WOW Dozen: Books Featuring Trans* and Trans*-accepting Characters

By Mary L. Fahrenbruck, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, and Efrain Alvarez Morales, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

October is LGBT History Month. Established in 1994, Rodney Wilson, selected the tenth month of the year because National Coming Out Day is celebrated on October 11 and the first national march for gay and lesbian rights took place in Washington, DC on October 14, 1979. In conjunction with LGBT History Month, this dozen features picturebooks and novels with trans* and trans*- accepting characters. Unlike stories with trans* characters published in the past, the plot lines in these stories reflect a shift from shaming, resistance, violence and tragic endings to affirming, understanding, compassion and positive endings. Trans* and trans*- accepting characters experience seemingly typical life challenges connected to friendship, belonging and discovering one’s identity. Additionally, in several novels the characters encounter challenges that might seem atypical like interacting with a brujo or the ghost of a deceased uncle, or hunting a monster alongside a creature that emerged from a painting. Ultimately, readers will find the characters, setting and plot lines of each story to be engaging, exciting and believable.

WOW invites you to read one, two or all of the picturebooks and novels featured this month as a way to celebrate LGBT History Month. Please consider adding the title of your own favorite story featuring trans* and trans*- accepting characters in the Leave a Reply box below. WOW would love to hear from you!

Please note: We use an asterisk after trans to denote the inclusion of all “non-cisgender, gender identities, such as agender, cross-dresser, bigender, genderfluid, gender**ck, genderless, genderqueer, non-binary, non-gendered, third gender, trans man, trans woman, transgender, transsexual, and two-spirit” (Miller, 2016, p. 308).

Reference
Miller, sj (2016). Teaching, affirming, and recognizing trans and gender creative youth: A queer literacy framework. Palgrave Macmillan.

WOW Dozen features a list of 12 global books for children and adolescents around a theme, topic, issue or personal favorites. Each Dozen consists of ten newly-published titles with two older “must have” books. Please share or recommend additional books that fit the theme in the comments section or on social media using #WOWDozen. Use the printer icon in the upper left corner of this post to print or save this list as a PDF.

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