Today is Transgender Parent Day, a time to celebrate and honor transgender parents! For today and any day, here are some great picture books and middle grade titles that star kids with trans parents. I wish all transgender parents a day full of love and happiness, and many more to come.
Click through for details and full reviews.
Picture Books
In The Light of You, by Biff Chaplow and Trystan Reese, illustrated by Van Binfa (Flamingo Rampant), a two-dad family (including one dad, a trans man, who is pregnant) is welcoming a new baby! Each spread shows different members of the extended family and community bringing gifts and support—but also offers questions for readers to answer themselves, such as “Who welcomed and celebrated your small person?” and “What songs or music does your small person enjoy?” Told lovingly by the two authors, The Light of You is modeled after their own family, which you can read more about in Reese’s memoir/guidebook for grown-ups, How We Do Family: From Adoption to Trans Pregnancy, What We Learned about Love and LGBTQ Parenthood.
In She’s My Dad!: A Story for Children Who Have a Transgender Parent or Relative, by Sarah Savage and illustrated by Joules Garcia (Jessica Kingsley Publishers), the child protagonist introduces readers to their dad, a transgender woman, and their fun and loving life together.
He’s My Mom!: A Story for Children Who Have a Transgender Parent or Relative, by the same two creators, offers a similar but appropriately adjusted story about a child with a trans man parent.
In Rachel’s Christmas Boat, by Sophie Labelle (Flamingo Rampant), a child whose parent has just come out as transgender cleverly solves the problem of changing the name on the parent’s Christmas gift.
Readers may also wish to know about My Maddy, by Gayle Pitman, about a child with a nonbinary parent. While an afterward indicates that the story was inspired by an intersex parent, the main text never specifies Maddy’s identity as intersex, transgender, or anything except “neither a boy nor a girl,” allowing nonbinary parents with a range of identities to see themselves here. It might therefore be a story that feels right for some families with nonbinary transgender parents.
Middle Grade Fiction
Different Kinds of Fruit, by Kyle Lukoff (Dial). Newbery honoree and two-time Stonewall Award winner Lukoff here gives us the story of sixth-grader Annabelle, whose plans for a boring year are upset by a new teacher with ideas for the curriculum and by new student Bailey, who is nonbinary, wears cool t-shirts, and isn’t afraid to stand up to the class bully. Annabelle soon develops a crush on Bailey, but isn’t sure what this means for her own identity. Her dad is oddly reluctant, however, to talk about anything LGBTQ related. Annabelle eventually finds out that he is a trans man who has lived a “stealth” life for many years. That’s not the only family secret, but I won’t spoil things further. Lukoff weaves a light touch of humor into a thoughtful tale about human growth, relationships, generational change within the queer community, and the intergenerational impact of bias and secrets.
In Fight + Flight, by Jules Machias (Quill Tree Books), one of the two protagonists, Avery, is pansexual and has two moms, one of whom is a trans woman. The outgoing and headstrong Avery also has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which affects her joints and could progressively worsen. The other protagonist, Sarah, is quiet and prone to panic attacks. When an active shooter drill at the school goes wrong, each responds uncharacteristically, leading them into friendship and possibly more as they consider their responses and their futures.
It’s a Hit, by Arin Cole Barth and Marika Barth (Flamingo Rampant), is a sweet and earnest novel that centers on two boys approaching seventh grade as they learn to define masculinity in their own ways. Taylor, one of the two protagonists, has two moms, one cis and one trans. Taylor is sometimes gender creative in his dress and thinks he may be aromantic. The second protagonist, Wil, is a trans boy.
Middle Grade Nonfiction
My Trans Parent: A User Guide for When Your Parent Transitions, by Heather Bryant (Jessica Kingsley Publishers), is a thoughtful, practical guide with lots of support and tips for anyone (especially youth) with one or more transgender parents. The author, who was in fifth grade when her parent transitioned, has gathered and synthesized stories and information from conversations with more than 30 people who have transgender parents, transgender parents themselves, and therapists and experts working with trans families. The focus is on families with parents who have transitioned after becoming parents, though there may be parts that resonate for those who were born to or adopted by post-transition parents as well.
Please also visit my Database of LGBTQ Family Books for memoirs for that include trans women parents, trans men parents, and trans nonbinary parents (and to see what’s new in kids’ books with trans parents, too).
