If you loved

Books like Rainbow boys

A candid, big-hearted exploration of the terrifying and exhilarating threshold between hiding who you are and stepping into the light. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Rainbow boys.

vulnerable
tender
emotionally charged

01
Boy Meets Boy
David Levithan · 2006
A joyful, utopian queer rom-com that feels like a warm hug and a confetti cannon going off at the same time.
Shares:
- earnest
02
Openly straight
Bill Konigsberg
A funny, heartfelt exploration of what happens when the desire to shed labels accidentally means shedding your true self.
Shares:
- earnest
- angsty
03
The Vast Fields of Ordinary
Nick Burd · 2009
A sun-drenched, bittersweet exploration of the messy, heartbreaking summer between high school and whatever comes next.
Shares:
- tender
- earnest
04
Geography Club
Brent Hartinger · 2003
A funny, heartfelt exploration of the secret lives of queer teenagers navigating the treacherous social terrain of high school.
Shares:
- earnest
05
Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
A sun-drenched, tender exploration of boyhood, identity, and the quiet miracles of first love.
Shares:
- tender
- earnest
06
The boys on the rock
Fox, John
An exuberant and tender exploration of a Bronx teenager's transformative summer of first queer love.
Shares:
- tender
- earnest
07
Dream Boy
Jim Grimsley · 1995
A devastating and tender Southern Gothic exploration of first love blooming in the shadow of unspeakable trauma.
Shares:
- tender
08
Two Boys Kissing
David Levithan
A tender, generation-spanning embrace that connects the ghosts of the past to the defiant joy of the present.
Shares:
- tender
- earnest
09
At the Edge of the Universe
Shaun David Hutchinson
A surreal, heart-wrenching exploration of grief and first love, set against the backdrop of a slowly vanishing universe.
Shares:
- earnest
10
More happy than not
Adam Silvera
A heartbreaking, speculative exploration of whether erasing our deepest pains is worth losing the truth of who we are.
Shares:
- vulnerable
- earnest
- internalized homophobia
11
Something Like Summer
Jay Bell
A sweeping, decade-spanning queer romance that captures the messy, beautiful evolution of a bond that refuses to fade.
Shares:
- tender
- earnest
12
The inexplicable logic of my life
Benjamin Alire Saenz
A tender, tear-soaked exploration of the fierce, unconditional love that binds families together through life's most painful transitions.
Shares:
- tender
- earnest
- empathetic

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