Shelf Lives

Beauty Queens
Libba Bray
The Plot: An airplane crashes on a deserted island, sending 50 state pageant queens (Miss Rhode Island is trans, Miss Michigan is gay) scrambling for clues'and a dwindling stash of mascara. Sample Line: "It's always darkest before the ultimate sparkle."
(Scholastic, $18.99, available May 24)

She Loves You, She Loves You Not
Julie Anne Peters
The Plot: Disowned by her father after he finds her in bed with her girlfriend, Alyssa is forced to start over hundreds of miles from home. Sample Line: "Trust makes a person want to believe. Trust is more blind than love."
(Little, Brown and Company, $17.99, available in June)

Gemini Bites
Patrick Ryan
The Plot: Judy and Kyle are fraternal twins'and both are boy crazy, especially when Garrett Johnson moves to town. But is he straight or gay? And is he even human?
Sample Line: " 'I want you,' he said, and smiled, revealing a pair of incisors nearly an inch long."
(Scholastic, $17.99, available now)

Shine
Lauren Myracle
The Plot: A violent hate crime rocks a small Southern town. While her neighbors blame outsiders, Cat knows she's seen the evil underbelly of small-town homophobia. Sample Line: "I'd gotten into the habit of taking up as little space in this world as I could, which is to say I'd been hiding behind a book or my falling-down hair for basically the last three years."
(Amulet, $16.95, available now)

I Am J
Cris Beam
The Plot: J knows who he is'a boy that everyone thinks is a girl. What will it take for the world to understand his truth? Sample Line: "Suddenly J wanted to know, more than anything, what it would feel like to be a guy kissing a girl."
(Little, Brown and Company, $16.99, available now)