TYEF’s Featured Books for Young Children
Here you can see a list of books we feature for children up to around age 10, complete with book covers and descriptions.
Additional Books for Young Children
If you would like further reading on books suggested through age 10, we have additional titles compiled here with their author and year of publication.
TYEF’s Featured Books for Older Children and Teens
Here you can see a list of books we feature for ages 11-18, complete with book covers and descriptions.
Additional Books for Older Children and Teens
If you would like further reading on books suggested ages 11-18, we have additional titles compiled here with their author and year of publication.
TYEF’s Featured Books for Parents, Educators, and Providers
Here you can see a list of books we feature for ages 11-18, complete with book covers and descriptions.
Pet, Akwaeke Emezi
See a book review of Pet from one of our own youth on the “Youth Writings and Art” page.
Some Assembly Required, Arin Andrews
In this memoir, seventeenyear-old Arin Andrews, a transgender male, shares the hilarious and painful details of undergoing sex reassignment surgery while a high school junior. The book includes a helpful Reading Group Guide for postreading discussions.
Lily and Dunkin, Donna Gephart
Lily, a transgender girl, is born with a boy's anatomy. Dunkin suffers from bi-polar disorder. The two form a friendship that is strengthened when town officials decide to chop down Lily's favorite tree to build a playground. Told in two-person narrative, the reader gleans new perspectives regarding both the transgender experience and living with a disability.
George, Alex Gino
This story about a class performing a play, "Charlotte's Web," is a heartwarming account of a brave transgender girl named George who reveals her true gender identity by unexpectedly and bravely becoming Charlotte, the (female) spider protagonist in the play. The plot reveals the agony and inner turmoil experienced by transgender children and youth and imparts the message that, when it comes to revealing oneself, "earlier is better."
Being Emily, Rachel Gold
Emily was Christopher, but always believed in being honest and true to herself. As a result, she reveals her true identity to her parents who take Emily to a therapist. The illinformed therapist shatters Emily's dreams when he tells her that Christopher is normal and Emily is sick. Emily must find a way to convince her family and friends that sometimes God does make mistakes.
THE OTHER BOY, M. G. Hennessey
When Shane moves to a new school, he feels free to become the boy whom he knows lives inside. However, his deep secret is revealed by the class bully, and Shane must deal with the shame, despair, and humiliation that accompany the discovery of his previous identity. Through a caring best friend and the support of his baseball coach and teammates, Shane faces and overcomes his fears, happily continuing on his journey as an accepted transgender boy.
Gracefully Grayson, Ami Polonsky
Grayson is a girl on the inside but a boy on the outside. This inspiring story reveals the powerful influence of supportive friends and teachers on youth whose bodies do not match their gender identities.
Riding Freedom, Pam Munoz Ryan
In this true story, Charley Parkhurst, a transgender male, lives unhappily in an orphanage where he is called Charlotte. He runs away and lives as a boy, and then moves to California, and becomes a successful stagecoach driver. In the face of adversity, Charley reveals courage, imagination, and determination.
Becoming a Visible Man, Jamison Green, 2004
Being Jazz: My Life as a Transgender Teen, Jazz Jennings, 2016.
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, Susan Kuklin, 2015.
Coming Out: Telling Family and Friends, Jaime Seba, 2010.
Freakboy, Kristin E. Clark, 2016.
It’s Not My Favorite, Rue, 2014.
Jazz Mergirl: The True Story of Jazz Jennings: A Transgender Girl Born in a Boy’s Body, Bruce Edlen, 2015.
Just Add Hormones: An Insider’s Guide to the Transsexual Experience, Matt Kailey, 2006.
Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition, Katie Rain Hill, 2015.
Run, Clarissa, Run, Rachel Eliason, 2012.
She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, Jennifer Finney Boylan, 2013 (reprint edition).
I Am J, Cris Beam, 2012.
The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard, Tom Leger, 2012.
The Complications of T, Bey Deckard, 2015.
The Danish Girl, David Ebershoff, 2000.
The Gender Quest Workbook: A Guide for Teens and Young Adults Exploring Gender Identity, Rylan Tests & Deborah Coolhart, 2015.
Transgender Voice Workbook: A Voice Course for MTF Transpeople, Hannah Lane, 2016.
When Women Were Warriors: The Warrior’s Path, Catherine Wilson, 2008.
TYEF book list created by Susan Brand and Susan Maasch, courtesy of TYEF. If using this entire list, please include the information above for citation, and the year of its publication, 2016.