25 Canadian books to read for Pride Month
June is Pride Month. Uplift LGBTQ Canadians all year round by checking out these titles of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and graphic novels.
Junior High by Tegan Quin and Sara Quin, illustrated by Tillie Walden
Tegan and Sara: Junior High is a middle-grade graphic novel by Canadian sister musician duo Tegan and Sara. The story is inspired by the authors' own experiences of finding one's identity, musicianship and family in their adolescence. Growing up as identical twins, Tegan and Sara move to a new home and school and begin to come into their own as individuals.
Tegan and Sara: Junior High is for ages 10 to 14.
Tegan Quin and Sara Quin are twin sisters and a pop music duo from Calgary. They previously published a memoir called High School.
Tillie Walden is an American cartoonist, illustrator and writer. She has published several graphic novels, including On a Sunbeam and Spinning.
The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett
The Romance Recipe is a contemporary romance novel between a lesbian restaurant owner and her head chef who is just coming to terms with her queerness. Amy Chambers is desperately trying to save her restaurant and Sophie Brunet wants to avoid a reality TV career as a celebrity chef. However, when a new foodie show presents the perfect opportunity to drum up some business, Amy and Sophie are thrown into the limelight. Can they save their restaurant while also confronting the budding feelings between them?
Ruby Barrett is a writer based in Ottawa who writes romances about big feelings. Her previous novel, Hot Copy, was published in 2021.
The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
The Sleeping Car Porter follows Baxter, a closeted queer Black man who works as a sleeping car porter on a train in 1929. He smiles and tries to be invisible to the passengers, but what he wants is to save up and go to dentistry school. On one particular trip out west, the train is stalled and Baxter finds a postcard of two gay men. The postcard reawakens memories and desires and ultimately puts his job in jeopardy.
Suzette Mayr is a poet and novelist based in Calgary. Her other novels include Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall, Monoceros and Moon Honey. Monoceros won the ReLit Award, the City of Calgary W. O. Mitchell Book Prize and made the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. The Sleeping Car Porter won the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Steve Pugh
Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass is a YA graphic novel following teen rebel, Harleen who lives above a karaoke cabaret run by a drag queen. MAMA is the only family Harleen has and when they run this risk of losing the cabaret due to the rampant gentrification of the neighborhood, Harleen steps into action.
Mariko Tamaki is an award-winning Canadian comic writer whose books include Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me and This One Summer. She has also written Supergirl for DC Comics and She-Hulk for Marvel. Steve Pugh is a British artist whose work can be seen in the comics Saint of Killers and The Invaders.
Nomenclature by Dionne Brand
Nomenclature collects eight volumes of the celebrated poet and author's work that were originally published between 1982 and 2010. With a critical introduction by the literary scholar and theorist Christina Sharpe, the book features a new long poem, the titular Nomenclature for the Time Being, which is a thoughtful and wide-ranging reflection on location, consciousness, time and the current state of the world.
Dionne Brand is one of Canada's most decorated and celebrated writers. As a queer black novelist, poet and filmmaker, she has been creating in various mediums for over 40 years. She is a member of the Order of Canada and has won numerous awards, including the 1997 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry for the collection Land to Light On and the 2006 Toronto Book Award for the novel What We All Long For.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
St. John Mandel's most recent novel, Sea of Tranquility, follows three characters across time, space and reality. A young man ventures into the wilderness of British Columbia in 1912, meanwhile in 2401, a famous writer from a moon colony becomes trapped on Earth during a pandemic and a detective is sent to investigate. In Sea of Tranquility, St. John Mandel explores genre to combine science fiction with current realities.
Emily St. John Mandel is a bestselling Canadian author currently living in New York and Los Angeles. Her other novels include The Glass Hotel, which was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and Station Eleven which was championed by Michael Greyeyes on Canada Reads in 2023.
