This year was a great year for LGBTQ reads, and it seems like 2024 will have the same type of stories and books offered to us.

From romance to fantasy, below are five of these reads that this bookish columnist is looking forward to in 2024.

Happy reading!

1. RAINBOW! by Gloom and Sunny (March 5)

This graphic novel does not only offer beautiful art and color, but the story is heartwarming. The book tells the story of teenager Boo Meadows has pink hair and an imagination and unique as her. Boo has the type of imagination where she has trouble separating from the real world. From dancing at fancy balls, or fighting deadly creatures, her daydreams, and dreams seem so real to her. It seems that for her, these dreams distract her from her real-life work stress, school stress, and being in love with a girl, one that she feels she dreamt of. Once Mimi, a new girl, lands at her school, they grow close. But has Boo simply dreamt her up? Or is she real?

2. Hooray for She, He, Ze and They! By Lindz Amer (February 23)

This picture book meant for ages 3 and up is meant to be the ultimate guide that will help kids understand the LGBTQ community and the people. Meant to be a parenting guide, it explains the different pronouns that people identify with in a detailed and approachable way for the younger set. The author describes the book’s meaning behind digging into the different pronouns and their meaning as “Finding the right pronoun for you feels like a warm hug and helps you be your most wonderful self. This gentle and whimsical guide to pronoun language encourages self-discovery and celebrates the gender euphoria of feeling like you!”

3. Cursed Boys and Broken Hearts by Adam Saas (July 16)

This contemporary romance is about Grant Rossi who feels like he is never getting a happily-ever-after. When he was a kid and made a wish on his family’s iconic Wishing Rose, his romantic relationships have been cursed to end. After a horrible breakup, Grant is enjoying a Chicago summer when his family sends him to his aunt and uncle to help them refurbish their beautiful but rundown B&B and vineyard. The problem is, that is where the Wishing Rose that changed everything for him is, and to make things worse, the other boy helping is his ex, Ben, the boy that broke his heart when he was a kid.

4. The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall (March 5)

In the book, we follow Hollis Beckwith. She has a boyfriend called Chris, and they have a solid but not too exciting relationship. Dealing with crippling anxiety as well as some insecurity when it comes to her weight and looks, and really wants to prove to him that she’s a girlfriend worth keeping. So she decides to learn Chris’s favorite tabletop roleplaying game, Secrets & Sorcery. Yet, there’s a “No Girlfriends at the Table” rule, so she finds another way to learn how to play with Gloria Castañeda and her all-girls game of S&S. Yet, as they grow closer, Hollis begins to realize she just might have feelings for the cute S&S player that she’s learning from.

5. The School for Invisible Boys by Shaun David Hutchinson (February 6)

This middle grade novel is about Hector Griggs, a middle school student in sixth grade that discovers he can turn invisible. Ever since Hector’s former best friend Blake started bullying him, he’s been feeling like he just wants to disappear from sadness, but now it seems his wishes are coming true.  When he meets invisible boy Orson Wellington, he gets a warning from him simply saying: “I’m stuck here. Stuck like this. It’s been years. The gelim’s hunting me and it’ll get you, too.” This is when Hector realizes that St. Lawrence’s Catholic School for Boys, has a penchant for preying on lonely and misunderstood boys through a scary creature. As Hector teams up with his classmate Sam, the story is one that progresses as a tale of self-discovery, crushes, who you are and how it feels to be seen.