Holding Space: A Pride Month Reading List Honoring Trans & Nonbinary Communities
As we celebrate Pride Month, it’s impossible to ignore that members of our transgender and nonbinary communities are navigating an increasingly challenging and heavy cultural landscape. At a time when so many young people face a deeply hostile social climate, books possess the unique power to foster a sense of self-worth and deepen empathy. This curated booklist shines a dedicated light on trans and nonbinary voices, offering windows into lives shaped by both profound resilience and everyday joy. Above all, these stories honor the power of individuals living as their whole, authentic selves.
If you are looking for meaningful ways to show up for trans and nonbinary youth, these organizations are a great place to start:
- Stand With Trans
- Trans Lifeline
- TransFamily Support Services
- Trans Student Educational Resources
- The Trans Youth Equality Foundation
- The Trevor Project
FICTION
Costumes for Time Travelers, by A. R. Capetta (Candlewick Press) — LGBTQIA+, Romance, Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Teen.
Calisto and Fawkes are drawn to each other for the first time, again, as they travel from when to when to take on a threat to all they hold dear in this lyrical and playful fantasy from award-winning author A. R. Capetta.
Anyone who has hiked through time knows the town of Pocket. It’s the place travelers first reach after they stumble away from their hometime, passing through on their way to any other when. To Calisto, Pocket is home. They love their grandmother’s shop, which is filled with clothes from every era that are used to make costumes for time travelers. Calisto has no intention of traveling—it’s too dangerous. For Fawkes, traveling is life. He put on time boots when he was young and has been stumbling through eras ever since. When he floats into Pocket, Calisto meets him for the first time, though Fawkes has seen Calisto—in glimpses of what hasn’t happened yet. He’s also seen the villains chasing them both. Now Calisto and Fawkes must rush—from Shakespeare’s London to ancient Crete to California on the eve of a millennium—to save Pocket, and travelers, from being erased. From the Lambda Literary Award–winning author of The Heartbreak Bakery comes a fairy-tale romance that weaves in and out of time, from kiss to kiss and costume to costume.
Devils Like Us, by L.T. Thompson (Bloomsbury Publishing / Bloomsbury YA) — Fantasy, Historical Fiction, LGBTQIA+, Action / Adventure, Teen.
Our Flag Means Death meets The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue in this YA historical fantasy about three queer teens and their found family of queer pirates facing down a secret magical society.
Remy wants to rescue her father.
Cas wants to finally be himself.
Finn wants to get the girl.
Nineteenth-century Massachusetts high society isn’t kind to anyone who doesn’t conform to its norms. For years, Remy, Cas, and Finn have done their best to blend in. But when they find themselves targeted by an evil magical society, they’ll have to find the strength to stand out.
When a prophetic vision sets the three of them on a collision course, they embark on a journey that will take them aboard a ship of queer smugglers, into the path of a demon, and inside a sinister stronghold of dark magic. Together, they’ll confront hidden secrets and face deadly odds-and, hopefully, find out who they truly are.
The Evolving Truth of Ever-Stronger Will, by Maya MacGregor (Astra Books for Young Readers / Astra Young Readers) — Coming of Age, LGBTQIA+, Death / Grief / Loss, Family / Community, Teen.
Will, an agender teen, struggles with the haunting aftermath of parental abuse as they forge a new life and love in this novel that is perfect for fans of If These Wings Could Fly and Last Night at the Telegraph Club.
Will is a 17-year-old on the cusp of freedom: freedom from providing and caring for their abusive, addicted mother, freedom from their small town with an even smaller mindset, and the freedom from having to hide who they truly are. When their drug dealer mother dies months before their 18th birthday, Will is granted their freedom earlier than expected. But their mother’s last words haunt Will: She cursed them with her dying breath, claiming her death was their fault. Soon, their mother’s drug-dealing past threatens Will’s new shiny future, leaving Will scrambling to find their beloved former foster mother, Raz, before Child Protective Services or local drug dealers find them first. But how do you reconnect with family and embark on a new love when you’re convinced you destroy everything you touch?
A Fix of Light, by Kel Menton (Little Island Books) — Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Mental / Physical Health, Romance, Teen.
A powerful and moving YA novel that seamlessly blends queer romance and fantasy.
Hanan is supposed to be dead.
The forest outside Skenashogue sent him home alive – but changed. A strange new magic makes every emotion a physical force he can’t control.
