The Stories That Built This Bookstore
How a handful of stories became a home for many
I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I’d tear through books in a single sitting, completely hooked by the story. I wasn’t picky about genre. If it pulled me in, I kept reading.
When romance popped up in the plot, I usually thought, “Hmm, that’s nice. Now let’s get back to it.” It never resonated with me. Most of the time, it was a boy and a girl falling in love, and while I understood what the story was trying to do, I couldn’t relate to it. The connection, the kiss, the happy ending—it all felt distant.
Even when I really connected with the characters, there was always something missing. I couldn’t see myself in them. They weren’t gay. Their friendships, their struggles, their adventures—I could follow all of that. But the deeper emotional moments, the ones that were supposed to hit hardest, didn’t feel like they were meant for me.
For a long time, I didn’t question it. I thought that was just how reading worked.
Found Family Books was born when that started to change. When I began to find stories that actually reflected the world I lived in and the person I am. Stories where queer characters took the lead. Where they were allowed to want, to fall in love, to be complicated, and to be whole.
This bookstore exists because those stories matter. And in this first post, I want to share a few of the books that helped me see that. These aren’t just favorites. They’re foundational. They helped shape what this space has become.
Am I Blue? by Marion Dane Bauer
I don’t remember exactly when I first read a queer character, but I do remember the first book that really struck something in me. Am I Blue? is a collection of short stories written for young adults, and each one touches on LGBTQ themes. At the time, I don’t think I was actively searching for queer stories—I’m not even sure I knew to look for them—but this book found me anyway.
The opening story, also titled Am I Blue?, is the one that’s stayed with me the most. It’s about a boy who gets bullied for being gay and ends up wishing that everyone who’s gay would turn blue. When the wish comes true, queerness becomes something visible instead of something hidden.
I didn’t have the words for it back then, but that story made me feel seen. Not in some big dramatic way, but quietly. I wasn’t used to that. I had read so many books where I couldn’t find myself anywhere, especially when it came to the deeper emotional threads. This one was different. It felt like it understood something I hadn’t said out loud yet.
Gone series by Michael Grant
The Gone series wasn’t something I picked up expecting any kind of queer representation. It had everything I usually looked for—sci-fi elements, high stakes, a big ensemble cast. It started out like a lot of the other books I read at the time: fast-paced, action-heavy, and focused on survival.
But somewhere along the way, one of the core characters revealed her feelings for another girl. It wasn’t a huge moment. Her feelings weren’t even returned. But it caught me off guard in the best way. I wasn’t used to seeing queerness show up at all, especially not in books like this. And even though it was just one piece of the story, it changed how I connected to that character.
She quickly became one of my favorites—not just because of who she was, but because I could finally relate to what she was feeling. It was one of the first times I saw a character like that included as part of the story rather than outside it.
Vampire Transgression by Michael Schiefelbein
I found this one when I was a freshman in high school. Our local Borders Books had an LGBT section tucked away near the back of the store, and I used to sneak over to it when no one was watching. One day, I spotted Vampire Transgression sitting there with the erotica section that was next to the LGBT books. The title caught my eye because I was either currently reading or had just finished reading Twilight, and I was still in the mood for something vampire-themed.
I picked it up, read the back, and quickly realized it was a queer vampire novel. I’m still not sure how I convinced my mom to buy it for me, but somehow I did.
I remember sitting in class reading it, slipping it into my backpack every time the story got a little too spicy. It wasn’t just the romance or the vampire drama that stuck with me—it was the fact that these were gay adults loving each other openly, passionately, and without apology. That felt huge at the time. I had never seen that kind of queer intimacy portrayed so plainly. And even though the book was bold and dramatic, there was something kind of affirming in it too.
This wasn’t the kind of book I thought I was supposed to be reading. But it was exactly the kind of story I needed to find.
1 comment
I like that you included the Gone series.