It’s Transgender Awareness Week, so I’m rounding up some of this year’s great books featuring trans people—picture and board books, middle grade titles, and books for parents!
Click titles or images for full reviews and purchase links. Also visit my database and filter by the various trans-related tags (transgender girl, transgender boy, etc.) to see books from previous years. The ones below are just from 2022!
Wishing all transgender people and their families a meaningful and empowering week. May we cisgender folks listen, learn, and become better allies.
Board Books
Whoever You Are: A Baby Book on Love & Gender, by Josephine Wai Lin, illustrated by Sandy Lopez (Collective Book Studio). This bright board book is a poem from parent to child (and a reminder to adults to parent with openness, particularly around gender). One page shows a father with a short-haired child who reads as a boy, but the facing page shows the child, now older, with long hair and wearing a dress, seemingly a trans woman. “And as you find what’s authentic & true/I’ll be here to love/every version of you,” the text affirms.
The Pronoun Book, by Chris Ayala-Kronos, illustrated by Melita Tirado (Clarion). This bright board book highlights different pronouns and some of the diverse people who use each one. No one is labeled beyond their pronouns, so it’s hard to say if any are trans (as opposed to, say, gender creative or nonbinary), but in a book like this, some are bound to be. Simple but joyous.
Picture Books
If You’re a Kid Like Gavin: The True Story of a Young Trans Activist, by Gavin Grimm and Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by J Yang (Katherine Tegen Books). Gavin Grimm successfully fought his high school in federal court for the right to use the boy’s bathroom like the boy he is. To write a picture book about his experience, he teamed up with Kyle Lukoff, a two-time Stonewall Award winner, Newbery honoree, and trans man. Together with illustrator J Yang, they’ve given us a must-read book for readers of all identities.
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?” The Light of You is modeled after the authors’ own family, which you can read more about in Reese’s 2021 book for grown-ups, How We Do Family: From Adoption to Trans Pregnancy, What We Learned about Love and LGBTQ Parenthood.
True You: A Gender Journey, by Gwen Agna and Shelley Rotner; photographs by Rotner (Clarion). This joyous and celebratory book is filled with photos and testimonials of real children across a variety of gender identities and expressions, including transgender children. The photos and words of real children make this book extraordinarily powerful, even though its text remains simple and upbeat.
Good Dream Dragon, by Jacky Davis, illustrated by Courtney Dawson (Little, Brown). A whimsical and enchanting bedtime story with a transgender, nonbinary protagonist who has two moms. Lush illustrations and soothing words combine with just the right spark of imagination for a winning tale.
Me and My Dysphoria Monster, by Laura Kate Dale, illustrated by Hui Qing Ang (Jessican Kingsley). An allegorical tale in which a child named Nisha introduces us to her monster, which follows her everywhere. While the monster used to be small, it has begun to grow every time someone calls her a boy, calls her by a boy’s name, or tells her she must use the boys’ bathroom. With the help of an adult trans mentor, however, she grows up into a happy, trans adult.
I Love You Because I Love You, by Muon Thi Van, illustrated by Jessica Love (Katherine Tegen). A warm and lovely book that celebrates love and the many ways we express it. One spread shows identical twins maintaining their love as one seemingly comes out as a transgender boy.
Kind Like Marsha: Learning from LGBTQ+ Leaders, by Sarah Prager, illustrated by Cheryl Thuesday (Running Press). Prager, author of two excellent LGBTQ collective biographies for middle graders and young adults, here turns her talents to younger readers as she again celebrates a set of LGBTQ people who have made an impact in the world, here encouraging readers to emulate the positive qualities they embody.
Laverne Cox (Little People, Big Dreams), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, illustrated by Olivia Daisy Coles (Frances Lincoln). Part of the bestselling Little People, Big Dreams series, this picture book biography of actor Laverne Cox is a positive look at her life from childhood to today, although some of the wording might be improved (see full review for details).
Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist, by Rosita Stevens-Holsey and Terry Catasús Jennings, illustrated by Ashanti Fortson. A moving biography in verse of the acclaimed activist, attorney, and Episcopal priest, from childhood in the Jim Crow South to involvement in some of the landmark civil rights cases of the 20th century. Some biographers have referred to her posthumously as a transgender man; Murray never used that term, however, which was not in common use during most of her lifetime. The authors here (including Stevens-Holsey, one of Murray’s nieces), say, “Transgender is possibly what Pauli would call herself.”
Middle Grade Books
Different Kinds of Fruit, by Kyle Lukoff (Dial). The always terrific Lukoff here gives us a thoughtful tale about human growth, relationships, generational change within the queer community, and the intergenerational impact of bias and secrets. Sixth-grader Annabelle’s plans for a boring year are upset by a new teacher and by new, nonbinary classmate Bailey, on whom Annabelle develops a crush. She 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—but that’s only the first of the family’s secrets.
It’s a Hit, by Arin Cole Barth and Marika Barth (Flamingo Rampant). 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.
The Ooze, by Tash McAdam (Orca). A high-interest book at a low reading level, this gripping apocalyptic tale in Orca’s “hi-lo” Anchor line is specifically for teens reading below a grade 2.0 level. A black slime is taking over the people of Vancouver, and 15-year-old Bran is trying to survive after the ooze got his mom and his neighbor. Bran bands together with Mohammed, Zey, and Aisha, three young siblings and survivors, to try and rescue his boyfriend Hayden—and perhaps save the entire city. Bran is also a trans boy. His queer identities are not a focus of the plot, but nor are they ignored; trans author McAdam knows how to find a good balance.
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.
History Comics: The Stonewall Riots: Making a Stand for LGBTQ Rights, by Archie Bongiovanni, illustrated by A. Andrews (First Second). In this fun yet informative graphic novel, modern queer teens Natalia (who is trans), Jax, and Rashad learn about queer history from Natalia’s abuela and from being transported back in time to the Stonewall Inn of 1969. Despite the fictional veneer, the history lessons are informative and more nuanced than in some books for this age group.
A Very Strangeworlds Christmas, by L. D. Lapinski (Orion). A digital-only novella set in the world of author L. D. Lapinski’s excellent Strangeworlds Travel Agency trilogy. Twelve-year-old Flick Hudson loves traveling the multiverse via magical suitcases with 18-year-old Jonathan Mercator, overseer of the Strangeworlds Society. Even so, she wasn’t expecting something quite so magical to happen on Christmas Eve…. Fans of the series will enjoy this bonus story; those new to it should read the trilogy first, however, as there are some significant spoilers here (and if you didn’t know Jonathan was trans from the earlier books, you wouldn’t pick that up here). Those in the know, however, will delight in these two queer characters simply having another adventure where their identities aren’t a Big Deal.
Books for and About Parents
A Girlhood: Letter to My Transgender Daughter, by Carolyn Hays (Blair). Written as a missive to her transgender daughter, Hays not only tells their family story but also weaves in reflections and information about gender, motherhood, girlhood, privilege, representation, trans history, and social justice. It is both memoir and guidebook, filled with fierce, protecting love.
Beyond Pronouns: The Essential Guide for Parents of Trans Children, by Tammy Plunkett, illustrated by Masha Pimas (Jessica Kingsley). Plunkett, an author, LGBTQ advocate, life coach, and mother to a transgender son (and three other queer children), has written a compassionate, reassuring, and helpful guide for other parents of transgender children.
The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Parents and Professionals Supporting Transgender and Nonbinary Children, by Rachel Pepper and Stephanie Brill (Cleis Press). Originally published in 2008, but fully revised and updated in 2022, with valuable information based on extensive research and interviews, as well as years of experience working with families who have transgender children.