Bright and gentle, fox-like Pax is everything Hanan is not. And when he touches Hanan he mutes his secret power, quiets the curse.
To survive their own darkness, they’ll need to open up to each other. But Hanan isn’t sure Pax will like what he finds out …
Can their love help them find their way back to the light?
The Flicker, by H.E. Edgmon (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Feiwel & Friends) — Action / Adventure, Family / Community, BIPOC Characters and Creators, Cultural Diversity, ages 7-12.
Perfect for fans of The Marrow Thieves, Hatchet, and The City of Ember, H.E. Edgmon’s middle-grade debut offers a bittersweet tale of hope and survival, a modern classic for the climate change generation.
One year ago, a solar flare scorched the Earth and destroyed life as we know it.
With their parents gone and supplies running dangerously low, step-sisters Millie and Rose only have one chance at survival: leave home with their infant half-brother and loyal dog Corncob in search of Millie’s grandma, a Seminole elder. As they navigate the burning land with a group of fellow survivors, dodging The Hive, a villainous group that has spent the last year hoarding supplies and living in luxury, the siblings have to learn to rely on each other more than ever, and discover how to build a new life from the ashes. Expertly balancing heartbreak and hope, The Flicker is both a thrilling survival story and a tender exploration of Indigenous ideas of identity and found family.
Heebie Jeebies, by Matthew Erman; illustrated by Shelby Criswell (Mad Cave Studios / Papercutz) — Fantasy, Horror, Friendships, LGBTQIA+, ages 7-12.
Blue and Herschel, two bumbling losers, seek a cursed treasure buried beneath their middle school, but there is one problem; It’s haunted by those who tried… and died in their attempt to get the treasure for themselves!
AT AMBERLINE MIDDLE SCHOOL, THERE’S MORE THAN ONE THING THAT GOES BUMP IN THE NIGHT… Blue and their best friend Herschel are definitely not the coolest kids around, but when a group of popular bullies tells our main characters that their problems can be solved by finding the treasure buried beneath the school… well, Blue, Herschel, and one annoyed night janitor have to investigate their school after dark! What nightmares guard the treasure? The kind to give our heroes one bad case of the Heebie Jeebies! Matthew Erman and Shelby Criswell re-team for this hilarious and spooky middle-grade graphic novel perfect for the spookalicious kid or kid-at-heart that’ll be sure to surprise, delight, and terrify!
How to Get Over the End of the World, by Hal Schrieve (Seven Stories Press / Triangle Square) — Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Contemporary, Romance, Teen.
From the National Book Award–longlisted author of Out of Salem comes a boldly weird, raucous YA novel about a group of queer teen artists, activists, and telepathic visionaries—a chosen family fighting for each other amidst climate and community destruction.
James Goldberg, self-described neurotic goth gay transsexual stoner, is a senior in high school, and totally over it. He mostly ignores his classes at Cow Pie High, instead focusing on fundraising for the near-bankrupt local queer youth support group and attending punk shows with his friend-crush Ian and best friend Opal. But when James falls in love with Orsino, a homeschooled trans boy with apocalyptic visions of the future, he wonders if the scope of what he believes possible is too small. How to Get Over the End of the World confirms Hal Schrieve as a unique and to-be-celebrated voice in LGBTQ+ YA fiction with this multi-voiced story about flawed people trying their hardest to make a better world—through protest, art, and everyday acts of care.
I Wanna Be Your Girl Vol. 1, by Umi Takase (Random House Children’s Books / Random House Graphic) — LGBTQIA+, Coming of Age, Romance, Friendships, Teen.
Being in love with your childhood best friend can be complicated, especially when, right before high school, she transitions to living as a girl. Printed for the first time in English, this manga series tells a thoughtful story about the complications of first loves, friendship, and what it truly means to be an ally.
Hime has secretly been in love with her childhood best friend, Akira, for as long as she can remember. She was the first person who knew that Akira identified as a girl, and she made it her mission to be Akira’s protector against the world. Hime is thrilled that Akira has finally decided to live as her true self now that they are starting high school.
However, as Akira starts to attract all types of attention, Hime takes it upon herself to aggressively stick up for Akira whenever necessary. Not wanting her to be singled out or bullied, Hime decides that her only option is to put herself in Akira’s shoes. Hime dresses like a boy in support of the friend she loves…too bad her plan only backfires on them both.
Jamie Is Jamie, by Afsaneh Moradian; illustrated by Maria Bogade (Free Spirit Publishing) — Imagination / Play, Friendships, LGBTQIA+, ages 4-6.
