As the Olympics roll on, let’s celebrate with some recent board, picture, chapter, and middle grade books featuring LGBTQ athletes and sports themes! Check out these exciting biographies and imaginative fiction titles.
I initially started this post thinking I’d highlight all of the books in my Database of LGBTQ Family Books with athlete protagonists. Turns out there are more than 50 of them, so I decided to limit this post just to books from 2023 and 2024—but I implemented a “Sports” tag in the database so you can easily view the full (and growing) list. (Add an age category and/or identity tag in the filter if desired.) While basketball, tennis, and soccer are the most common sports covered, there are also books about baseball, figure skating, gymnastics, strongman competitions, and wheelchair racing, among others.
Note that there are a number of other LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ biographies besides the ones here and in my database; I have chosen to include only ones that make it clear the subjects (or their parents) are LGBTQ, e.g., by saying so or by mentioning a same-sex relationship. While their LGBTQ identities are only part of who they are, my goal is to showcase visible LGBTQ representation.
Click images for full reviews!
Board and Picture Books
An engaging board book biography aimed at the youngest readers.A powerful picture book biography of the first openly gay player in Major League Baseball and the co-inventor of the high five.
Chapter Books
In this third book of a lively early chapter book series, gender creative Jordan is excited about his school’s upcoming obstacle race.A simple but engaging chapter-book-level graphic biography of Rapinoe’s accomplishments on and off the field.A readable and informative graphic novel biography of the tennis star.With lots of photos and exciting text, this chapter-book biography of the WNBA superstar focuses on her WNBA career, with a little bit about her childhood and college years.A simple but clear chapter book biography of the soccer superstar.
Middle Grade
Short profiles of athletes, including queer and queer-parented ones, with an emphasis on how their childhoods shaped them.The two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champion in track, an intersex woman, here adapts her adult biography for middle grade readersA solid middle grade biography of tennis legend.This volume of the popular series explores Rapinoe’s life on and off the field. The title-page image even shows her holding a Pride flag.The changing tides of middle grade friendships—and a first queer crush—form the heart of this soccer-themed novel.This third book in the series about two moms and their five kids centers on 12-year-old Harbor, finding where she fits into the family (and developing a same-sex crush of her own).A fun, paranormal, graphic novel romp with a ton of queernessA nonbinary figure skater navigates the death of their father, a new crush, and new challenges on the ice.A fictional story heavily shaped by author Kai Shappley’s real life as a transgender girl and activist growing up in Texas.Matteo hopes that playing baseball will help him live up to his dad’s expectations, but worries that coming out will get in the way, in this delightful tale of magical realism, influenced by Pinocchio.When Will is diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, he’s forced to sit out soccer season, leading him to reevaluate both friendships and himself.The sequel to Thanks a Lot, Universe thoughtfully continues the story of basketball teammates Brian and Ezra and introduces Victor, the boy who bullied Brian, but who may want to repent.An extended family, including one boy who is coming out, must navigate baseball, bat mitzvahs, and more in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.The first in a series about the friendships, crushes, and competitions of a 7th grader at an elite equestrian boarding school.The second in a series about the friendships, crushes, and competitions of a 7th grader at an elite equestrian boarding school.The third in a series about the friendships, crushes, and competitions of a 7th grader at an elite equestrian boarding school.The fourth in a series about the friendships, crushes, and competitions of a 7th grader at an elite equestrian boarding school.
