[TDOV 2025] book recs

[Did not get this posted on TDOV this year, so posting on TDOR instead.

I hadn't finished the writeup of A World Worth Saving, but everything else is mostly as I'd written it by TDOV.]

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Continuing to make this an annual thing, even though I haven't necessarily been doing a ton of reading (or loving what I have been reading).

You can also check out my "trans micro-library starter kit" post from [last] November, if you'd like to catch up.

The usual introduction:

March 2021, after my [then-]partner asked me, "I’m proofing a Transgender Day of Visibility doc for someone in [a Facebook group]. Do you have particular kid or adult books you’d recommend? (And how is it that I don’t actually have any?)" I pulled a bunch of book recs and made a post. I've continued to make a list each year, which you can check out on the trans tag.

I included the publication year (and publisher), since I know queer lit can often feel dated as Discourse, language, etc. changes. I also tried to flag the identities of the authors as far as I knew, since I want to mainly center trans voices.

I feel like I didn't come across many new picturebooks this past year about trans/non-binary characters? Though I haven't yet gotten my hands on Tourmaline's new Marsha P. Johnson book. [Edit: I have since read it and didn't love it.]

I had a short period (in late 2024) of reading more work by trans-fem authors thanks to following The Transfeminine Review on Bluesky, but then got maxed out with book club books.

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middle grade

A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff (2025, Dial Books for Young Readers) -- author is a Jewish trans man

A, our protagonist, is a 14-year-old Jewish trans boy in mid-covid times. His parents drag him to an anti-trans family support group -- which turns out to be run by a literal demon.

I love the Jewishness of this book. And how it explores liminality.

It's a Kyle Lukoff book, so there's a lot in here. Like, yeah, there's a casually polyamorous sales clerk at a thrift store, because those people exist in the world. A gets exposed to some different examples of queerness/queer community and does some micro-aggressions of his own, and that's all very real -- there is no singular way to be queer and/or trans, and being any of those things doesn't automatically grant you all the relevant knowledge and understanding.

As with other "what if conversion therapy but literal demons" books (e.g., 2023's Camp Damascus), real humans have varying degrees of agency in the badness that's going on; it's not as simple as "demons made them do it."

A is sometimes unlikable -- which is realistic, though also sometimes a struggle for the reader. The narrative explicitly wrestles some with why someone is Chosen and what that means. It isn't necessarily entirely satisfactory, but I appreciate the engagement.

The book doesn't engage as much as I had expected with the question in the jacket blurb of, "is a world that seems hellbent on rejecting him even worth saving at all?" so I kind of wish it had kept its early title of The Golem of Refuse.

young adult

Lucy, Uncensored by Mel & Teghan Hammond (2024, Alfred A. Knopf) -- Mel and Teghan are sisters; Teghan is trans-fem (she/they)

Lucy (trans) and her best friend Callie (cis) are theater kids and seniors in high school. Lucy is already fully out as trans, but looking ahead to college, she wonders about the possibility of a fresh start -- where everyone would see her as a woman first and she could disclose her trans status later, at her own choice. The book covers various tensions around that question of disclosure, as well as various big and small instances of transphobia -- including the tensions at historically women's colleges (a topic close to my heart!). There's a lot of joy, and plenty of stuff that's not About Being Trans.

adult

[non-fiction/memoir] Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H. (2023, Dial Press) -- author name is a pseudonym, pronouns she/they

This had been on my TBR for a while, so I started reading it after my partner started listening to it on audiobook (I didn't know the author had been on Gender Reveal) -- "a memoir in which I retell stories from the Quran as queer brown immigrant narratives alongside stories from my queer brown immigrant life." Very much my jam.

[non-fiction/memoir] It Gets Better... Except When It Gets Worse: And Other Unsolicited Truths I Wish Someone Had Told Me by Nicole Maines (2024, PenguinRandomHouse) -- author is a white USian trans woman

I had put a library hold on this approximately for the title alone after I saw it on a BookRiot Our Queerest Shelves "The 10 Biggest and Buzziest New Queer Books Out in Fall 2024," in large part because I feel like queer (esp trans) memoirs are dictated to have to be So Inspiring.

Despite the titular warning, this book is fucking fun. (In contrast to Elliot Page's memoir Pageboy [2023, Flatiron Books], which I had read shortly before it for an LGBTQ+ book club, and which had so much more trauma than I was expecting -- abuse, self-harm, restricted eating, etc. on top of queer- and trans-phobia.)

