Book Recs: LGBT Sports Lit

I think we can all agree that books including sports in any way, be it a romance between two teammates or the main character running marathons, just somehow hit harder. Sometimes they’re truly all you need in life! Which is why I’m here with ten sports books.

Anyway, I hope no one is surprised that more than half of this list are YA books…

Unwritten Rules

K.D. Casey
Goodreads
Rep: Jewish hard of hearing gay mc, Venezuelan American bi li, sapphic side characters
TW: internalised homophobia

Why Should I Read It?

I said it before in my review, but let me say it again: this is one of the best romances I’ve read in ages. Not sport romances, not achillean romances, just romances, period. It’s so well written, you can’t even really tell it’s a debut, and it’s filled to the brim with pining. And the pining comes both from the mc being into the guy and from the years & years of internalised homophobia, so it’s not just a simple case of “boy meets boy, they play ball and fall in love”. It’s great.

The Passing Playbook

Isaac Fitzsimons
Goodreads
Rep: biracial Black achillean trans mc, gay li, bi side character, nonbinary side character, achillean side character
TW: mentions of past transphobic violence, religious homophobia, mentions of past overdose

Why Should I Read It?

Charlotte would probably murder me, if I didn’t include this book, but she never had to worry. It springs to mind immediately, when you think about sports books. It’s such a warm, lovely book! It’s also the kind of book that absolutely will make you cry, but those are gonna be good tears (for the most part). Every single page of this novel makes it clear that it was written for LGBT youth and I think that’s beautiful.

Like Other Girls

Britta Lundin
Goodreads
Rep: butch lesbian mc, Asian American sapphic li

Why Should I Read It?

Okay, I won’t lie, this one is a bit of a cheat, as I didn’t have time to read it myself yet (it only came out a few months ago). But listen! A butch lesbian protagonist in a young adult book! How often do you see that? I also hear it explores internalised misogyny in good ways, and includes actual characters development.

A Tiny Piece of Something Greater

Jude Sierra
Goodreads
Rep: gay mc with cyclothymia, Brazilian gay mc

Why Should I Read It?

One of those books that I basically never see people talk about and I absolutely do not understand that, because it’s gorgeous in so many ways! The sport here is scuba diving, but I have to admit, it doesn’t play a truly major role, sorry. The book is actually more about mental health and building & taking care of relationships, and just allowing yourself to feel happy. It’s a very soft, tender book, it really does feel just like a ray of summer sunshine falling on you.

Some Girls Do

Jennifer Dugan
Goodreads
Rep: lesbian mc, bi li, trans side character, pan side character
TW: parental abuse (emotional), homophobia, internalised homophobia

Why Should I Read It?

Like I said, not all the books on this list are about group sports and this would be one of those exceptions: the protagonist here is a track runner. What I love most about it are the various ways it showcases the LGBT experiences and people trying to deal with them. It really doesn’t let you forget that we are a community, that coming out is different for everyone, that everyone’s support system is different.

Running With Lions

Julian Winters
Goodreads
Rep: bi mc, Pakistani-British Muslim gay li, Black gay side character, gay side character

Why Should I Read It?

Don’t mind me, but in my mind this book is a classic at this point. The found family of it all! The very idea of a football camp openly supportive of its LGBT members! The absolutely adorable romance! Don’t you just love it when one character thinks another person is their enemy, while the thought never crossed that other person’s mind? And then they inevitably grow closer together anyway? Truly, nothing beats that.

Out on the Ice

Kelly Farmer
Goodreads
Rep: bi mc with ADHD, sapphic mc with depression
TW: homophobia, biphobia, mentions of past suicidal ideation

Why Should I Read It?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that out of all romances sports romances are the best, and out of sports romances hockey romances are the best. I didn’t make those rules! But this one sure proves the point. The best part about it (despite hockey, of course, but that might just be the fan in me) is the fact that both ladies actually talk with each other, communicate their feelings, work together to deal with their problems.

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun

Jonny Garza Villa
Goodreads
Rep: Mexican American gay mc, Vietnamese American gay li, gay, lesbian, bi & pan side characters
TW: past & present parental abuse, physical abuse (chapter 14 & 28), homophobia, outing, mc gets kicked out

Why Should I Read It?

Jonny really did that. They really wrote the most wholesome summer-y book in existence. There’s beautiful balance here, where for every painful thing Julián has to endure, something good happens to him as well; for every instance of homophobia he deals with (especially from his dad), there are supportive people in his life. And the romance? Swoon-worthy!

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms

Crystal Frasier & Val Wise
Goodreads
Rep: half-white Latinx trans sapphic mc, lesbian fat mc, side nonbinary character
TW: transphobia, sexual harassment, fatphobia

Why Should I Read It?

This was probably one of the sweetest things I have read all year, and I couldn’t be more happy about it. It’s a super wholesome story, all about girls. They form strong friendships, they fight for each other, they have each other’s back. Yes, they compete but they also encourage each other to grow. And some of them fall in love, which is probably the greatest part. The romance isn’t even really the main focus, it just kind of sneaks up on you while you become more and more attached to those girls. It’s very tender and very beautiful.

Only Mostly Devastated

Sophie Gonzales
Goodreads
Rep: gay mc, bi Venezuelan li, bi side character
TW: cancer, off-page death, homophobia, biphobia, fatphobia

Why Should I Read It?

Surely, no one here thought I would pass up an opportunity to shout about a Sophie Gonzales book! Here it’s the love interest who’s into sports (basketball, to be exact) but it plays a major role in the story, in some ways. Especially if you consider the ending… Anyway, it’s very much a book about messy teens, about making mistakes and learning from them, about giving people the space and motivation they need to grow.

(You can read my full review here.)

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