When free-spirited Jamie arrives at a new preschool, all the children learn that gender expression doesn’t determine which toys to play with.
There are so many fun things to play with at Jamie’s new preschool—baby dolls to care for, toy cars to drive—and Jamie wants to play with them all! But the other children are confused by Jamie’s gender expression . . . is Jamie a boy or a girl? Some toys are just for girls and others are just for boys, aren’t they? Not according to Jamie!
Join Jamie’s new friends as they learn the importance of cooperation, creativity, and empathy. Jamie is a great way to start a conversation with children about gender expression by:
- challenging gender stereotypes
- showing readers that playing is fundamental to learning
- reinforcing the idea that all children need the freedom to play unencumbered
The Light Looks Like Me: Words on Love From Queer Youth, by The Young Authors of Shout Mouse Press (Shout Mouse Press) — LGBTQIA+, Coming of Age, Family / Community, Romance, Teen.
The Light Looks Like Me is an anthology of work from young people across the LGBTQ+ spectrum exploring what love looks like to them, in all its iterations. Their explorations, from young people aged 13-24 in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area, move from poetry to prose to comics to art and back again to poetry. For these young authors, love isn’t just love — it’s light, and their pieces find that light everywhere: in their friends and family, their communities, and bubbling through their brilliant selves.
Most Ardently, by Gabe Cole Novoa (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Feiwel & Friends) — LGBTQIA+, Romance, Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Teen.
A trans boy searches for a future—and a romance—in which he can live and love openly as himself in this heartwrenching YA reimagining of Pride & Prejudice, perfect for fans of Bridgerton and Gwen and Art Are Not in Love.
London, 1812. Oliver Bennet feels trapped. Not just by the endless corsets, petticoats, and skirts he’s forced to wear on a daily basis, but also by society’s expectations. The world—and the vast majority of his family and friends—thinks Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth. He is therefore expected to mingle at balls wearing a pretty dress, entertain suitors regardless of his interest in them, and ultimately become someone’s wife.
But Oliver can’t bear the thought of such a fate. He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out of his family’s home and explore the city, rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. It’s during one such excursion that Oliver becomes acquainted with Darcy, a sulky young man who had been rude to “Elizabeth” at a recent social function. But in the comfort of being out of the public eye, Oliver comes to find that Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart. And not to mention incredibly attractive.
As Oliver is able to spend more time as his true self, often with Darcy, part of him dares to begin to hope that his dream of love and life as a man could be possible. But suitors are growing bolder—and even threatening—and his mother is growing more desperate to see him settled into an engagement. Oliver will have to choose: settle for safety, security, and a life of pretending to be something he’s not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love, and a life that can be truly, honestly his own. This bittersweet Pride & Prejudice remix follows a trans boy yearning for the freedom to live openly, centering queerness in a well-known story of longing and subverting society’s patriarchal and cisheteronormative expectations.
My Mommy is a He!, by Katherine Rosenblatt; illustrated by Lee Ferrel (Stirred Stories) — LGBTQIA+, Family / Community, Concepts, Social Activism / Equality / Feminism, ages 4-6.
Sometimes people think having He as a pronoun means you are a daddy. But that’s not always how it goes. Based on true events, this children’s book explores transgender identity through a family’s experience with one of the parents transitioning. A thoughtful and visually appealing read, My Mommy is a He! is the perfect tool to engage young readers in dialogue about gender identity.
No One Left But You, by Tash McAdam (Soho Press / Soho Teen) — LGBTQIA+, Mystery / Thriller, Romance, Contemporary, Teen.
A trans teen is swept up in a whirlwind friendship with lethal consequences in this taut YA thriller, for fans of Sadie, Andrew Joseph White, and HBO’s Euphoria.
BEFORE. Newly out trans guy Max is having a hard time in school. Things have been tough since his summer romance, Danny, turned into his bully. This year, Max’s plan is to keep his head down and graduate. All that changes when new It Girl, Gloss, moves to town. No one understands why perfect, polished Gloss is so interested in an introverted skater kid, but Max blooms in the hothouse of her attention. Caught between romance and obsession, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her on his side.
AFTER. Haircuts, makeovers, drugs, parties. It’s all fun and games until someone gets killed at a rager gone terribly wrong. Max refuses to believe that Gloss did it. But if not Gloss, who? Desperate to figure out the truth in the wake of tragedy, Max veers dangerously close to being implicated—and his own memories of that awful night are fuzzy. Both sharp-edged thriller and moving coming of age, this gorgeously wrought novel is perfect for readers who want stories with trans characters front and center.