Maines doesn't coddle the reader, and the subject matter isn't all light, but her narrative voice carries you through (shout-out to her ghostwriter, Mya Spalter, who I appreciate that she explicitly thanks in the Acknowledgements at the end).

[picturebooks] Gay Pride starter set

Last June, a friend was struggling to explain Pride to one of her kids, and I offered to curate a list of picturebook recommendations (obviously).

This isn't an intro to queer concepts/identities broadly, but specifically an intro to Pride -- the parade, etc.

Below is a lightly edited version of the rec list I sent.

Pride Colors (2019) by Robin Stevenson -- board book

I don't think this does as good a job explaining the colors of the pride flag as the Our Rainbow board book (which also includes "Black and Brown for Diversity and Inclusivity"), but it more explicitly conveys the vibes of LGBTQ+ acceptance -- with lines like "Be yourself. Love who you choose." and "I'll love the person you grow to be." as well as images of what appear to be 2 moms and 2 dads holding a kid and lots of rainbows. It also has photographs of litle kids -- which babies love.

It's Pride, Baby! (2024) written by Allen R. Wells (he/him) & illustrated by Dia Valle [last name pronounced "Vah-yay"] (he/they) -- both are Black and from the U.S. South

This is about DC Black [Gay] Pride. Protagonist appears to be a Black daughter of 2 Black dads (one of whom is maybe trans?).

I'm kinda meh on the text, but I like that it exists as a book with an entirely Black family (most of the Pride books I've seen are intentionally interracial -- with a Black/brown parent and a white parent; sadly there's very little AAPI rep in queer picturebooks -- but often have a white or light-skinned protagonist kid), and I learned about D.C. Black Pride, which was new to me.

The book is addressed to a child, and one line is, "I am happy with you / And whomever you choose. / Whether it's him / Or her / Or them-- / You Love." Good job normalizing singular they AND polyamory :) (Though the latter is maybe unintentional, since no polyam flags appear in the book.)

There's a couple pages of backmatter that briefly overview DC Black Pride, followed by a page of Pride flags (with identifiers) and some brief tips on "How to support a child who's coming out as LGBTQIA+".

Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag (2018) written by Rob Sanders & illustrated by Steven Salerno -- bios indicate each uses "he" pronouns

Per the title, this book focuses on Harvey Milk and the creation of the rainbow flag as a Gay Pride symbol (at the time, the pink triangle was the primary symbol used by the community -- which was an act of reclamation, but still, many people understandably wanted something with more positive associations; this is alluded to in the text, but it's only in the backmatter that you learn what the symbol at the time actually was).  

There's a 2-page spread of lots of people holding rainbow flags, including a cop, which I don't love, but that's the only real pro-cop moment in the book.

I don't know how your kids are about death, but there is a brief mention of the assassination of Harvey Milk and George Moscone.

A little bit more text-heavy than the other books listed here, but not too much so (though obviously I don't know your kids' reading attention span).

There are a few pages of backmatter, including a Harvey Milk timeline and a Rainbow Flag timeline.

'Twas the Night Before Pride (2022) writtten by Joanna McClintick & illustrated by Juana Medina -- bios indicate each uses "she" pronouns and has a wife; Medina is from Colombia

As the title suggests, the structure of this riffs on the poem that starts "'Twas the night before Christmas" (but is actually officially titled "A Visit from St. Nicholas"). The rhythm mostly works and there are only a couple odd rhyme choices.

The family is getting ready for Pride the next day, and one of the kids asks the moms to tell the story of the history of Pride.

I really appreciate how much this book makes it clear that the police were the bad guys at Stonewall.  (The book also says "queer" in the text, which feels unusual to me for picturebooks.)

Protagonist family is a Black mom and a white mom with Black/brown kids (one walking, one baby).

Granddad's Pride (2023) written and illustrated by Harry Woodgate (they/them)

This is a sweet story about a kid visiting their (gay) grandfather and learning some about Pride and starting a Pride celebration in the grandfather's small coastal town.

(Kid is brown, grandfather is white, couples are interracial.)

Pride Puppy! (2021 hardcover, 2024 board book) written by Robin Stevenson & illustrated by Julie McLaughlin -- bios indicate both use "she" pronouns and are Canadian

This book is not particularly educational about Pride, but it's really fun.  It's in part an alphabet book, and each page you can stop and look for more items that start with that letter (if that's enjoyable and developmentally possible for your kid). 

Interracial family with 2 ~moms, a walking kid (who is lighter skinned), a baby (who is browner), a dog (and a cat, who does not come to the Pride parade).