Shamelessly Queer: Gay and Neurodiverse Young Adult Literature

This thesis examines the ways in which homosexuality and neurodiversity are represented in young adult (YA) literature. The critical exegesis argues that most contemporary realist gay and ADHD YA fiction significantly problematises homosexuality and ADHD. The creative component of this thesis, “Children of the Sun”, brings these two marginalised identities together in a work of Own Voices YA fiction that does not problematise them, but emphasises the complexity of the protagonist’s intersectional identity.