Do you have a list of YA books that don’t feature romance as a main plot, only as a minor/background sub-plot involving other characters? As an aromantic and asexual teenage girl, it would be really nice to read a book in which it isn’t the main focus and not feel like a freak of nature for once. Thanks!

yainterrobang:

Editor of YA Interrobang here! First of all, you should never – ever – feel like a freak of nature. Half of Team Interrobang is on the asexual spectrum, including me, and there are plenty of authors who are asexual or aromantic or both, even if it’s not something they actively discuss. (Take Katie Locke, for instance, an author on the asexual spectrum whose debut YA novel hits shelves next year.) You are not alone, and you are no more a freak than I am.

But time to answer your actual question! Here are some books with as little romance as possible or no romance:
– A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
– Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst
– The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
– Archivist Wasp by Nicole Korhner Stace
– Tunnel Vision by Susan Adrian
– Seven Second Delay by Tom Easton
– The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
– The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
– Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
– This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
– A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
– Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (out in UK now, releases in US in March 2017)
– On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis
– I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest
– Iris and the Tiger by Leanne Hall
– Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung (releases in September)
– Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
– The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
– Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
– Nobody’s Princess by Esther Friesner
– You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner (releases 2017)
– and many, many more, but if I keep going my fingers will break

Here are some books with specifically asexual characters:
– This Song Is Not For You by Laura Rawlin
– Fourth World by Lyssa Chiavari
–
Ultraviolet + Quicksilver by R.J. Anderson

–
The Beast of Callaire by Saruuh Kelsey
–
Make Much of Me by Kayla Bashe

–
Deadly Sweet Lies by Erica Cameron

– We Awaken by Calista Lynne
–
As Autumn Leaves by Kate Sands

– Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire (a personal favorite)
– We Go Forward by Alison Evans
–
Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee (releases 2017)

Tristina Wright’s 27 Hours, which releases in 2017, has a character that is both asexual AND aromantic.

And here are posts on YA Interrobang that may be of interest to you:
– Calista Lynne talks about sexual representation in YA
– Adrianne Strickland talks writing as a genderqueer asexual
– Julie Daly talks asexual representation in YA (with recs)

Happy reading!
– Nicole ( @nebrinkley ), editor