The library will be closed Sunday, March 31st, for Easter

Memorial Hall Library

Books by Transgender Women

Books by Transgender Women

March is Women's History Month, so it's a great time to celebrate the voices of transgender women! Here's a selection of books written by transgender women of all ages. This list is a bit of a grab bag: some are memoirs based on their own experiences as transwomen, while others are fictional works that may or may not directly address the trans experience. 

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (adult fiction)

When Patricia Delfine was six years old, a wounded bird led her deep into the forest to the Parliament of Birds, where she met the Great Tree and was asked a question that would determine the course of her life. When Laurence Armstead was in grade school, he cobbled together a wristwatch-sized device that could send its wearer two seconds into the future. When Patricia and Laurence first met in high school, they didn't understand one another at all. But as time went on, they kept bumping into one another's lives. Something bigger than either of them, something begun deep in their childhoods, is determined to bring them together. 
Being Jazz by Jazz Jennings
Being Jazz by Jazz Jennings (YA memoir)

Teen activist and trailblazer Jazz Jennings--named one of "The 25 most influential teens" of the year by Time--shares her very public transgender journey, as she inspires people to accept the differences in others while they embrace their own truths.
Excluded by Julia Serano
Excluded : making feminist and queer movements more inclusive by Julia Serano (adult nonfiction)

While many feminist and queer movements are designed to challenge sexism, they often simultaneously police gender and sexuality--sometimes just as fiercely as the straight, male-centric mainstream does. Among LGBTQ activists, there is a long history of lesbians and gay men dismissing bisexuals, transgender people, and other gender and sexual minorities. In each case, exclusion is based on the premise that certain ways of being gendered or sexual are more legitimate, natural, or righteous than others. Serano advocates for a new approach to fighting sexism that avoids these pitfalls and offers new ways of thinking about gender, sexuality, and sexism that foster inclusivity rather than exclusivity.

Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror by Jennifer Finney Boylan (YA fiction)

Thirteen-year-old Quinn believes he is fairly normal until he is spirited away from his grandmother's house to the Academy for Monsters, where he leads his new friends in rebelling against the faculty's agenda of suppressing students' true natures.

If I was Your Girl by Meredith Russo (YA fiction)

Amanda Hardy only wants to fit in at her new school, but she is keeping a big secret, so when she falls for Grant, guarded Amanda finds herself yearning to share with him everything about herself, including her previous life as Andrew.
Nevada by Imogen Binnie
Nevada by Imogen Binnie (adult fiction)

Nevada is the darkly comedic story of Maria Griffiths, a young trans woman living in New York City and trying to stay true to her punk values while working retail. When she finds out her girlfriend has lied to her, the world she thought she'd carefully built for herself begins to unravel, and Maria sets out on a journey that will most certainly change her forever.

Redefining Realness by Janet Mock (adult memoir)

 

In a landmark book, an extraordinary young woman recounts her coming-of-age as a transgender teen--a deeply personal and empowering portrait of self-revelation, adversity, and heroism. In 2011, Marie Claire magazine published a profile of Janet Mock in which she publicly stepped forward for the first time as a trans woman. A profound statement of affirmation from a courageous woman, Redefining Realness shows as never before what it means to be a woman today and how to be yourself when you don't fit the mold created for you
Rethinking Normal by Katie Rain Hill
Rethinking Normal by Katie Rain Hill with Ariel Schrag (YA memoir)

In this young adult memoir, a transgender girl shares her personal journey of growing up as a boy and then undergoing gender reassignment during her teens
A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett
A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett (adult fiction)

 

Eleven unique short stories that stretch from a rural Canadian Mennonite town to a hipster gay bar in Brooklyn, featuring young trans women stumbling through loss, sex, harassment, and love. These stories, shiny with whiskey and prairie sunsets, rattling subways and neglected cats, show growing up as a trans girl can be charming, funny, frustrating, or sad, but never will it be predictable.

Tranny by Laura Jane Grace
Tranny by Laura Jane Grace (adult memoir)

 

The transgender advocate and lead singer of the punk rock band Against Me! Describes her intensely personal struggles with identity and addiction through journal entries that date back to her childhood
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