[TDOV 2022] book recs

So, pandemic depression meant I was late finishing this post (figuring out words to say about books is hard!). So, uh, you get 2 posts this year? The summary at the top was written last year, but I didn't finish writing words about some of the books until this year. (And lbr, this is, in fact, still very rought draft; but I didn't wanna get even further behind.)

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Last March, after my 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 this post.

I also started reading some of the back catalog on my TBR (as well as adding a lot more books to my TBR), and a year later I have another set of recs -- though honestly not as many as I had expected.

As with last time, 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've read most all the extant trans picturebooks at this point (though there were a bunch of recent new releases and I haven't been able to get my hands on all of them yet), but there's lots of exciting stuff happening in MG/YA which I'm hoping to get to read more of this coming year (though I will also be eating up picture books as they come out) -- and maybe some of the adult books I intended to read this past year and didn't get to? 🤷🏻‍♀️🙏🏻🤞🏻📚

picturebooks: general | trans parent | trans-masc | trans-fem

middle grade | young adult | adult

picturebooks

general

What Are Your Words? A Book About Pronouns written by Katherine Locke & illustrated by Anne "Andy" Passchier (2021, Hachette) -- both author and illustrator use "they" pronouns

I worry a little that this book will lead to kids asking people "What are your words?", which won't make sense to anyone who hasn't read this book. But I do appreciate teaching kids to ask rather than assume.

Ari also uses very embodied language when talking about the feeling of trying on words that don't fit. Which I like as a way of encouraging kids to check in with their bodies about what does or does not feel right for them.

This book models a variety of pronouns, and I appreciate that the non-binary characters have a variety of gender presentations -- not just the current popular image of androgyny. It also honors the fact that sometimes the words we want people to use for use change frequently, and aren't even always immediately clear to ourselves.

Other diversity notes: There's a wheelchair user and also someone with a prosthetic foot. And a friend of a friend pointed out the predominance of traditionally Jewish names (our protagonist Ari, Ari's uncle Lior, Ari's sister Rachel).

Jamie and Bubbie: A Book About People’s Pronouns written by Afsaneh Moradian & illustrated by Maria Bogade (2020, Free Spirit Publishing) both author and illustrator use "she" pronouns and give no indication in the book bio of being not-cis

Jamie's Bubbie comes to visit and incorrectly assumes the pronouns of various people she meets. I really appreciate the modeling of a child correcting an elder, though it's a little plot-less/awkward.

I was more meh on its predecessor book: Jamie Is Jamie: A Book About Being Yourself and Playing Your Way written by Afsaneh Moradian & illustrated by Maria Bogade (2018, Free Spirit Publishing).

Being You: A First Conversation About Gender written by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli & illustrated by Anne/Andy Passchier (2021, Rise X Penguin Workshop)

This talks about a variety of concepts in child-accessible ways. (Some reviewers think the material/topic is too advanced for the board book set, but I don't think so.) There are also questions to ask the child-reader as you go through the book.

The backmatter has more information for adult readers (which also helps).

Worth a mention, too, although the focus is not on trans characters per se, are two books about bodies that have clear representation of trans men with top surgery scars, among people of many other identities (queer and not): Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder (Dial Books, 2021) and the 2021 update of the originally-1986 The Bare Naked Book written by Kathy Stinson & illustrated by Melissa Cho (Annick Press).

trans parent

She's My Dad!: A Story for Children Who Have a Transgender Parent or Relative (2020) and He's My Mom!: A Story for Children Who Have a Transgender Parent or Relative (2021) written by Sarah Savage & illustrated by Joules Garcia (Jessica Kingsley Publishers)

I don't love these books, but if you're looking for something in the niche market of "picturebook for a child about a parent or other adult transitioning," they're pretty good. The books try to balance being a story about a kid who just happens to have a trans parent with also educating the reader, and it feels a little uneven, but not too bad -- and the education it's giving is pretty solid.

I have a preference for the Dad book, though that's in part because because I read it first (but only in part; it's also an objectively better book).

trans-masc

Sam! written by Dani Gabriel & illustrated by Robert Liu-Trujillo (2019, Penny Candy Books)
[The author said: "Sam! is a product of my experience as a queer, gender nonconforming person as well as a parent of a transgender child."]

There's some subtle Latinx coding, and this is maybe the only Latinx trans picturebook I've come across other than some bilingual ones with non-binary/gender-non-conforming protagonists (They Call Me Mix/Me Llaman Maestre written by Lourdes Rivas, 2018, about a non-binary person; One of a Kind, Like Me / Único Como Yo written by Laurin Mayeno, 2016, about a boy who wants to dress up as a princess; and arguably Call Me Tree/Llamame árbol written by Maya Christina Gonzalez, 2014, which is trying to be gender-free). In contrast to those books, our child protagonist here is decidedly a boy.