Missed Connections by Brian Francis
Missed Connections is a memoir told through letters written thirty years after author Brian Francis put a personal ad in the newspaper. In 1992, as a university student, Francis was still in the closet and decided to write a personal dating ad into a local paper – 13 of 25 letters were never answered. In writing his responses now, Francis reflects on how his experiences as a gay man have changed over time, as well as examining a generation of queer people just after the height of the AIDS epidemic.
Brian Francis is the author of novels Fruit, Natural Order and Break in Case of Emergency. He is a writer and columnist for The Next Chapter on CBC Radio and currently lives in Toronto.
The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy
Published in 1995, The Jade Peony is regarded as a trailblazing novel for queer Asian writers in Canada. The story follows three siblings as they come of age during the 1930s and 1940s in Vancouver's Chinatown. Choy explores the Chinese Canadian immigrant experience as multiple cultures, generations and traumas collide.
Wayson Choy was an influential Chinese Canadian author and former member of the Order of Canada. The Jade Peony, his debut novel received the Trillium Book Award in 1995 and was championed by Samantha Nutt on Canada Reads in 2010. Choy died at age 80 in 2019.
A Shadow Crown by Melissa Blair
In the anticipated sequel to A Broken Blade, A Shadow Crown returns to the lands of the fae where Keera, the king's Blade plans to kill a tyrannical King. When Keera's past crimes follow her into the Faeland, Keera must find a way to hold onto the allies and family she still has. A Shadow Crown is the second novel in the YA fantasy series, The Halfing Saga.
Melissa Blair is an author of Anishinaabekwe and mixed ancestry who splits her time between Treaty 9 in Northern Ontario and Ottawa. She is also a presence on TikTok where she discusses her love of Indigenous and queer fiction with the growing community of #BookTok.
The Boy and the Bindi by Vivek Shraya, illustrated by Rajni Perera
The Boy and the Bindi is a hand-painted picture book which celebrates the diversity of gender and culture. A young boy wants to wear a bindi, a red dot often worn by South Asian women, that he has often seen his mother wear. When she encourages him to learn about the importance of the bindi, he also learns more about the magical person he is.
Vivek Shraya is a Calgary-based artist and author of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. She has been nominated for the Lambda Literary Award four times and has received the 2015 Honour of Distinction from The Writers' Trust of Canada. Her other books include I'm Afraid of Men, People Change and The Subtweet.
Pageboy by Elliot Page
Elliot Page shares his personal journey from the massive success of Juno to discovering his queerness and identity as a trans person, while navigating criticism and abuse from some of the most powerful people in Hollywood. Pageboy is filled with behind-the-scenes details and interrogations on sex, love and trauma. It's a story about what it means to free ourselves from the expectations of others and step into our truth with defiance, strength and joy.
Page is an Academy Award-nominated actor, producer and director. He currently stars in the hit TV-series The Umbrella Academy. Pageboy is his first book
Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju
Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens is young adult novel about coming of age queer communities. Nima Kumara-Clark is a teen from a small town navigating her identity and her mother's departure. In this journey of self-acceptance, Nima discovers the drag scene across town and who her true allies are.
Tanya Boteju is a YA author and teacher currently based in Vancouver. She is also the author of Bruised which was selected as a Gold Standard book by the Junior Library Guild.
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
In Huaxia, women and girls are forced to become pilots and warriors against the aliens outside the Great Wall of China. In Iron Widow, Zetian is determined to avenge her sister's death, and as she gains power, makes it her mission to overthrow her society which fails all women. Iron Widow is a YA sci-fi novel inspired on Chinese history.
Xiran Jay Zhao is a Vancouver-based author and social media creator. They are a first-generation Chinese immigrant who is passionate about Chinese history, cosplay and anime. They also wrote the middle-grade fantasy novel Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor.
Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez
Scarborough is the multi-voiced story of a neighbourhood that refuses to fall apart in the face of poverty and crime. Weaving together the stories of three children growing up in difficult circumstances with the stories of three adults who are doing their best to help them out, Scarborough is a vibrant and emotional debut.
