LGBTQ+ Transgender Reads
Celebrating DPS Cultural Moments
Transgender Awareness Week, observed November 13 to November 19, is a one-week celebration leading up to the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), which memorializes victims of transphobic violence.
Celebrate the vibrant impact and legacy of the LGBTQ+ community! We've included a curated list of new and well-reviewed books written by LGBTQ+ authors, books featuring LGBTQ+ characters, and links to relevant Sora collections.
Access the entire LGBTQ+ Reads Sora Collection here.
Elementary Picture Book Titles
Click for more elementary books.
Calvin by JR and Vanessa Ford
A transgender boy prepares for the first day of school and introduces himself to his family and friends for the first time.
Me and My Dysphoria Monster: An Empowering Story to Help Children Cope with Gender Dysphoria by Laura Kate Dale
This touching story is the perfect book for discussing gender dysphoria with children, explaining what it is and how they and their families can deal with it. It also includes an accompanying guide for parents with further information about gender dysphoria, terminology, and first-hand examples of the author's own experiences.
The Pronoun Book by Chris Ayala-Kronos
Elementary Chapter Book Titles
The Best Liars in Riverview by Lin Thompson
While searching the woods that used to be their personal sanctuary, twelve-year-old Aubrey recalls the events and incidents preceding their best friend's disappearance and quietly questions their own gender identity.
Middle School Titles
The One Who Loves You the Most by Medina
Twelve-year-old Gabriela is trying to find their place in the world. In their body, which feels less and less right with each passing day. As an adoptee, in their all-white family. With their mom, whom they love fiercely and do anything they can to help with her depression. And at school, where they search for friends.
A new year will bring a school project, trans and queer friends, and a YouTube channel that help Gabriela find purpose in their journey. From debut author medina comes a beautifully told story of finding oneself and one's community, at last.
Alice Austen Lived Here by Alex Gino
Middle school student Sam is comfortable with their nonbinary identity, and their family has accepted it too (as long as they do their homework and chores), so when their history teacher assigns as a project coming up with a proposal for the new statue honoring a historical Staten Islander (there is a contest involved) they and their friend TJ decide to focus on Alice Austen, a lesbian photographer, whose house on Staten Island is a museum--but they have to overcome the presumption on the part of their teacher that only straight males are eligible.
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith
ebook | audiobook (Publishes November 8th!)
Trapped in a rigid hierarchy where girls learn magic and boys train as knights, twelve-year-old nonbinary Callie, who dreams of becoming a knight, and their new friends find themselves embedded in an ancient war, but in order to defeat the threats outside the kingdom they must first defeat the bigotry within.
High School Titles
Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White
Trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him. He searches for a place where the cult can't get their hands on him,or the bioweapon they infected him with. Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local LGBTQ+ Center (ALC). The ALC's leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot and offers Benji shelter. Benji accepts until he discovers the ALC's mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.
And They Lived...by Steven Salvatore
Chase Arthur is a hopeless romantic, but he's also struggling to figure out his gender identity and recover from an eating disorder. When Chase starts his freshman year of college, he has to navigate being away from home and missing his sister, finding his squad, and will have to learn to love--and be enough for--himself, while discovering what it means to truly live.
Galaxy: the Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod
Taylor Barzelay seems to have the perfect life with good looks and good grades, but they are actually an alien princess from the planet Cyandii, and after six long years of accepting the duty to remain in hiding as a boy on Earth, it all changes when they meet confident Metropolis city girl Katherine.
GLAAD
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