Queerbook

Queerness is everywhere and it always has been. But queer stories, culture and communities have been often hidden …

Shortlisted for the SLA Information Book Awards 2025

"Engaging, witty and thoughtful … full of a supportive kindness that LGBTQ+ teens may find indispensable." –Guardian

Queerbook is an invitation to discover and celebrate queer joy, past and present. It’s a whistlestop tour of all the fun (and serious) queer stuff that the foghorn of straight culture drowns out, and that you deserve to know: heroes and histories, science and stories, art, spaces, music, film, TV, fashion – along with jargon-free breakdowns of terms from sexuality and gender identity, to code-switching, intersectionality, bi-erasure, straightwashing, and much, much more.

You don’t need any specific interests to read Queerbook – all you need is curiosity and a desire to learn more about what it means to be LGBTQ+. So, say no to the Straightrix and enter the technicolour world over the rainbow … Ready? Queer we go!

Cover illustration by Madelén Foss

Malcolm Mackenzie is an author, editor and journalist, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of pop culture. He has launched two teen magazines, winning Best Editor award from the British Society of Magazine Editors, and written books on K-Pop, BTS, Friends and Ariana Grande. He is also a regular contributor to the Guardian, GQ, Grazia and Glamour magazines.

Emily A. Foster is a queer, autistic illustrator who creates inclusive and joyful artwork. Her work celebrates diversity and aims to create a world everyone can recognise themselves in.