ALA’s 2022 Rainbow Book List

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We’re thrilled to have six titles on ALA’s 2022 Rainbow Book List for Teen Readers, including two books in the Top Ten!!

HANI AND ISHU’S GUIDE TO FAKE DATING by Adiba Jaigirdar
9781645672579
Ages 14+

When Humaira “Hani” Khan’s friends question her bisexuality because she’s never gone out with a girl, Hani impulsively claims she does have a girlfriend–Ishita “Ishu” Dey, who’s more of a casual acquaintance. To keep from being found out, Hani asks Ishu to pretend to date her, and Ishu agrees in the hopes of boosting her popularity at school. Both have something to gain from the fake relationship, but developing real feelings for each other wasn’t part of the plan.

EACH OF US A DESERT by Mark Oshiro
9781250169211
Ages 13-18

Xochitl has had no choice but to be the cuentista for her village, the one who delivers people’s stories to Solis in order to relieve them of emotional burdens and avoid nightmare manifestations. After she gives the stories to Solis, she forgets them, keeping these confessions confidential, but after receiving a story that changes everything she knows about her village, Xochitl decides to hold onto it instead. Xochitl soon finds herself on a journey with a strange girl through the desert wilderness, following a set of mysterious poems in order to understand the world and her place in it.

PERFECT ON PAPER by Sophie Gonzales
9781250769787
Ages 13-18

Darcy is great at giving relationship advice. So good that she runs Locker 89, an abandoned locker her classmates leave letters in for anonymous advice. No one knows Darcy runs Locker 89 until Alexander Brougham catches her in the act. Brougham promises not to tell anyone the truth if Darcy agrees to help him win back his ex-girlfriend. Darcy does not want her true identity shared, especially since she anonymously gave less than stellar advice to her best friend and crush Brooke, and agrees to help Brougham. But as Darcy and Brougham spend more time together, Darcy starts crushing on both Brougham and Brooke.

TROUBLE GIRLS by Julia Lynn Rubin
9781250757241
Ages 14-18

A single night gone wrong turns Trixie and Lux into part of a movement as they make their grand escape to the West coast. As they are transformed by the media into the face of a #MeToo movement they didn’t ask to lead, Trixie and Lux realize that they can only rely on each other, and that the love they find together is the one thing that truly makes them free.

COOL FOR THE SUMMER by Dahlia Adler
9781250765826
Ages 14-18

Seventeen-year-old Lara has had a huge crush on football star Chase Harding for years, and when the new school year starts Chase finally seems interested in Lara. Yet, after spending a perfect summer with a girl named Jasmine, Lara finds herself not as excited about the prospect of dating Chase as she thought she would be.

BLAZEWRATH GAMES by Amparo Ortiz
9781645670797
Ages 14+

Lana has never really been a people person, but her love for dragons is unmeasured. When she gets the chance to represent her county in the Blazewrath World Cup, she quickly realizes she might’ve bitten off more than she can chew.


The Rainbow Book List, now in its 15th year, is an annual annotated bibliography consisting of quality LGBTQIA+ literature intended for readers from birth to age 18. This resource guide is meant to assist librarians, educators, parents, and others to ensure that everyone from babies and children to tweens and teens have access to selecting quality books with significant content regarding inclusion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and all that extends throughout the Rainbow spectrum.

Top Ten title

View the full list know more.

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