The genre of young adult literature is usually considered to begin with Maureen Daly's Seventeenth Summer, which was published in 1942.
Critics trace the origin of the "new realism" or "problem novel" in teen fiction to the period from 1967 through 1969, during which S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders, Paul Zindel's The Pigman, and other pivotal titles were published.
It Better Be Worth the Trip by John Donovan announced the arrival of gay and lesbian literature as a new genre within young adult fiction.
Alyson Books, recently purchased by Regent Media, is the oldest LGBT book-publisher and the first to readily publish gay fiction against the marketing odds.
All young adults, defined here as people who are 12 to 18 years old in transition from childhood to adulthood, are struggling with issues of responsible sexual behavior and emergent ideas of self-identity, and all young adults should have access to literature that reflects the reality of their lives, their emotions, their fears and their joys, including gay and lesbian teenagers.
Furthermore, as homosexuality becomes more and more acceptable to society at large, or at least more visible, all teenagers are going to know others who are lesbian or gay, whether it is family members, teachers, friends or neighbors.
Still, the decade beginning with the mid-1970s and running to the mid-1980s saw the publication of a second category of novels, ones in which the representation of adolescent homosexuality became increasingly complex and decreasingly moralistic.
"[7] Contemporary gay young adult novels typically involve a teenage protagonist, teen issues, and the first-person point of view.
Another indication, some say, that gay young adult novels have gained wider acceptance in recent years is the fact that, since 1999, four gay-themed books, or books with gay secondary characters, have won the Young Adult Library Services Association's Michael L. Printz Award.
[3] This award, named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian and sponsored by Booklist, a publication of the ALA, is given in recognition of a work that demonstrates literary excellence in young adult literature.