Yes! Alanna's such a great example, because it's not like those books are conflict free, and some of that conflict comes from Alanna's gender, but they're not angst fests and Alanna gets to succeed through positive action, not suffering (suffering that often has creepy undertones of atonement, due to the rhetorical strategies literature built up in the Middle Ages). So there's that and also the You Don't Deserve More Stories, You Already Have This Story aspect.

Rrrrr.

YA really is starting to get better. It's such an innovative and rich field these days! I think there's some really good stuff going on in YA with creating hybrids of the Celebration novel and the Problem novel that allows for a lot more complexity and positivity.

I definitely agree with you about fandom. It's really nice to have queer characters and not have to sit through at least fifty pages of self loathing first!