readers Nonfiction | Matthew Burgess and Josh Cochran (Illus.) | Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring |
| Peter Mercurio and Leo Espinosa (Illus.) | Our Subway Baby | ||
| Juvenile Fiction | DeShanna Neal, Trinity Neal, and Art Twink (Illus.) | My Rainbow | |
| Gayle E. Pitman and Violet Tobacco (Illus.) | My Maddy | ||
| Rachel Simon and Noah Grigni (Illus.) | The Every Body Book: LGBTQ+ Inclusive Guide for Kids about Sex, Gender, Bodies, and Families | ||
| Middle Grade Fiction | Kacen Callender | King and the Dragonflies | |
| A. J. Sass | Ana on the Edge | ||
| Young Adult Nonfiction | George Matthew Johnson | All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto | |
| Young Adult Fiction | Betsy Cornwell | Circus Rose | |
| Sarah Gailey | When We Were Magic | ||
| Leah Johnson | You Should See Me in a Crown | ||
| Lyla Lee | I'll Be the One | ||
| Darcie Little Badger and Rovina Cai (Illus.) | Elatsoe | ||
| Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore | Miss Meteor | ||
| Tochi Onyebuchi | War Girls | ||
| Lev A. C. Rosen | Camp | ||
| Aiden Thomas | Cemetery Boys | ||
| Kat Leyh | Snapdragon | ||
| Trung Le Nguyen | The Magic Fish | ||
| Niki Smith | The Deep & Dark Blue | ||
| 2022[16] | Picture Books Fiction | Tyler Feder | Bodies Are Cool |
| Vanessa Ford and JR | Calvin | ||
| Harry Woodgate | Grandad's Camper | ||
| Katherine Locke | What Are Your Words: A Book About Pronouns | ||
| Juvenile Fiction | Jules Machais | Both Can Be True | |
| Meg Grehan | The Deepest Breath | ||
| Gayle Forman | Frankie & Bug | ||
| Kyle Lukoff | Too Bright to See | ||
| Middle Grade Fiction | Mark Oshiro | The Insiders | |
| Chad Lucas | Thanks a Lot, Universe | ||
| Young Adult Fiction | Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé | Ace of Spades | |
| Eliot Schrefer | The Darkness Outside Us | ||
| Mark Oshiro | Each of Us a Desert | ||
| Adiba Jaigirdar | Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating | ||
| Malindo Lo | Last Night at the Telegraph | ||
| Tracy Deonn | Legendborn | ||
| Isaac Fitzsimmons | The Passing Playbook | ||
| Kalynn Bayron | This Poison Heart | ||
| Graphic Fiction | Molly Knox Ostertag | The Girl from the Sea | |
| Manga | Keito Gaku | Boys Run the Riot, vol 1-3 | |
| 2023[17] | Picture Books Fiction | Alice B. McGinty and David Roberts (illus.) | Bathe the Cat |
| Nina LaCour and Kaylani Juanita (illus.) | Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle | ||
| Picture Books Nonfiction | Carole Boston Weatherford, Rob Sanders, and Byron McCray | A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the 1963 March on Washington | |
| Upper Elementary Fiction | Kacen Callender | Moonflower | |
| Michael Leali | The Civil War of Amos Abernathy | ||
| Yoon Lee | Tiger Honor | ||
| Mark Oshiro | You Only Live Once, David Bravo | ||
| A.J. Sass | Ellen Outside the Lines | ||
| Middle School Fiction | Kyle Lukoff | Different Kinds of Fruit | |
| Middle School Graphic Fiction | Olivia Stephens | Artie and the Wolf Moon | |
| Young Adult Nonfiction | Eliot Schrefer and Jules Zuckerberg (illus.) | Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality | |
| Young Adult Fiction | Jen Ferguson | The Summer of Bitter and Sweet | |
| Ryan La Sala | The Honeys | ||
| Maya MacGregor | The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester | ||
| Alice Oseman | Loveless | ||
| Aden Polydoros | The City Beautiful | ||
| Sol Santana | Just Ash | ||
| Tucker Shaw | When You Call My Name | ||
| Aiden Thomas | The Sunbearer Trials | ||
| Young Adult Novel in Verse Fiction | Ashley Woodfolk | Nothing Burns as Bright as You | |
| 2024[18] | Picture Books Fiction | Gareth Peter and Izzy Evans (illus.) | My Mommies Built a Treehouse |
| Harry Woodgate | Grandad's Pride | ||
| Upper Elementary Nonfiction | Sarah Prager and Caitlin O'Dwyer (illus.) | A Child's Introduction to Pride: The Inspirational History and Culture of LGBTQIA+ Community | |
| Upper Elementary Fiction | Leah Johnson | Ellie Engle Saves Herself | |
| Nicole Melleby and A.J. Sass | Camp QUILTBAG | ||
| Maulik Pancholy | Nikhil Out Loud | ||
| Ronnie Riley | Jude Saves the World | ||
| Kai Shappley and Lisa Bunker | Joy to the World | ||
| Esme Symes-Smith | Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston | ||
| Jake Maia Arlow | The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet | ||
| Young Adult Fiction | James Acker | The Long Run | |
| Becky Albertail | Imogen, Obviously | ||
| Jonny Garza Villa | Ander & Santi Were Here: a Novel | ||
| Jas Hammonds | We Deserve Monuments | ||
| Anna-Marie McLemore | Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix | ||
| Lio Min | Beating Heart Baby | ||
| Gabe Cole Novoa | The Wicked Bargain | ||
| Trang Thanh Tran | She Is a Haunting | ||
| Young Adult Graphic Fiction | Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo (illus.) | Northranger | |
| Young Adult Manga Fiction | Uta Isaki | Is Love the Answer? |
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- Credited as Ashely Mardell; The ABCs of LGBT+ was released before Hardell came out as transgender[11] and married their spouse.[12]
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