No Place for Fairy Tales, by Edd Tello (Rosen Publishing Group / West 44 Books) — LGBTQIA+, Coming of Age, Family / Community, Teen.
Yuriel’s poor neighborhood in Monterrey, Mexico, isn’t a place where fairy tales happen.
Yuriel and his cousin Azul work each day doing laundry to help their family make a living. So when Azul, a trans teen, decides she wants to mark her transition to womanhood with a quinceañera, Yuriel is sure it’s an impossible dream. They don’t have the money, and besides, Azul’s father would never support her transition.
But as an openly gay artist in a traditional family, Yuriel sees how important this rite of passage is for Azul. As Yuriel risks everything to play fairy godmother to Azul, he realizes it’s going to take a little bit of magic to pull off this once-in-a-lifetime quinceañera.
Ollie in Between, by Jess Callans (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group / Feiwel & Friends) — LGBTQIA+, Coming of Age, Social Emotional Learning, Friendships, ages 7-12.
In his debut, Jess Callans delivers a tender, queer coming-of-age story about finding your voice and choosing to live authentically, even when it’s easier to blend in.
Puberty, AKA the ultimate biological predator, is driving a wedge between soon-to-be 13-year-old Ollie Thompson and their lifelong friends. Too much of a girl for their neighborhood hockey team, but not girly enough for their boy-crazed BFF, Ollie doesn’t know where they fit. And their usual ability to camouflage? Woefully disrupted by all the changes around them.
When a school project asks them to write an essay on what it means to be a woman (if anyone’s got an answer, that’d be great), and one of their new friends is the target of bullying, Ollie is caught between the safety of fleeing from their own differences or confronting the risks of fighting to take their own path forward.
Simply Skye, by Pamela Morgan; illustrated by Heather Bell (The Creative Company / Amicus Ink) — LGBTQIA+, Family / Community, Social Emotional Learning, ages 4-6.
Avi’s doll Skye is not a boy or a girl. Neither is Avi. But what will their family think? Avi uses Skye to explore gender expression and identity and also to discover how their family will react to Avi’s own nonbinary identity. Breaking gender stereotypes, Avi’s clothing choices and actions show their brother, sister, and parents who they really are as their family gradually understands and accepts Avi’s identity.
As the mother of a nonbinary child, author Pamela Morgan wanted to make the books her child wasn’t finding on bookshelves. She is a fierce advocate for transgender rights and an award-winning author and playwright.
Illustrator Heather Bell grew up playing tea party, war, and squirrel adventures. The labels “girl” and “boy” never fully fit, as Heather felt like both. It would be years before Heather heard the term “non-binary” and felt understood and seen. As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community and a mother, illustrator Heather Bell sensitively portrays Avi’s story with relatable emotions and family dynamics. A touching story of self-acceptance, Simply Skye is a great starting point for discussions of diversity, understanding others, and building SEL skills.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, by Andrew Joseph White (Peachtree / Peachtree Teen) — Fantasy, Historical Fiction, LGBTQIA+, Neurodiversity, Teen.
A blood-soaked and nauseating triumph that cuts like a scalpel and reads like your darkest nightmare. New York Times bestselling author Andrew Joseph White returns with the transgressive gothic horror of our time!
Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.
London, 1883. The Veil between the living and the dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old trans, autistic Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife.
After a failed attempt to escape an arranged marriage, Silas is diagnosed with Veil sickness—a mysterious disease sending violet-eyed women into madness—and shipped away to Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium. When the ghosts of missing students start begging Silas for help, he decides to reach into Braxton’s innards and expose its guts to the world—so long as the school doesn’t break him first.
Featuring an autistic trans protagonist in a historical setting, Andrew Joseph White’s much-anticipated sophomore novel does not back down from exposing the violence of the patriarchy and the harm inflicted on trans youth who are forced into conformity.
Surviving the City—From the Roots Up, by Tasha Spillett; illustrated by Natasha Donovan, Donovan Yaciuk (Portage & Main Press / HighWater Press) — LGBTQIA+, BIPOC Characters and Creators, Death / Grief / Loss, Coming of Age, Teen.
Dez’s grandmother has passed away. Grieving, and with nowhere else to go, they’re living in a group home. On top of everything else, Dez is navigating a new relationship and coming into their identity as a Two-Spirit person.