I'm Not a Girl: A Transgender Story written by Maddox Lyons and Jessica Verdi & illustrated by Dana Simpson (2020, Roaring Brook Press)
[A 12-year-old trans boy (Maddox) wrote this book (with assistance from an adult co-author), and the illustrator is a trans woman.]

A fairly straightforward story about a trans boy trying to tell his parents he's really a boy.

Hannah (our protagonist) doesn't have anyone malicious in his life -- his parents just don't pick up on his rejection of girl things. (We also get an example of how pervasive certain gender norms are, when Hannah picks out a pirate costume and his mother then purchases the "girl" pirate costume, rather than the traditional boy-coded pirate costume Hannah had picked out.)

While the book follows Hannah's frustration, it doesn't dwell in the pain such that I think it would be difficult for a trans kid to read. There are some really poignant moments, though. Like at one point Hannah is out playing in the snow, and his dad tells him to put on his (pink) jacket, and Hannah narrates: "I flop down into the snow and make another angel. I'd rather be cold and wet than not be me."

Hannah eventually meets a couple of kids who introduce him to the term "transgender" (they have a transgender cousin). It hadn't occurred to me until I started reading GR reviews that it matters that this book uses the term "transgender" explicitly. It gives trans kids additional language for themselves and also normalizes the term for all child readers.

I was pretty meh on Calvin written by J.R. Ford and Vanessa Ford & illustrated by Kayla Harren (2021, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers) and Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope written by Jodie Patterson & illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (2021, Crown Books for Young Readers), but they're both stories of Black trans boys in supportive communities, which feels valuable. They're both written by parents about their sons' experiences.

trans-fem

My Dad Thinks I’m a Boy?!: A Trans Positive Children's Book by Sophie Labelle (2020, Jessica Kingsley Publishers) -- author is a trans woman

I appreciate how many notes this book manages to hit while still feeling fun and not Teachy.

My Sister, Daisy written by Adria Karlsson & illustrated by Linus Curci (2021, Capstone) -- writer is mother of a trans girl; author is a trans man

I was a little hesitant to read this book, because I'd rather center trans voices and trans stories, but I went to a (virtual) event with the author and illustrator, and the author talked about how when her daughter came out, they (the parents) wanted books to help the siblings, which is valid.

Although the author's family is white, the illustrator made the intentional choice to make the family in the book multi-racial, for representation reasons.

middle grade

Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff (2021, Penguin Random House) -- author is a trans man

This book is only kind of about being trans. In the Author's Note at the end of the book, Lukoff writes:

When people ask what my book is about, I say, "It's about a kid being haunted by the ghost of their dead uncle into figuring out something important." Bug never uses they/them pronouns, but I hope that if I say it quickly enough, the person I'm talking to won't really notice. If the person asks for more details, I might say that it's kind of a scary story, and also a sad story but with a mostly happy ending, and that it's about figuring out how to make friends, being who you are, and letting go of someone you love.

Because this book, of course, is a trans story. It had been out long enough by the time I read it that I knew that going in -- and in fact that's a big reason I picked it up in the first place. I appreciated reading it knowing that Bug would figure out by the end that he's a trans boy, but I understand Lukoff not necessarily wanting to rob readers of the experience of figuring it out on their own as they read. (Certainly I generally avoid spoilers.)

young adult

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (2020, Macmillan) -- author is non-binary, queer Latinx

My friend Sophia's friend billed it to them as: "trans boy tries to prove to his family that he's a boy by doing the boy magic of summoning a ghost -- but he summons the wrong ghost, and oh no he's cute"

The book is, in fact, a delight.

adult

[short story collection] A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett (2014, Topside Press) -- author is a Canadian trans woman

The back cover blurb says, "Eleven unique short stories that stretch from a rural Canadian Mennonite town to a hipster gay bar in Brooklyn, featuring young trans women stumbling through loss, sex, harassment, and love."

I really appreciate how much it centers trans women's voices and identities.

My partner said of the first story: "Spoilers: the story is about all the micro aggressions that trans people face when interacting with the people who knew them pre-transition, no matter how well-intentioned those people are." The stories aren't all bleak, though.

There are ways in which the characters are variations on a theme, but I didn't feel like they were repetitive. Characters sometimes show up in each other's stories, which I appreciated -- since folks exist in community.