Celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility with Art and Illustration

Each year, International Transgender Day of Visibility is celebrated on March 31st to honor transgender people across the globe and advocate for trans rights and freedoms. Luckily for young readers, a multitude of children’s books exploring trans issues and/or starring trans characters are available to enjoy on this holiday and all throughout the year. Some stand out due to their engaging use of art to make the stories come alive. This month’s S-Collection blog draws attention to some of these illustrated books, which are perfect for trans kids and allies alike. The picture book selection features books about young trans kids navigating school and the society around them, while the graphic novel selection presents options for middle grade readers who love fantasy, science fiction, and the paranormal. Finally, the illustrated memoir section includes both a picture book and longer-form graphic novels that tell deeply personal stories of real trans kids who learned how to embrace and express themselves. Whatever kind of book you like to read best, S-Collection has what you need to enjoy beautiful illustrations and celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility this March!

Picture Books

Lukoff, Kyle
Illustrated by: Luciano Lozano
Call Me Max. 2019. Picture Book.
This picture book, which features soft and simple cartoon artwork by Luciano Lozano, stars Max, a young transgender boy. Written with sensitivity and warmth by trans author Kyle Lukoff, Max’s story starts on the first day of school when he informs his teacher of the name he would like to be called. Throughout the day, Max makes friends, learns more about gender, and tells his parents about his new name and identity, making this book a perfect introduction to the nuances of gender expression for young readers.
Q. SE. L9696ca

Shashi, Kanak
Guthli Has Wings. 2019. Picture Book.
Youngest child Guthli is excited to celebrate Diwali, but when she selects the clothing that she would like to wear for the holiday – namely, a beautiful, flowy frock like her sister’s – her family is rather shocked. Although Guthli knows she is a girl, this comes as a surprise to her loved ones. However, their lack of understanding eventually transforms into a celebration of their transgender family member in this picture book about culture and love, made even more beautiful through the colorful and bold illustrations by author-illustrator Kanak Shashi.
S. Sh2485gu

Wild, A. M.
Illustrated by: Kah Yangni
Not He or She, I’m Me. 2023. Picture Book.
The unnamed narrator of this vibrant picture book eats breakfast with their mom, has a fun time at school, and plays with their friends in the afternoon during a day filled with excitement and connection. Throughout the day, they repeat to themselves that they are “not he or she, I’m me,” making this a simple and heartfelt story of nonbinary joy. Illustrator Kah Yangni’s artwork shines on each page, featuring not only watercolor and paint but crayon, newspaper, and more.
SE. W6437no

Middle Grade Graphic Novels

Symes-Smith, Esme
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston. 2022. Middle Grade Graphic Novel.
Set in a fantasy world where only boys can become knights, this story follows 12-year-old Callie, who is deeply discouraged by the lack of options presented to them. Callie wants to train alongside their father’s student, the young Prince Willow, but the culture around them makes their dream harder to reach. On top of it all, war is looming over the kingdom, meaning Callie’s fight has only just begun. Beautiful artwork from author-illustrator Esme Symes-Smith accentuates this character-driven story of resistance. Readers who must know where Sir Callie’s adventures take them will be happy to hear that the book has two sequels, also located in the S-Collection.
S. Sy63sich

Visaggio, Magdalene
Illustrated by: Jenn St-Onge
The Ojja-Wojja: A Horror-Mystery, or Whatever. 2021. Middle Grade Graphic Novel.
When Val is assigned an independent study project on the supernatural history of her town of Bolingbroke, she knows she won’t be doing it alone: Her magic-obsessed friend Lanie is more than eager to come along! Lanie is subject to bullying at school because she is trans, while Val is similarly outcast due to her autism. The girls’ main bully, a popular girl named Andrea, becomes embroiled in their adventure when Val’s research accidentally releases an ancient spirit called the Ojja-Wojja. Evocative artwork by Jenn St-Onge showcases the horror of both paranormal creatures and junior high in this engaging graphic novel.
S.741.5973 V82oj

Wibowo, Jacinta
Lunar Boy. 2024. Middle Grade Graphic Novel.
Indu is a young trans boy who grew up in relative security on the spaceship community Eyesun. When Indu’s journey on the ship comes to an end, however, he must disembark for the planet New Earth, where things aren’t so easy. After communicating with the moon where his adoptive mother found him years ago, Indu accepts an offer to return to that moon in the new year. Knowing his visit to New Earth is soon ending, Indu decides to make the most of his time there – an experience which, over time, leads him to question if he’d really like to leave, after all. Author-illustrator duo Jes and Cin Wibowo accentuate this moving narrative of acceptance and hope with their vibrant artistic style.
S.741.5973 W631lu

