Book Suggestions for Trans Week of Visibility & Action
I am pleased to share this suggested book list for Trans Week of Visibility & Action (March 25-31) (TWOVA), assembled by a member of the Maplewood Library Teen Advisory Board. TWOVA was first established in 2021 by attorney Chase Strangio and activist Raquel Willis. It is an expansion of Trans Day of Visibility (March 31), which was founded in 2009 by activist Rachel Crandall Crocker.
Nonbinary Pride Flag
Food School by Jade Armstrong (they/them) | Request from Library Catalog
A nonbinary adult struggles with an eating disorder and overcomes struggles associated with binge eating.
Nonbinary main character
Nonbinary author
Graphic Fiction
Mental health representation
Audience: Adult
Trans Feminine Pride Flag
Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart (she/her) | Request from Catalog | Check Out eBook | Check Out Audiobook
Lily is a middle school girl who just wants to go to class as herself, Unfortunately, her father doesn’t support her transition. The other main character of the book is a young boy with bipolar disorder.
Transfemme main character
Cisgender (meaning “not transgender”) author
Mental health representation
Audience: Young Adult
Trans Feminine Pride Flag
Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia (she/her) | Request from Catalog | Check Out eBook | Check Out Audiobook
When Tara begins classes at an all girls school, all she wants is to be treated like any other girl. And join the school’s exclusive sisterhood called the Sibyls. Her interest in the club becomes a community-wide controversy, raising questions of what it really means to be a girl.
Transfemme main character
Trans woman author
Audience: Young Adult
Nonbinary Pride Flag
I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (they/them) | Request from Catalog | Check Out eBook | Check Out Audiobook
After their parents kick them out of the house for coming out as nonbinary, Ben, now living with their estranged sister, learns to navigate what it means to be trans, making new friends along the way.
Nonbinary main character
Nonbinary author
Mental health representation
Audience: Young Adult
Genderqueer Pride Flag
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin (he/him) | Request from Catalog | Check Out eBook | Check Out Audiobook
Riley navigates a new school, while being bullied for being gender nonconforming. Along the way, they make new friends and find a potential love interest.
Genderfluid/genderqueer main character
Cisgender author
Mental health representation
Audience: Young Adult
Trans Masculine Pride Flag
Welcome to St. Hell by Lewis Hancox (he/him) | Request from Catalog | Check Out eBook
Lewis Hancox explores his childhood, before living his life as a transgender man in adulthood. The book covers his school experiences, body dysmorphia, and relationships with dates, friends, and family members.
Trans masculine author
Graphic memoir
Mental health representation
Genderqueer Pride Flag
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe (e/em/eir) | Request from Catalog | Check Out eBook
The book follows Maia’s path of recognizing eir identity as a genderqueer person and living eir life. The book also exlores themes of sexuality, family, and coming out.
Genderqueer author
Graphic memoir
Mental health representation
Audience: Adult, and won an Alex Award (for books intended for adults that especially resonate with teens)
Trans Feminine Pride Flag
Melissa by Alex Gino (they/them/theirs) | Request from Catalog | Check Out eBook | Check Out Audiobook
Melissa, a trans girl, knows who she is. The problem is that everyone else sees her as a boy. To change everyone’s view of her, she auditions for the role of Charlotte in her school’s performance of Charlotte’s Web.
Trans feminine main character
Nonbinary author
Audience: Middle Grade