Books like 'Great or Nothing'
Readers who enjoyed Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond & Tess Sharpe also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical young adult lesbian romance 20th century war queer
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Don't Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino
In 1960, a young woman discovers a freedom she never knew existed in this exhilarating, funny, and emotional novel by the bestselling author of She’s Up to No Good . When Marilyn Kleinman is caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation, her parents ship her off to her great-aunt Ada for the summer...Categorized as:
20th century queer historical humor young adult contemporary north-america pennsylvania -
![Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg]()
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
It's first the story of two women in the 1980s, of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age... -
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![We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds]()
We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhat’s more important? Knowing the truth or keeping the peace?Seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she's uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery’s mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about... -
![Rock and Riot by Chelsey Furedi]()
Rock and Riot by Chelsey Furedi
With all the fashion and quirks of the 50's comes the vintage queer love story that you've never heard before. Rock and Riot follows the tales of teenage delinquents learning about gender and sexual orientations while still maintaining their fabulous hair... -
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![Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo]()
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Winner of the National Book AwardA New York Times Bestseller The queer romance we've been waiting for."--Ms. MagazineSeventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the feeling took root--that desire to look, to move closer, to touch...Categorized as:
20th century queer young adult f-f historical contemporary multicultural forbidden love -
![Rock and Riot Volume 2 by Chelsey Furedi]()
Rock and Riot Volume 2 by Chelsey Furedi
The 1950's were all about rules and restrictions, but these teens don't give a damn.. -
![Rock and Riot Volume 3 by Chelsey Furedi]()
Rock and Riot Volume 3 by Chelsey Furedi
These tough-kids gussy up for the big dance in style! In this third and final instalment of the online hit comic series "Rock and Riot". The three gangs may finally get the guts to pull the biggest middle finger to society, together. If anything can be learned from their rascality, the easiest way is never the fun way... -
![Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 3 by Dr. Pepperco]()
Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 3 by Dr. Pepperco
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Last GoodbyeAlice has finally revealed her secret to Hanako: she is Victor Franks! Yet secrets that must be kept still abound, and family, status, and love bind Alice like thorns... -
![Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 2 by Dr. Pepperco]()
Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 2 by Dr. Pepperco
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA Love That Dare Not Speak Its NameLady Alice shares the story of her love for her former governess Eliza, as well as its tragic end. In the wake of that story, Hanako finds herself harboring two secrets—including the fact that the feelings in her heart are growing all the more intense... -
![Nothing Burns as Bright as You by Ashley Woodfolk]()
Nothing Burns as Bright as You by Ashley Woodfolk
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFive starred reviews! From New York Times bestselling author Ashley Woodfolk, Nothing Burns as Bright as You is an impassioned stand-alone tale of queer love, grief, and the complexity of female friendship. Two girls. One wild and reckless day. Years of tumultuous history unspooling like a thin, fraying string in the hours after they set a fire. They were best friends. Until they became more...Categorized as:
queer young adult contemporary f-f african-american friends to lovers high-school bisexual -
![그녀의 심청 (Her Tale of Shim Chong) #6 (그녀의 심청 (Her Tale of Shim Chong) #6) by 비완, Seri]()
그녀의 심청 (Her Tale of Shim Chong) #6 (그녀의 심청 (Her Tale of Shim Chong) #6) by 비완, Seri
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsEp 56 - 66Based on a Korean folktale, two very different women find themselves making the same wish - to leave this world behind. One is Shim Chong, a young beggar living off the kindness of others to support herself and her blind father. The other is the bride-to-be of old Chancellor Jang, sold off to him for the sake of her family... -
![The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth]()
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 48 ratingsWhen 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 soon forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother... -
![Music from Another World by Robin Talley]()
Music from Another World by Robin Talley
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsIt’s summer 1977 and closeted lesbian Tammy Larson can’t be herself anywhere. Not at her strict Christian high school, not at her conservative Orange County church and certainly not at home, where her ultrareligious aunt relentlessly organizes antigay political campaigns...Categorized as:
20th century queer young adult historical f-f secret-relationship friends to lovers lgbtqia hate -
![Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 1 by Dr. Pepperco]()
Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 1 by Dr. Pepperco