Catherine Hernandez is a Canadian author and screenwriter who identifies as a queer woman of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and Indian descent. Scarborough was adapted into a film in 2021 and was a finalist on Canada Reads in 2022.
Tomboy Survival Guide by Ivan Coyote
Tomboy Survival Guide is a memoir by performer, advocate and author Ivan Coyote. Through humour, their stories focus on the complex experiences of growing up outside the gender binary in the Yukon. As a nonbinary Canadian, they detail the many adventures and learning moments of their youth and what it means to embrace being a tomboy as well as moving beyond labels.
Ivan Coyote is a writer, storyteller and performer from Yukon. They have written more than a dozen books, created four short films and released three albums combining storytelling with music, and are known for exploring gender identity and queer liberation in their writing. Their other books include Rebent Sinner, Gender Failure and Care Of. Coyote won the 2020 Freedom to Read Award, in recognition of their body of work that examines class, gender identity and social justice.
The Fabulous Zed Watson! by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester
The Fabulous Zed Watson! features a non-binary lead character who embarks on a quest to find a copy of the legendary unpublished novel called The Monster's Castle. Their adventure takes them on a road trip with their neighbour Gabe, a shy nature lover, and his sister Sam, a bossy geologist headed back to college. The trip isn't easy — Gabe complains about the food, Sam won't give up control of the stereo and Zed is often misgendered. But the group pulls together as they compete with a sneaky historian.
The Fabulous Zed Watson! is for ages 9 to 12.
Basil Sylvester is a non-binary writer based in Toronto. Their father, Kevin Sylvester, is a broadcaster and the award-winning illustrator and writer of middle-grade books such as the Neil Flambé Capers series and the MiNRS space adventure series
The Island of Forgetting by Jasmine Sealy
Set in Barbados, The Island of Forgetting is a coming-of-age story spanning four generations, each from the perspective of a different family member who must navigate desire, duty, identity and family secrets while running a beachfront hotel. Raw and reflective, Sealy's novel is about the ghosts of what goes unsaid and the stories we tell ourselves to fill the absence.
Jasmine Sealy is a Barbadian-Canadian writer based in Vancouver. She won the 2020 UBC/HarperCollins Best New Fiction Prize and the 2023 Amazon First Novel Award. The Island of Forgetting is her debut novel.
When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson
Mark and his cousin Talia used to always spend their summers together in Ontario before a rift between their parents forced them apart for years. After their grandfather dies, they are reunited once again and decide to go on a road trip to Toronto Pride. In this coming-of-age YA novel, two queer kids set out for the big city in search of friendship and belonging. When You Get the Chance is a fun-filled book exploring what it means to be a young queer person in Canada.
Tom Ryan is the author of several books for young readers including I Hope You're Listening, a YA novel that won the LGBTQ mystery category in 2021. He spends his time living between Ontario and Nova Scotia.
Robin Stevenson is the Victoria author of more than 25 books for kids and teens, including the board book Pride Colors, the picture book Ghost's Journey and the nonfiction books Kid Activists and Pride. Stevenson is a Stonewall Honor winner and Lambda Literary Award finalist.
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
The winning short story of the 2020 Writers' Trust Journey Prize, Bad Cree went on to become the debut horror-infused novel from Johns. The novel centres around a young woman named Mackenzie who is haunted by terrifying nightmares and wracked with guilt about her sister's untimely death. Bad Cree is about an Indigenous character's attempt to reconnect with their land and culture.
Jessica Johns is a Vancouver-based writer, visual artist and member of Sucker Creek First Nation in Treaty 8 Territory in northern Alberta. Her debut novel, Bad Cree was a finalist for the 2023 Amazon First Novel Award.