Miikwan is crushing on the school’s new kid, Riel, but doesn’t really understand what Dez is going through. Will she learn how to be a supportive ally to her best friend?
Elder Geraldine is doing her best to be supportive, but she doesn’t know how to respond when the gendered protocols she’s grown up with are being thrown into question.
Will Dez be comfortable expressing their full identity? And will their community relearn the teachings and overcome prejudice to celebrate them for who they are?
NONFICTION
Beyond They/Them: 20 Influential Nonbinary and Gender-Diverse People You Should Know, by Em Dickson; illustrated by Cameron Mukwa (Andrews McMeel) — LGBTQIA+, BIPOC Characters and Creators, Careers / Hobbies, Facts / Trivia, Teen.
Beyond They/Them is a captivating, gorgeously illustrated book celebrating 20 trailblazing nonbinary, genderqueer, and two-spirit individuals who have left an indelible mark on music, sports, film and television, politics, and more.
Explore 20 biographies of game-changing and noteworthy nonbinary people of diverse backgrounds and in a wide variety of industries. Beyond They/Them: 20 Influential Nonbinary People You Should Know is a fully illustrated guide to celebrities, activists, musicians, and other influential people of various identities across the nonbinary spectrum. Complete with beautiful illustrations by the talented artist Cameron Mukwa and written by Em Dickson, this book is a celebration of nonbinary joy and proves that there has been, and always will be, a place for people of all genders.
Hello, Cruel World (Second Edition): 101+ Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws, by Kate Bornstein; Introduction by Sara Quin (Seven Stories Press / Triangle Square) — LGBTQIA+, Mental / Physical Health, Humor, ages Teen.
Now with 20 additional alternatives and Kate Bornstein’s urgent new essay, “Hello, Cruel Gender,” this edition of Hello, Cruel World offers a much-needed and unorthodox catalog of alternatives to suicide for all of us — ranging from the playful to the irreverent to the controversial, fun, challenging, earnest, and easy. With love, humor, and grit, Bornstein dares readers to re-envision the gender system, encouraging us to unleash our hearts’ desires and journey toward an emphatic embrace of life.
“This book is written for the teen locked inside each of us,” writes Paul Preciado in a new afterword to the book. “The one who has lost their dream, forgotten their infinite desire for transformation, the one who has gotten used to accepting the desires of others rather than pursuing their own.” Here is a trove of insights, at once intimate and edgy, to keep every freak out there alive.
While the rest of the world partakes in the popularity of Korean culture, a certain unease and anxiety hang in the air in South Korea as its people still grapple with the distrust and anger of one culture split into two distinct societies. Gendry-Kim explores the life of the supreme leader, searching for commonalities to make sense of the daily fear: from his birth to his international education, his hobbies, and his relationships. She weaves her personal accounts and includes interviews with former South Korean president Moon Jae-in, North Korean defectors, researchers, journalists, and even Kim’s former chef. Translated by the award-winning Janet Hong, My Friend… is a cautionary tale on what makes a dictator, at a time when these lessons are more relevant in the West than ever.
Trans History: A Graphic Novel: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, written & illustrated by Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett (Candlewick Press) — LGBTQIA+, History, Biography / Memoir, Teen.
An essential introduction to trans history, from ancient times to the present day, in full-color graphic nonfiction format. Deeply researched, highly readable, and featuring a broad range of voices.
What does “trans” mean, and what does it mean to be trans? Diversity in human sex and gender is not a modern phenomenon, as readers will discover through illustrated stories and records that introduce historical figures ranging from the controversial Roman emperor Elagabalus to the swashbuckling seventeenth-century conquistador Antonio de Erauso to veterans of the Stonewall uprising Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. In addition to these individual profiles, the book explores some of the societal roles played by trans people beginning in ancient times and shows how European ideas about gender were spread across the globe. It explains how the science of sexology and the growing acceptance of (and backlash to) gender nonconformity have helped to shape what it means to be trans today. Illustrated conversations with modern activists, scholars, and creatives highlight the breadth of current trans experiences and give readers a deeper sense of the diversity of trans people, a group numbering in the millions. Extensive source notes provide further resources. Moving, funny, heartbreaking, and empowering, this remarkable compendium from trans creators Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett is packed with research on every dynamic page.
Looking for more inspiring queer reads? Check out our full Pride Month booklist as well as our LGBTQ+ Booklists and Resources page.