Love Among the ThornsEarly in the twentieth century, Hanako journeys to England to follow her dream of becoming a novelist...Categorized as:
20th century queer f-f historical young adult east-asian-mc length-short glimpses-kisses -
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![Songs of Irie by Asha Ashanti Bromfield]()
Songs of Irie by Asha Ashanti Bromfield
Perfect for fans of The Black Kids, Songs of Irie is a sweeping coming-of-age novel from Asha Bromfield about a friendship struggling to survive amidst the Jamaican civil unrest of the 1970s.It's 1976 and Jamaica is on fire. The country is on the eve of important elections and the warring political parties have made the divisions between the poor and the wealthy even wider...Categorized as:
queer young adult f-f historical contemporary friends to lovers north-america caribbean -
![Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken by Nita Tyndall]()
Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken by Nita Tyndall
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBerlin, 1938It is the summer before World War II begins, but Charlotte Kraus doesn’t know it yet. All she knows is the zing of electricity she feels every time her best friend, Angelika Haas, grabs her hand... -
![Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris]()
Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris
They say to never meet your idols. But they never said anything about upending your life for a quest designed by one. Seventeen-year-old aspiring journalist Darren Purchase has been a lifelong fan of country music legend Decklee Cassel, who’s as famous for her classic hits as she is for her partnership with songwriter Mickenlee Hooper...Categorized as:
queer young adult contemporary f-f mystery historical friends to lovers length-medium -
![Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman]()
Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsFor readers of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous and My Brilliant Friend, Bushra Rehman's Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion is an unforgettable story about female friendship and queer love in a Muslim-American community.Razia Mirza grows up amid the wild grape vines and backyard sunflowers of Corona, Queens, with her best friend, Saima, by her side... -
![Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley]()
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsIn 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever. Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily...Categorized as:
queer historical young adult multicultural f-f abuse african-american forbidden love -
![Heavy Vinyl, Vol. 1: Riot on the Radio by Carly Usdin, Carly Usdin]()
Heavy Vinyl, Vol. 1: Riot on the Radio by Carly Usdin, Carly Usdin
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsWhen Chris joins the staff at her local record store, she’s surprised to find out that her co-workers share a secret: they’re all members of a secret fight club that take on the patriarchy and fight crime!Starry-eyed Chris has just started the dream job every outcast kid in town wants: working at Vinyl Mayhem... -
![Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls]()
Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsShortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2019, National Book Award , Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards and the YA Book PrizeThrough rallies and marches, in polite drawing rooms and freezing prison cells and the poverty-stricken slums of the East End, three courageous young women join the fight for the vote... -
![Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair by June Gervais]()
Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair by June Gervais
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsAn uplifting, feminist coming-of-age love story about a young woman who dreams of becoming a tattoo artist, and living life on her own termsIntrovert Gina Mulley is determined to become a tattoo artist, and to find somewhere she belongs in her conventional Long Island town... -
![Heavy Vinyl, Vol. 2: Y2K-O! by Carly Usdin, Nina Vakueva]()
Heavy Vinyl, Vol. 2: Y2K-O! by Carly Usdin, Nina Vakueva
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsAn all-new original graphic novel follow up to the award-nominated Heavy Vinyl: Riot on The Radio that reunites everyone’s favorite girl vigilantes to save the day by stopping Big Music from killing digital music in 1999!SAVE THE INTERNET, SAVE THE WORLD (OF MUSIC)!It’s 1999 and Chris is living her dream: working at Vinyl Destination by day and fighting for (musical) justice by night (okay,... -
![In The Blood Of The Greeks by Mary D. Brooks]()
In The Blood Of The Greeks by Mary D. Brooks
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHistorical Lesbian Romance in War Ravaged Greece Secrets. Passion. Destiny. In the Blood of the Greeks is set against the backdrop of World War II. The novel begins in a most troublesome period of human history, where subjugated by the might of Nazi Germany, two women meet under extraordinary circumstances... -
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![Rana Joon and the One and Only Now by Shideh Etaat]()
Rana Joon and the One and Only Now by Shideh Etaat
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis lyrical coming-of-age novel for fans of Darius the Great Is Not Okay and On the Come Up, set in southern California in 1996, follows a teen who wants to honor her deceased friend’s legacy by entering a rap contest.Perfect Iranian girls are straight A students, always polite, and grow up to marry respectable Iranian boys... -
![Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Jenn St. Onge]()
Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Jenn St. Onge
