MG and YA with Bisexual Representation

Today is Celebrate Bisexuality Day (and the culmination of Bisexual Awareness Week), so here are six MG/YA books with bi and questioning representation! 

Middle Grade 

Star Crossed by Barbara Dee

Mattie is excited about the eighth grade performance of Romeo and Juliet, and even more excited to perform with Juliet, aka Gemma Braithwaite, the new British girl who is funny and pretty and smart. Mattie struggles with her feelings as she develops a crush on Gemma: after all, Mattie has had crushes on boys before, too. Can she have crushes on boys and girls? 

Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow

Melly Goodwin didn't expect to like the drums when her best friend, Olivia, made her join the school band. But surprisingly, introverted Melly fell in love with the powerful, rhythmic sounds that she can make when she's behind a drum set. So when she and Olivia sign up for music camp together, she's excited. Until her parents tell her that they're breaking up the morning before camp starts.

And Camp Rockaway isn't everything Melly expected. She and Olivia, who pride themselves as being close as BFFs can be, seem to be growing apart. Melly starts to develop feelings for one of her bandmates, Adeline, and she isn't sure if she has what it takes to be a real rock drummer. Will Melly be able to sort out her feelings before camp is over?

 

 

Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea

Hazel, her Mama, and her little sister Peach have been drifting from town to town for the past two years, trying to move on from the grief that overtook them after the death of Hazel's Mum. Hazel can't get the memory of the horrible kayaking trip out of her mind, and the anxiety that she has after the accident prompts her to have her Safety Pack on her at all times. Hazel wants nothing more than to go home to California, and for Mama to say Mum's name again, and for the three of them to try to be something whole. 

But when the family arrives in Rose Harbor, Maine, Mama runs into Claire, a childhood crush. Claire, and her daughter Lemon, prove to be a challenge to Hazel's plans. Not only that, but Lemon can't stop talking about the Rose Maid, the town myth of a mermaid who lives in the harbor. Hazel hasn't made a friend since Mum died, and she doesn't intend to let Lemon in. But as the legend of the Rose Maid draws her in, she realizes that she connects with Rose Harbor more than she wants to.

Young Adult 

 

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

Everyone likes Humaira “Hani” Khan—she’s easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship…with a girl her friends absolutely hate—Ishita “Ishu” Dey. Ishu is the complete opposite of Hani. She’s an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. But Ishita agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become more popular so that she stands a chance of being elected head girl.

Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But relationships are complicated, and some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after.

 

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

When Charlie Spring, a highly-strung, openly gay over-thinker meets the cheerful and soft-hearted Nick Nelson on the rugby team at their British all-boys grammar school, they become fast friends. But being friends with the kid who was outed last year quickly spawns rumors from fellow rugby players about Nick and Charlie’s friendship.

Nick always stands up for Charlie, and Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn’t think he has a chance. But could their friendship actually be blooming into something more?

 

Faith: Taking Flight by Julie Murphy

Faith Herbert is a pretty regular teen. When she’s not hanging out with her two best friends, Matt and Ches, she’s volunteering at the local animal shelter or obsessing over the long-running teen drama The Grove.

So far, her senior year has been spent trying to sort out her feelings for her maybe-crush Johnny and making plans to stay close to Grandma Lou after graduation. Of course, there’s also that small matter of recently discovering she can fly….

When the fictional world of The Grove crashes into Faith’s reality as the show relocates to her town, she can’t believe it when TV heroine Dakota Ash takes a romantic interest in her.

But her fandom-fueled daydreams aren’t enough to distract Faith from the fact that first animals, then people, have begun to vanish from the town. Only Faith seems able to connect the dots to a new designer drug infiltrating her high school.

But when her investigation puts the people she loves in danger, she will have to confront her hidden past and use her newfound gifts—risking everything to save her friends and beloved town.

 

For more YA books with bisexual characters, check out this list on Epic Reads (from whence I got the book synopses for the YA list). 

For a longer list of LGBTQIA+ middle grade, check out this post. 

Cover images from Epic Reads and Amazon