The books on this list embody alternative innovations. That’s what at the heart of so many queer found families: we build new worlds when the old one no longer fits. All of these books, in one way or another, remind me of Vuong’s assertion that being queer made him curious, that queerness is not a deprivation. There are, happily, too many queer found family books to include them all in one list. So instead, I’ve chosen books across a wide variety of genres that all approach queer found family in different ways. Some are silly and lighthearted. Others are harrowing. In some, the creation of found families is at the center of the plot. In others, found family is just an unremarkable part of a character’s life. I’ve included books that highlight the joy of queer found families and books about found families in crisis. Found families are real, and we deserve books about them that are just as nuanced and complicated as books about any other kind of family. While I did my best to make sure this list included as many different kinds of queer found family books as possible, it’s still only 20 out of many. Try these five romance series that center found family, for starters. Also check out these found family YA books, and these must-read found family books (not all of the books on these lists are about queer found family, but some of them are).
