LGBTQIA - Young Adult Books With Transgender Characters

A story of three characters told in accessible, engaging verse. Main character Brendan, a 17 year old wrester, struggles to define who and what he is in a family and culture with its own subtle (and not so subtle) homophobic and gender stereotypes. He shares the story with his girlfriend Vanessa, also a wrestler who defies and bumps up against gender stereotypes and a new stranger in Brendan's life, transgender Angel, who works at the local LGBTQ Center and provides a different, illuminating kind of friendship.

Grayson Sender struggles with being true to himself, and to acknowledge in public what he knows to be true – “he” is a girl on the inside, stuck in the wrong gender’s body.

Also available for download as an e-book.
17 year old New Yorker, J, has always known he was a boy despite being born into the body of a girl, but getting his parents and best friend to see him for who he truly is has been a struggle. When he can no longer straddle two genders, his struggle leads him to the streets of Manhattan looking for not only the hormones that will help him to realize who he is but also the acceptance of those he loves and, most of all, of himself.

Also available for download as an e-book.
Oklahoman Hill recounts her childhood and her struggle to articulate who she was from an early age, the subsequent bullying she experienced as a trans teen, and into her early adulthood living as a transgender young adult while attending college and embracing her role as a public advocate within the LGBT community.

Also available for download as an e-book.
Oklahoma teen Arin Andrews recounts his childhood and adolescence, struggling to identify and articulate his gender dysphoria, coming out to his mother and family and falling in love as he realizes his true self.

Danny Tozer is a transgender teenager who acquires the mantle and powers of the dying superhero, Dreadnought. The power transforms Danny’s body into the girl she always felt she was. Now she has to handle her own parents, who seem determined to get her male body back; Dreadnought’s murderer; and finding her own place as a new heroine.

Shuichi Nitori and his new friend Yoshino Takatsuki have happy homes, loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates. But they share a secret that further complicates a time of life that is awkward for anyone: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy.

Also available as an e-book.

Miel is as strange and confounding as the day she spilled out of the water tower and arrived in town. With roses that burst out of her wrists, she's more than a stranger to everyone but Sam, the one boy brave enough to greet her from the water tower and take her into his life. Their intimate bond, years in the making, is tested when the town's Bonner Sisters lose their ability to seduce all the boys in town and turn to Miel's captivating roses to retain their power.

In thirteen-year-old Aster's family, all the girls are raised to be witches, while boys grow up to be shapeshifters, no exceptions. Unfortunately for Aster, he still hasn't shifted...and he's still fascinated by witchery, no matter how forbidden it might be...

After a horrific incident against the town's sheriff, a trans teen must decide if he can weather the storm of trying to take his town's controlling ruler on while keeping his family and his sanity safe.

Not only did I enjoy reading this romance novel, but I also enjoyed its representation! The author did a very good job explaining the importance of Mariachis in Mexican culture and did an outstanding job writing a story about the loss of a loved one and the journey of grief.

Rafael must come to terms with his favorite person's death, his abuelo, while also moving, leaving his school’s Mariachi band where he’s their superstar. Rey, the boy he briefly met, now stands in the way of him headlining the group. Even though both boys fight their feelings, it shines between them. Will Rafie ruin his chance at true love, or is winning the most important goal of all? Read or listen to this exquisitely read audiobook that deals with life, love, mental health, and more for an experience you won't soon forget.

Mariachis always sing love songs, so what happens when two fall for each other? The plot is resolved intelligently and sensitively. Some hot scenes.