Sonora Reyes
Sonora Reyes is an American author of young adult fiction best known for their debut novel The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School, which won a Lambda Literary Award.
Career
Reyes's debut novel, The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School, was published by Balzer + Bray in May 2022. The novel predominantly deals with homophobia, and follows a teen girl as she develops her first crush on another girl who is open about her own queerness and speaks up against homophobic teachers. Among other honors, the novel was a finalist for the 2022 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The Chicago Public Library included The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School on their list of the best young adult novels of 2022. The following year, it was included on Young Adult Library Services Association's list of Teens' Top Ten.Their sophomore novel, The Luis Ortega Survival Club, was published by Balzer + Bray in 2023. The novel is about teenage girls who band together to expose the perpetrator of several sexual assaults. Reyes considers the book to be a personal revenge fantasy. The Luis Oretga Survival Club is a Junior Library Guild book. In the same year, they contributed a short story to Transmogrify! 14 Fantastical Tales of Trans Magic.
In 2025, Reyes released The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar that focuses on the character Cesar Flores, who appeared in the The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School. One of their stories was also included in For the Rest of Us: 13 Festive Holiday Stories to Celebrate All Seasons.
Their first adult novel, The Broposal, was published in 2025.
On January 5, 2026, they announced they'd be starting a podcast about "queer and trans BIPOC authors and stories, and maybe do a little oversharing about the publishing industry." with fellow author Jonny Garza Villa. The first episode will air on February 3.
Personal life
Reyes was born and raised in Arizona. They are of Mexican descent. They went to Catholic school, which they say inspired their novels in terms of writing about what they experienced there.Reyes currently lives in Arizona. They are autistic and use they/them pronouns.
Publications
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- on GoodReads