Book Reviews: 10 top reads celebrating Autistic Queer narratives, writes River Kingston. In this carefully curated summer reading list, River Kingston—an Autistic and non-binary scholar with a Masters in 18th-century English Literature from Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington—illuminates the transformative power of representation. These 10 novels, penned by Autistic queer authors, offer more than mere entertainment: they are beacons of hope, warmth, and empowerment, radiating the vibrant possibilities of identity and storytelling.
Seeing ourselves in stories is one of the most powerful human experiences we have. But finding genuinely good Autistic and queer representation is, often, an art. You have to know where to look. This Summer Reading List is 10 of my top reads of 2024. They feature Autistic queer protagonists, written by Autistic queer authors. They are feel-good, positive, uplifting stories of hope and empowerment – stories as warm and as bright as the summer sun. May they add to your art.
1. Show Us Who You Are by Elle McNicoll
Elle McNicoll is one of my favourite authors. She’s Autistic and queer, and crafts characters that queer Autistic kids (and adults) need to see – it’s often the first time we get to see ourselves as the heroes of our own stories. So Show Us Who You Are is a good place to start.
Plot summary: Twelve-year-old Cora knows she is Autistic, and she’s pretty sure she doesn’t like being different. Until she meets Adrian. As their friendship grows, she finds herself in a position where she has to be brave. She has to make her voice heard – and in the process, literally change the world.
There are content warnings, but if I say what they are I give away the story. I cannot recommend this book enough.
The protagonist is Autistic, and Elle McNicoll is Autistic and queer.
2. The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor
This is a story of queer Autistic joy.
Plot summary: Sam is Autistic, queer, non-binary, and the survivor of a brutal bullying attack. Their beloved father has moved them into a new home, and Sam into a new school – one that actively tries to support its queer and neurodivergent students. Sam might actually make friends. And their special interest could hold the solving clues to a decades old local murder.
This has been banned in some parts of the world for its gender nonconforming protagonist. There are, obviously, content warnings for bullying. The author, Maya MacGregor, is Autistic, trans, and queer.
3. This Other World by Andi C. Buchanan
This is a novella, I wish it had been longer. It is a truly beautiful story. I also loved seeing good Autistic representation in sci-fi – and good older lesbian representation (which is rare in any genre).
Plot summary: An older Autistic woman, having found love and a measure of acceptance on her adopted planet of Kami, comes to terms with aging and her differences.
The main character is Autistic and lesbian. Andi C. Buchanan is Kiwi and most of their books feature queer and/or neurodivergent main characters. They are both Autistic and queer.
(For accessibility, This Other World is an ebook, and was also published in Winter Well: Speculative Novellas About Older Women from Crossed Genres Press.)
4. The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall
This was such a wonderful, feel-good read. It had me smiling for days after I finished it.
Plot summary: A young woman starts her final year of high school feeling lost – a feeling she is well used to. She’s poor, she’s fat, she has anxiety, and her boyfriend and his friends don’t want her joining their S&S fantasy board game – and she longs to play. So she decides to do something brave. She joins an all-girl group of S&S players she doesn’t know, and surprises everyone, including herself, when she finds acceptance, friendship, and love.
This is the only book on the list that doesn’t have an Autistic main character or author – but both the protagonist and author are queer and neurodivergent.
5. Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin
This was one of those books I read late into the night and couldn’t put down. I am absolutely in love with this author. It’s like she takes the shape of my queer Autistic brain and writes beautiful narratives for it.
Plot summary: A young woman in her 20s is trying to navigate life through a sea of executive dysfunction. She accidently finds herself a job as a church secretary after the previous incumbent mysteriously dies. Only thing is, she’s not Catholic, she has a girlfriend, and her undiagnosed autism means her attempts to be kind and to solve the murder case are making her appear like a suspect.
Both the author and the main character are queer and Autistic. Interesting Facts about Space, Emily Austin’s second book, also features an Autistic queer protagonist, and is also well-worth the read.
6. Daniel, Deconstructed by James Ramos
This is so cute! It’s a beautiful, brave story about a young man who finds his place in the world.
Plot summary: A nerdy teenager decides to matchmake his best friend and the handsome non-binary new student at his school. He understands how movie tropes work, they’re easy scripts he uses to hide his being Autistic, so all he has to do is follow the meet-cute script to set them up. But he is Autistic, and when his plans go off-script he doesn’t have a clue that he’s the love interest.
James Ramos is a queer, non-binary, Autistic author, and the protagonist is queer and Autistic.
7. Both Can Be True by Jules Machias
I absolutely loved this book. It became my feel-good, happy place for weeks after I read it. Still now, when I think of it, a slow warmth spreads through my heart. It’s beautiful.
Plot summary: A non-binary tweenie is figuring stuff out, with all the pressure and joy that comes with that. They’re also jointly trying to save an adorable, elderly dog. (Yes, I did read some of the end before I started, just to check the dog was ok. The dog is more than ok.) They find themselves being slowly drawn into friendship with their co-conspirator and… maybe something more. It’s a stunning, brave story of love and acceptance and maybe, just maybe, being ok with who you are.
Banned in some parts of the world for its young, genderfluid protagonist. There are content warnings for bullying.
The two main characters are coded Autistic. Jules Machias is queer and Autistic.
8. Keedie by Elle McNicoll
This is the prequel to A Kind Of Spark – the protagonist is Addie’s older sister, Keedie. I read this book in one sitting – I stayed up way past when I should have switched off the light and gone to sleep because it was just so perfect. I absolutely loved it.
Plot summary: Keedie is 13-years-old, diagnosed Autistic, and has had enough of being bullied – and of watching others being bullied. She knows her little sister Addie is just like her, even though no one else has figured this out yet, and she wants her to grow up into a better world. This is such a powerful coming of age story. I couldn’t put it down.
There are content warnings for bullying.
Keedie is both queer and Autistic, as is Elle McNicoll. McNicoll has six books out – all are well-worth picking up. They are heart-warming stories.
9. Sanctuary by Andi Buchanan
This was my top read of 2024! It was so good that I actively didn’t read it, so I could make it last longer.
Plot summary: A ragtag group of queer neurodivergents have a long-term household together so they can support each other and look after each other. Their home is a large, old, haunted house – a sanctuary for both themselves and the ghosts who reside there. Until an evil magician from the past threatens everything. This is such a feel-good, light-bringing story, with a cracking good, old-style ghost tale beneath.
The main character is trans, non-binary, and Autistic. There are some content warnings.
As mentioned in #3, Andi C. Buchanan is a queer, Autistic, Kiwi author, and I love their books.
10. The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
I devoured this. It’s intense and hard and brilliant and everything in between.
Plot summary: A trans Autistic teenager finds himself facing an arranged marriage he doesn’t want and imprisoned in a finishing school to “fix” him into a suitable wife. But nothing is as it seems. Young women at the school are disappearing. And his intended spouse is someone he could, possibly, love.
It’s as if The Miseducation of Cameron Post was set in Victorian England, with a twist of fantasy, interwoven with a deeply unsettling gothic horror tale. There are content warnings. The pain of what the world does to make us more acceptable is very real. But through the pain there is such a profound story of hope. Things can change. The world doesn’t have to be this way. There are sweet things in terrible places.
The author is Autistic, trans, and queer.