Bingo Love is a LGBTQ romance story that spans over 60 years. A chance meeting at church bingo in 1963 brings Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray together. Through their formative years, these two women develop feelings for each other and finally profess their love for one another. Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both married young men and had families...Categorized as:
queer young adult f-f contemporary historical african-american black-mc north-america -
![Heavy Vinyl #3 by Carly Usdin, Nina Vakueva]()
Heavy Vinyl #3 by Carly Usdin, Nina Vakueva
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNow that Chris knows about Vinyl Mayhem’s dark, amazing secret, it’s time to get her in fighting shape to save Roary from certain musical... -
![Heavy Vinyl: Y2K-O! by Carly Usdin]()
Heavy Vinyl: Y2K-O! by Carly Usdin
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAn all-new original graphic novel follow up to the award-nominated Heavy Vinyl: Riot on The Radio that reunites everyone’s favorite girl vigilantes to save the day by stopping Big Music from killing digital music in 1999!SAVE THE INTERNET, SAVE THE WORLD (OF MUSIC)!It’s 1999 and Chris is living her dream: working at Vinyl Destination by day and fighting for (musical) justice by night (okay,... -
![The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson]()
The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA fascinating historical novel about Hilde, an orphan who experiences Berlin on the cusp of World War II as she discovers her own voice and sexuality, ultimately finding a family when she gets a job at a gay cabaret, by award-winning author Kip Wilson. On her eighteenth birthday, Hilde leaves her orphanage in 1930s Berlin, and heads out into the world to discover her place in it... -
![The Song of Us by Kate Fussner]()
The Song of Us by Kate Fussner
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThis stunning debut and wholly original queer middle grade novel-in-verse retelling of "Orpheus and Eurydice" adds a new chorus to the songs of great love, perfect for fans of Other Words for Home and Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World.Love at first sight isn't a myth. For seventh graders Olivia and Eden, it's fate... -
![One True Way by Shannon Hitchcock]()
One True Way by Shannon Hitchcock
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA heartening story of two girls who discover their friendship is something more. But how, among their backward town, will Sam and Allie face what they know is true about themselves? Welcome to Daniel Boone Middle School in the 1970s, where teachers and coaches must hide who they are, and girls who like girls are forced to question their own choices... -
![Mazie by Melanie Crowder]()
Mazie by Melanie Crowder
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 17 ratings*"Deserves a standing ovation." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)*" This is a terrific and realistic piece of historical fiction that is perfect for theater lovers and historical fiction fans." -- SLC (starred review)*"The peppy first-person narrative keeps the story zipping along, and adroitly placed period details make the setting come alive in this bighearted, exuberant novel...Categorized as:
20th century queer young adult historical f-f contemporary high-school length-medium -
![Ruby by Rosa Guy]()
Ruby by Rosa Guy
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRuby Cathy feels left without friends, without comfort and without love. Then she meets Daphne Duprey, who is "cool, calm, cultured, sophisticated and refined" - everything that Ruby is not. Together, Ruby and Daphne build a relationship that gives each young woman a new understanding of strength, friendship and love...Categorized as:
queer young adult african-american contemporary f-f historical black-mc length-short -
![The Boy in the Red Dress by Kristin Lambert]()
The Boy in the Red Dress by Kristin Lambert
Rated: 3.87 of 5 stars · 22 ratingsA Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue meets Miss Fisher's Murder Mystery in this rollicking romp of truth, lies, and troubled pasts. New Year's Eve, 1929. Millie is running the show at the Cloak & Dagger, a swinging speakeasy in the French Quarter, while her aunt is out of town... -
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![Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis]()
Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis
Rated: 3.82 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFifteen-year-old Farrin has many secrets. Although she goes to a school for gifted girls in Tehran, as the daughter of an aristocratic mother and wealthy father, Farrin must keep a low profile. It is 1988; ever since the Shah was overthrown, the deeply conservative and religious government controls every facet of life in Iran... -
![A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo]()
A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo
Rated: 3.85 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsAward-winning author Malinda Lo returns to the Bay Area with another masterful coming-of-queer-age story, this time set against the backdrop of the first major Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage. And almost sixty years after the end of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Lo's new novel also offers a glimpse into Lily and Kath's lives since 1955... -
![Pulp by Robin Talley]()
Pulp by Robin Talley
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn 1955, eighteen-year-old Janet Jones keeps the love she shares with her best friend Marie a secret. It’s not easy being gay in Washington, DC, in the age of McCarthyism, but when she discovers a series of books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in Janet... -
