Books like Vanilla by Billy Merrell

Two strangers receive a call that they will die today and use an app to befriend each other, sharing a single unforgettable day that turns into a profound journey of love, friendship, and acceptance.

Ari, a fifteen‑year‑old Mexican‑American with a brother in prison, meets Dante and a friendship sparks that forces him to confront his identity, family, and sexuality.

When a copied email threatens to expose his hidden identity, sixteen‑year‑old Simon Spier must decide whether to protect his secret, save his friend, and risk a new, unexpected romance.

Set in New York, "What If It's Us" follows summer intern Arthur from Georgia and New Yorker Ben as they navigate three awkward dates, pondering whether fate or heartlessness is guiding their uncertain romance.

OCD‑stricken Griffin mourns the loss of his first love, Theo, whose drowning death shatters his world and threatens to unravel the secrets he keeps.

A young man wakes up in different bodies over the years, falling in love with the person they love in each one.

Two Boys Kissing tells the true story of seventeen‑year‑old Harry and Craig as they attempt a 32‑hour kissing marathon to break a Guinness World Record, while other teens grapple with love, identity, and belonging.

Michael, a mixed‑race gay teen in London, struggles with his Greek‑Cypriot and Jamaican heritage until he finds belonging in the Drag Society, where he becomes the Black Flamingo.

Rafe, a gay teenager who has lived openly since eighth grade, moves to an all‑boys boarding school and pretends to be straight to blend in, only to find himself falling in love with a friend who may never see possibilities beyond friendship.

High‑school senior Jamie navigates feelings for his best friend, sharing his secret with the support of a close circle of friends.

A collection of contemporary short stories and brief graphics exploring love, sexuality, and gender identity among young people in America.

A poignant story of a love that transcends loss and confusion after the September 11 terrorist attacks, set in D.C. and centered on two young men trying to navigate the post-9/11 world while finding love with each other.

Ben Carver returns to Massachusetts’ Natick School to focus on his grades and a coveted scholarship, but his lingering love for Rafe Goldberg, a new friendship with Hannah, and a strained relationship with his father complicate every step.

A young adult mystery novel about a 18-year-old girl who tries to understand why her best friend committed suicide.

330 pages ; 22 cmHL700L Lexile

At a senior party, Simon imagines life without his love interest and discovers the wonders of exploring new friendships.

In a study that will be of interest to all those concerned with the politics of gender, the history of sexuality, and the erotics of reading, Christopher Craft investigates questions fundamental to any history of present sexualities. How does the modern binary homosexual/heterosexual relate to earlier formulations like "sexual inversion" and "sodomy"? What part does literature play in the development of such categories, or in a culture's resistance to them? And what are the implications for the creation and maintenance of the presumed "natural" male heterosexual subject? How has male heterosexual subjectivity been established as a bulwark against the attractions of a homosexual desire that is repeatedly incited by the very culture that condemns it? Craft examines the discourses of nineteenth-century psychiatry and sexology; some of Freud's central writings; and Tennyson's In Memoriam, Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Stoker's Dracula, and Lawrence's Women In Love.

Kyra must navigate rising tensions in Forge's Council to protect her city from relentless Demon Rider attacks, while wrestling with her Makvani heritage and a powerful link to the very enemies she seeks to defeat.

When Mark and Kate, high‑school classmates in San Francisco, cross paths at a Pride Week club, they discover a shared, forbidden attraction that turns an ordinary friendship into a bold exploration of love and identity.

Tiny Cooper—'the world’s largest person' and a proud gay man—takes center stage in this musical companion novel, exploring his life, love, and many relationships with humor and heartfelt honesty.

Fifteen-year-old Jamie Bates hides his sexuality in high school. When a classmate discovers his secret, Jamie steals an experimental drug that promises to cure his attraction—and unleashes dangerous side‑effects that threaten his life, his love for Celia, and the fragile lies he’s built.

323 pages ; 22 cm.660L Lexile

A teenage girl, torn between two magical traditions and two boys, struggles with identity and love in her new home on a magical island.

Fourteen‑year‑old Frances survives a terrible massacre, assuming her best friend Libby’s identity and wealth while secretly plotting revenge against the powerful Wells family. Now eighteen, she plans to destroy them—and her first love, Grey—once and for all.