So This is Love: LGBTQ First Crushes for Kids

Falling in love for the first time can be confusing. But when having a crush also means figuring out labels like gay, lesbian or bisexual, or even transgender and ace, it also means a lot of questions. Here are some of my favorite stories of kids trying to figure out what it might mean to be LGBTQ+ while falling in love.

Is it possible to like both boys and girls? Mattie finds herself wondering just that when she gets cast as Romeo to new girl Gemma’s Juliet in the school play. Should she tell people that she likes girls now? And most importantly: Does Gemma like her back? Find out in Star-crossed.

Living in a small town and figuring out that she might be in love with her ex-best friend is hard for Staggerlee. At least until cousin Trout comes to visit. Together they gain the strength to figure out who they really are in The House You Pass on the Way.

Melly is a mouse everywhere but the drums. So Drum Roll, Please… how can she make herself heard when her parents are getting a divorce, her best friend has left her alone at camp and she finds herself falling for the other girl in her band?

Snapdragon knows witches aren’t real…right? Except when she meets Jack, there is more to them than meets the eye. Will Snap learn to be as true to herself as Lu and Jack are? And what is Jack doing with all those skeletons?

Rick never really thought much about his identity. What was there to think about? But when he discovers the Rainbow Spectrum club at school, he learns about a whole new world available to him, one that includes not liking boys OR girls.