Illustrated Memoirs

Neal, Trinity and DeShanna
Illustrated by: Art Twink
My Rainbow. 2020. Nonfiction Picture Book.
DeShanna loves her young transgender daughter Trinity, so when Trinity expresses a desire to have long and beautiful hair, her mother is determined to make it happen. Trinity, who is autistic, doesn’t like the feeling of hair touching the back of her neck, so growing it out is difficult for her. The duo takes a trip to the beauty store, but none of the wigs seem like the right fit. DeShanna takes matters into her own hands and decides to make Trinity the perfect rainbow wig, which is beautifully rendered by illustrator Art Twink in this moving picture book memoir.
Q. SE. N255my

Parish, Theo
Homebody. 2018 Graphic Novel Memoir.
Author-illustrator Theo Parish tells their story of finding themselves and their gender identity in this cozy graphic novel memoir. Through cosplaying characters at conventions, inventing characters to play in role-playing games, and speaking with their transgender friends and role models, Parish explains how they discovered their identity as a nonbinary person. Throughout, Parish draws a small house in the place of their torso, emphasizing how readers should express themselves in a way that makes them feel at home in their body.
S.741.5942 P2193ho

White, Grayson Lee
Illustrated by: Stephanie Roth Sisson
Dotson: My Journey Growing Up Transgender. 2023. Graphic Novel Memoir.
Through a series of vignettes, Dotson tells his story of how he realized he was transgender at a young age and set out to express his identity through haircuts, clothes, hormone blockers, and more. His parents’ unyielding support for their son plays a large role in Dotson’s positive experience with transitioning and finding himself. The simple and charming illustrations by Stephanie Roth Sisson shine throughout this graphic novel, based on the author’s own experiences.
SB. W5835wh

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Transgender Literature for Young Adults

It’s not easy to locate young adult books with transgender characters or topics using the library catalog, so we have put together a bibliography of these resources. Included are guides to YA transgender literature as well as fiction and nonfiction about transgender characters and people.

Other sources for transgender literature include:

American Library Association Rainbow Project
The Rainbow Project puts together a yearly bibliography of GLBTQ books for children and young adults. Members of the Rainbow Project come from the American Library Association GLBT and Social Responsibilities Round Tables.

Lambda Literary Awards
Launched in 1989 by the Lambda Literary Foundation, the Lambda Literary Awards is the nation’s most celebrated and comprehensive collection of awards for GLBT writing, including fiction, poetry, mystery, nonfiction, and works for adults as well as for children and young adults.

– Robert Bittner’s article in The ALAN Review:
Bittner, Robert. “The Trouble with Normal: Trans Youth and the Desire for Normalcy as Reflected in Young Adult Literature.” The ALAN Review 37.2 (2010): 31-35.

The Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award
This is a yearly award for GLBT books. This award is sponsored by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table.

Guide to Young Adult Transgender Literature

Webber, Carlisle K.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Teen Literature: a Guide to Reading Interests. 2010.
Webber has assembled a guide for public and school librarians to current literature of specific interest to young people of sexual minorities. She suggests titles to help create, expand, or update a collection. Full bibliographic citations and annotations are provided for the categories coming of age, contemporary realistic fiction, issues, genre fiction, alternative formats such as poetry and graphic novels, and GLBTQ nonfiction.
[Main Stacks 028.1625 W385g]

Fiction

Anders, Charlie.
Choir Boy. 2005.
Twelve-year-old choirboy Berry wants nothing more than to remain a choirboy. Desperate to keep his voice from changing, he tries unsuccessfully to castrate himself, and then convinces a clinic to treat him as a transsexual. Berry begins a series of hormone pills, which keep his voice from deepening but also cause him to grow breasts. When his parents and friends discover the truth about him, Berry faces a world of unexpected gender issues that push him into a universe far more complex than anything he has experienced.
[Education Storage S. An226c]

Brothers, Meagan.
Debbie Harry Sings in French. 2008.
When Johnny discovers Debbie Harry, the lead singer of Blondie, he not only likes her music but realizes that he kind of, sort of, wants to BE her. He’d like to be cool and tough and beautiful like her. He’d like to dress like her. He’s not gay, at least he doesn’t think so. So what does it mean? And what should he tell his amazing new girlfriend? This novel introduces shades of gray into the black-and white ideas of sexuality and gender.
[Center for Children’s Books S. B795d]

Cart, Michael (ed).
How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity. 2009.
Presents twelve stories by contemporary, award-winning young adult authors, some presented in graphic or letter format, which explore themes of gender, identity, love, and sexuality. Three stories include transgender characters.
[Education S Collection S. H8301]

Cart, Michael (ed).
Love and Sex: Ten Stories of Truth. 2001.
Ten original stories by adult and teen authors look at love and sexuality. “The Welcome” by Emma Donoghue is about a young lesbian with a crush on a woman who she learns is transgender.
[Uni High 813.08 L9411]

