About the Booksellers
We encourage folks to support their local bookstore whenever possible. For quick reference, we've included links where you can view and purchase books from a small Maine bookstore (hello hello books).
hello hello books is an independently-owned bookstore located in downtown Rockland, Maine and has set up their website to include these booklists for easy ordering. hello hello is also a proud supporter of OUT Maine. Clicking the logo below brings you to hello hello's OUT Maine booklist page in its online store.
Better Nate than Ever by Tim Federle (2014)
“Nate plans an overnight escape to New York for an open casting call for E.T. The Musical, knowing this could be the difference between small-town blues and big-time stardom.”
Beyond the Gender Binary: Pocket Change Collective by Alok Vaid-Menon (2020)
“A poet, artist, and LGBTQIA+ rights advocate, Alok Vaid-Menon, doesn’t see the world in black and white, They see the world in full color! A world where people have the opportunity to express themselves however they want. This book is a great resource, demystifying what it means when gender is malleable and empowering readers to live their most authentic selves.”
Darius The Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (2018)
“Darius, a lonely half-Persian boy with an affinity for Star Trek, travels to Iran to meet his mother’s family for the first time. There, he falls in love: with the city of Yazd, his grandparents, and his new friend, Sohrab.”
Every Day by David Levithan (2013) (First in trilogy)
“A is a teen who wakes up every day in a different body, living a different life. This seems to work for A until he meets Rhiannon and everything changes. David Levithan’s novel is so creative and accurately depicts what it feels like when you don’t know where you belong and how grounding it can be to find the people who make you feel like you’re home.”
2nd in series: Another Day – David Levithan
3rd in series: Someday – David Levithan
Felix Yz by Lisa Bunker (2017)
“When Felix Yz was three he was accidentally fused with a fourth-dimensional being. Now he’s on the brink of a risky procedure that will free him. With an awkward crush on a boy at school, a gender-fluid grandparent, and a Bi mom, family, bullying, and identity are woven into the story.”
George by Alex Gino (2015)
“When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she’s not a boy. She knows she’s a girl. George wants to play Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web. Will she be able to?”
Girls at the Edge of the World by Laura Brooke Robson (2021)
“Set in a world that is coming to an end, this thrilling romantic fantasy follows two girls with a will to survive at any cost. As the end approaches, will they give in to despair, or have they given each other a reason to live?”
Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky (2016)
“Grayson has been holding onto a secret for what seems like forever: “he” is a girl on the inside. Will new strength from an unexpected friendship and a caring teacher’s wisdom be enough to help Grayson?”
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson and Julia Whelan (2015)
“When this book came out, it seemed to be on everyone’s To-Read List, and with good reason. I’ll Give You the Sun is the emotional and breathtaking story of twin brothers who no longer speak, and what—if anything—can bring them back to each other. You’ll want to read this one too, so you can talk about it together (but you might want some tissues handy!).”
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart (2016)
“Lily Jo McGrother, born Timothy McGrother, is a girl. But being a girl is not so easy when you look like a boy. Especially when you’re in the eighth grade. Dunkin Dorfman, birth name Norbert Dorfman, is dealing with bipolar disorder and has just moved from the New Jersey town he’s called home for the past thirteen years. This would be hard enough, but the fact that he is also hiding from a painful secret makes it even worse. One summer morning, Lily Jo McGrother meets Dunkin Dorfman, and their lives forever change.”
Middle School’s a Drag, You Better Werk! by Greg Howard (2020)
“Another excellent middle-grade novel from the author of The Whispers, this book follows entrepreneurial 12-year-old Mikey Pruitt as he starts his own talent agency and represents clients in the leadup to the big talent show. Among his roster is eighth-grader Julian Vasquez, drag queen name Coco Caliente, who helps Mikey see that he, too, can be openly gay at school.”
Riding Freedom by Pam Muñoz Ryan (1999)
“A fictionalized account of the true story of Charley (Charlotte) Parkhurst who ran away from an orphanage, lived as a boy, moved to California, and became a stagecoach driver.”
Superhero by Eli Easton (2020)
“It’s not easy for a young gay artist like Jordan Carson to grow up in Jefferson, Wisconsin, where all anyone seems to care about in middle school and high school are the sports teams. But Jordan was lucky He met Owen Nelson in the second grade, and they’ve been BFFs ever since. Owen is a big, beautiful blond and their school’s champion wrestler. No one messes with Owen, or with anyone close to him, and he bucks popular opinion by keeping Jordan as his wingman even after Jordan comes out at school.”
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth (2012)
“When Cameron Post’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they’ll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl. But that relief doesn’t last, and Cam is forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone, and Cam becomes an expert at both.”
The Moon Within by Aida Salazar (2019)
“Celi Rivera’s life swirls with questions. About her changing body. Her first attraction to a boy. And her best friend’s exploration of what it means to be genderfluid. But most of all, her mother’s insistence she has a moon ceremony, an ancestral Mexican ritual, when her first period arrives.”
The Pants Project by Cat Clarke (2017)
“Liv knows he was always meant to be a boy but he hasn’t told anyone – even his two moms yet. Now, his new school has a terrible dress code, he can’t even wear pants. Only skirts. The only way for Liv to get what he wants is to go after it himself. But to Liv, this isn’t just a mission to change the policy―it’s a mission to change his life.”
The Whispers by Greg Howard (2019)
“A fantastic coming-of-age story about loss, friendship, and identity, The Whispers centers around 11-year-old Riley, who believes in wish-granting fairies known as the whispers. Riley embarks on a journey with his friend Gary to find the whispers and ask for his mom to return, and maybe also for his crush Dylan to like him back.”
To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer (2019)
“This epistolary novel co-written by two powerhouse authors captures the budding friendship between bookish Avery Bloom and fearless Bett Devlin, whose dads fall in love and send them to sleepaway camp to get to know each other. Witty and heartwarming, To Night Owl From Dogfish subtly portrays two modern families on their way to becoming one.”
Zenobia July by Lisa Bunker (2019)
“Zenobia July is a hacking and coding prodigy who’s attending a new school as a girl for the first time. Though she’s recently lost her family of origin, she creates a chosen family in the LGBTQ+ community.”