LGBT-themed novels can span from children's literature to young adult literature. For children, these novels deal with gay familial awareness, bullying, gender nonconformity, or even nonfiction about LGBT leaders, like Harvey Milk (Flores 115). Prior to 2004, many novels about LGBT people contained little to no physical intamacy, and the LGBT characters were often met with "distaste, physical violence, instances of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and/or death," but now, more YA novels contain more positive portrayals of LGBT people (Bittner 358).
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Clark and Blackwell mention Cart and Jenkin's work in identifying three different domoinant types of LGBT-themed literature. The first is homosexual visibility (HV), which portrays a single character, assumed to be straight, and comes out as gay or lesbian. The problems that this character faces drives the novel. Gay assimilation (GA) is another portrayal in LGBT-themed literature. GA novels present gay and lesbian characters as no different from the straight characters aside from their sexuality. Last is queer consciousness/community (QC) novels. These novels emphasize community in which the character that identifies as LGBT is seen as being supported in their community and families. The best novels for LGBT students are the QC novels, but the most common in YA literature often tends to be HV novels. Teachers need to try to incorporate QC novels whenever possible to help LGBT students feel like they are not alone (Clark 29). In the end, Bittner suggests that these various LGBT YA texts must be educational and pleasurable for teens and children (359).