Ewert, Marcus.
10,000 Dresses. 2008.
Bailey longs to wear the beautiful dresses of her dreams but is ridiculed by her unsympathetic family who rejects her true perception of herself and insists that Bailey is a boy.
[Education S Collection SE. Ew38t]

Katcher, Brian.
Almost Perfect. 2009.
Logan befriends new girl Sage, and quickly develops a crush on her. Sage discloses her big secret to Logan: she’s actually a boy. Enraged, frightened, and feeling betrayed, Logan lashes out at Sage and disowns her. But once Logan comes to terms with what happened, he reaches out to Sage in an attempt to understand her situation. But Logan has no idea how rocky the road back to friendship will be.
[Center for Children’s Books S. K1559a]

Peters, Julie Ann.
grl2grl: short fictions. 2008.
In this short story collection, Julie Anne Peters offers a stunning portrayal of young women as they navigate the hurdles of relationships and sexual identity. Stories include a transgender teen longing for a sense of self.
[Uni High Fiction P442g]

Peters, Julie Ann.
Luna. 2004.
Fifteen-year-old Regan’s life, which has always revolved around keeping her older brother Liam’s transsexuality a secret, changes when Liam decides to start the process of “transitioning” by first telling his family and friends that he is a girl who was born in a boy’s body.
[Education Storage S. P442lu]

Wittlinger, Ellen.
Parrotfish. 2007.
Grady, a transgender high school student, yearns for acceptance by his classmates and family as he struggles to adjust to his new identity as a male.
[Uni High Fiction W786p2007]

Nonfiction

Beam, Cris.
Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers. 2007.
When Cris Beam first moved to Los Angeles, she started volunteering at a school for transgender kids. In Transparent she introduces four of them and shows us their world, a dizzying mix of familiar teenage cliques and crushes with far less familiar challenges like how to morph your body on a few dollars a day. This is an adult book that could work with older teens interested in this subject.
[Main Stacks, Residence Halls Allen Hall Multicultural 306.76 B37t]

Franco, Betsy.
Falling Hard: 100 Love Poems by Teenagers. 2008.
From an acclaimed anthologist comes this unforgettable collection of poems by teenagers–straight, gay, bi, and transgender–capturing the vertigo-inducing realm of romantic love.
[Center for Children’s Books S.811 F193]

Garden, Nancy.
Hear Us Out!: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress and Hope, 1950 to the Present. 2007.
In this unique history, Nancy Garden uses both fact and fiction to explore just what it has meant to be young and gay in America during the last fifty years. For each decade from the 1950s on, she discusses in an essay the social and political events that shaped the lives of GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender) people during that era. Garden’s book occasionally looks at laws and social norms affecting people who are transgender.
[Center for Children’s Books S.306.76 G167h]

Howey, Noelle and Ellen Samuels (ed).
Out of the Ordinary: Essays on Growing Up with Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Parents. 2000.
Ranging from humorous to poignant, the essays touch on some of the most important and complicated issues facing kids growing up with GLBT parents: dealing with a parent’s sexuality while developing an identity of one’s own; overcoming homophobia at school and at family or social gatherings; and defining the modern family. Out of the Ordinary also includes a resource guide of organizations that offer support for the hundreds of thousands of gay, lesbian, and transgender parents and their children. This book won the 2001 Lambda Literary Award for the Children/Young Adults category.
[Main Stacks, Undergrad 306.874 Ou82]

Huegel, Kelly.
GLBTQ: the Survival Guide for Queer & Questioning Teens. 2003.
Author Kelly Huegel understands what GLBT teens want and need to know. As a teen, she struggled to realize and accept her own identity. Her frank, sensitive book is written for teens who are beginning to question their sexual or gender identity, those who are interested in GLBT issues and rights, and those who need guidance, reassurance, or reminders that they aren’t alone. Kelly offers practical advice, knowing encouragement, accessible resources, and real-life testimonials from teens that have been there. Topics include coming out, facing prejudice and pressure, getting support, navigating relationships, staying safe, making healthy choices, surviving and thriving in high school, and more.
[Main Stacks, Uni High 306.766 H871g]

Levithan, David and Billy Merrell (ed).
The Full Spectrum: a New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities. 2006.
YA authors David Levithan and Billy Merrell have collected original poems, essays, and stories by young adults in their teens and early 20s. The Full Spectrum includes a variety of writers – gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, transitioning, and questioning – on a variety of subjects: coming out, family, friendship, religion/faith, first kisses, break-ups, and many others.
[Education S Collection S.306.76 F957]

Sonnie, Amy.
Revolutionary Voices: a Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology. 2000.
Celebrating the future of GLBT, Sonnie presents a collection of experiences, ideas, dreams, and fantasies expressed through prose, poetry, artwork, letters, diaries, and performance pieces. Transgender, transsexual, and transphobia are terms defined and used throughout.
[Uni High, Main Stacks 306.7660835 R328]