![Ode to My First Car by Robin Gow]()
Ode to My First Car by Robin Gow
By the critically praised author of A Million Quiet Revolutions , this YA contemporary sapphic romance told in verse is about a bisexual teen girl who falls in and out of love over the course of one fateful summer... -
![The War Outside by Monica Hesse]()
The War Outside by Monica Hesse
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsA novel of conviction, friendship, and betrayal.It's 1944, and World War II is raging across Europe and the Pacific. The war seemed far away from Margot in Iowa and Haruko in Colorado--until they were uprooted to dusty Texas, all because of the places their parents once called home: Germany and Japan... -
![Claudine by Riyoko Ikeda]()
Claudine by Riyoko Ikeda
Rated: 3.77 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsClaudine (Japanese: クローディーヌ...! Hepburn: Kurōdīnu...!) is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda. It was serialized in two issues of Shueisha's Weekly Margaret magazine in January 1978 and later published in a single tankōbon volume under the Margaret Comics imprint on May 20, 1978... -
![Love and Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura]()
Love and Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn’t what she had in mind.That was before she met the perfect girl. Willow is gorgeous, glamorous, and…heartbroken? And when she enlists Nozomi to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi is a willing volunteer... -
![Olivia by Dorothy Strachey, Dorothy Bussy]()
Olivia by Dorothy Strachey, Dorothy Bussy
Rated: 3.79 of 5 stars · 27 ratings“Considered one of the most subtle and beautifully written lesbian novels of the century, this 1949 classic returns to print in a Cleis Press edition. Dorothy Strachey’s classic Olivia captures the awakening passions of an English adolescent sent away for a year to a small finishing school outside Paris. The innocent but watchful Olivia develops an infatuation for her headmistress, Mlle... -
![Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown]()
Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsJoanna Gordon has been out and proud for years, but when her popular radio evangelist father remarries and decides to move all three of them from Atlanta to the more conservative Rome, Georgia, he asks Jo to do the impossible: to lie low for the rest of her senior year. And Jo reluctantly agrees... -
![Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin]()
Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin
Rated: 3.70 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the summer of 1926, sixteen-year-old Garnet Richardson is sent to a lake resort to escape the polio epidemic in the city. She dreams of indulging her passion for ornithology and visiting the famous new amusement park--a summer of fun before she returns for her final year of high school, after which she’s expected to marry a nice boy and settle into middle-class homemaking... -
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![The Summer Love Strategy by Ray Stoeve]()
The Summer Love Strategy by Ray Stoeve
Rated: 3.56 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsA sweet and swoony YA rom-com about two friends making a pact to find summer romance like they’ve seen in the movies—and finding love where they least expect it along the way!Hayley always has a crush. The problem is, her crushes never like her back. After her latest unrequited love—a girl from her basketball team—gets a boyfriend, she decides she’s done falling for girls who are unavailable...Categorized as:
queer young adult f-f contemporary friends to lovers neurodivergent found-family humor -
![We Were Promised Spotlights by Lindsay Sproul]()
We Were Promised Spotlights by Lindsay Sproul
Rated: 3.60 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThe Miseducation of Cameron Post meets Everything Leads to You in this queer young adult novel. Taylor Garland's good looks have earned her the admiration of everyone in her small town. She's homecoming queen, the life of every party, and she's on every boy's most-wanted list... -
![Infamous by Lex Croucher]()
Infamous by Lex Croucher
22-year-old aspiring writer Edith 'Eddie' Miller and her best friend Rose have always done everything together-climbing trees, throwing grapes at boys, sneaking bottles of wine, practicing kissing . . .But following their debutante ball Rose is suddenly talking about marriage, and Eddie is horrified... -
![Belladonna by Anbara Salam]()
Belladonna by Anbara Salam
Rated: 3.42 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA hypnotizing coming-of-age novel set in 1950s Italy that stares into the heart of longing and at the friendships that have the power to save and destroy us."I was utterly captivated, from first page to last." --Anton DiSclafani, New York Times bestselling author of The After PartyIsabella is beautiful, inscrutable, and popular... -
![It's Not Like It's a Secret by Misa Sugiura]()
It's Not Like It's a Secret by Misa Sugiura
Rated: 3.68 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsSixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like that fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend...Categorized as:
queer young adult historical contemporary f-f high-school multicultural slut-shaming -
![Goddess by Kelly Gardiner]()
Goddess by Kelly Gardiner
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsVersailles, 1686: Julie d'Aubigny, a striking young girl taught to fence and fight in the court of the Sun King, is taken as mistress by the King's Master of Horse. Tempestuous, swashbuckling and volatile, within two years she has run away with her fencing master, fallen in love with a nun and is hiding from the authorities, sentenced to be burnt at the stake...
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