Learned by Carellin Brooks
Learned is a poetry collection set between Oxford University and London in the 90s. Intimately exploring her sexuality, scholar Carellin Brooks mediates on her queerness as a young adult. Through poems which vibrantly describe both physical and mental self-discovery, Learned boldly tests the limits of pain and desire.
Carellin Brooks is the author of One Hundred Days of Rain, which won the 2016 ReLit Award for Fiction and the 2016 Edmund White Award for Debut LGBT+ Fiction, and was published in French by Les Allusifs. She is also the author of Fresh Hell, Every Inch a Woman and Wreck Beach. Brooks lives in Vancouver and is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia.
Queer Little Nightmares edited by David Ly and Daniel Zomparelli
Queer Little Nightmares is a collection of fiction and poetry that reexamines monsters through a queer lens. Monsters associated with horror and marginalization are now cast as creatures worth celebrating and including. Contributors include Amber Dawn, Hiromi Goto, jaye simpson and Kai Cheng Thom.
David Ly is a poet who lives in Vancouver. He is also the author of the collections Mythical Man and Dream of Me as Water. CBC Books named him a writer to watch in 2020.
Daniel Zomparelli is a writer and editor from Vancouver. He is the editor-in-chief of the magazine Poetry Is Dead, co-edits the poetry project After You. He is also the author of the short story collection Everything Is Awful and You're a Terrible Person.
Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
This essay collection from award-winning writer and disability justice activist examines the realities of sick and disabled queer, trans, Black and brown people. The nonfiction book highlights and celebrates modern-day disability justice initiatives designed to centre the lives and leadership within these respective communities. Care Work gathers insights on suicide in queer and trans communities, the economics of queer femme emotional labour and the importance of ensuring uninhibited, collective access for all.
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is an American Canadian writer, educator and disability/transformative justice worker of Burgher/Tamil Sri Lankan and Irish/Roma descent. They are the author or co-editor of nine books, including A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home, which was shortlisted for the Lambda and Publishing Triangle Awards, and Love Cake, a Lambda Literary Award winner.
Indigiqueerness by Joshua Whitehead with Angie Abdou
Reflecting on memories of youth, Indigiqueerness is a combination of memoir and collage in conversation with writer Angie Abdou. Through his storytelling, the book contemplates the nuance and beauty of Indigenous language, queer identity, theory and childhood.
Joshua Whitehead is an Oji-nêhiyaw, two-spirit writer, poet and Indigiqueer scholar from Peguis First Nation. He is the author of the poetry collection full-metal indigiqueer and the Canada Reads-winning novel Jonny Appleseed. His first nonfiction book, Making Love with the Land, was published in 2022.
The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson
The Summer of Bitter and Sweet follows a recent high school graduate and Métis girl named Lou living in the Prairies. Lou is working in her family's ice cream shack with her ex-boyfriend and former best friend, and must find a way to navigate the inevitably uncomfortable summer ahead of them. Meanwhile, she is also figuring out how she identifies as someone who does not experience desire in the same way as a lot of her peers. When she suddenly gets a letter from her biological father, Lou's summer becomes a lot more complex than she anticipated.
Jen Ferguson is an activist and academic of Michif/Métis and Canadian settler heritage, based in Los Angeles. Ferguson has a PhD in English and creative writing. The Summer of Bitter and Sweet is her debut YA novel and won the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — text.
Chrysalis by Anuja Varghese
Chrysalis is a short story collection that examines the ways in which racialized women are undermined and exploited and the ways in which they reclaim their power. Blending realism with elements of fantasy, Varghese tells stories of a woman dying in her sleep repeatedly until she finds an unexpected refuge or a couple in a broken marriage encountering spiritual direction. Each story looks at family, sexuality, cultural norms and the ties that bind.
Varghese is a Hamilton, Ont.-based writer and editor. Her stories have been recognized in the Prism International Short Fiction Contest and the Alice Munro Festival Short Story Competition and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Chrysalis is her first book.
LISTEN | Anjua Varghese on writing her first book: