This list was created by Calgary Outlink volunteers with staff support in February 2015 and updated by ARCHES Lethbridge in January 2020. Like trans communities, these books are diverse and hard to categorize; we placed them in the category of best fitCalgary Outlink is happily accepting donations of the books on this list for their LGBTQ+ library so trans people will be able to access them. To add more titles to this list, please email ARCHES at queerhealth@lethbridgearches.com. 

100 Crushes by Elisha Lim 

A + E 4ever by I. Merey 

A Boy Like Me by Jennie Wood 

A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett 

Adam by Ariel Schrag 

Albert Nobbs by George Moore 

Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher 

Annabel by Kathleen Winter 

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills 

Becoming Alec by Darwin S. Ward 

Being Emily by Rachel Gold 

Beloved Pilgrim by Nan Hawthorne & Christopher Hawthorne Moss 

Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction (The World of Riverside 0.7) by Brit Mandelo 

Black Art by V.T. Davy 

Blacker than Black by Rhi Etzweiler 

Blue Water Dreams by Dena Hankins 

Boys Like Her: Transfictions by Taste This, Anna Camilleri, Ivan E. Coyote, Lyndell Montgomery, Zoë Eakle 

Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff 

Busy by Elio Knox 

Crossing Lines by Paul Volponi 

Cycler (Cycler #1) by Lauren McLaughlin 

Every Day (Every Day #1) by David Levithan 

f2m: the boy within by Hazel Edwards, Ryan Kennedy 

For Today I Am a Boy by Kim Fu 

Freak of Nurture by Kelli Dunham 

Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark 

Girl Meets Boy: Because There Are Two Sides to Every Story by Kelly Milner Halls 

grl2grl by Julie Anne Peters 

Happy Families by Tanita S. Davis 

He Mele A Hilo by Ryka Aoki 

Holding Still for as Long as Possible by Zoe Whittall 

How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity by Michael Cart 

I am J by Cris Beam 

I Know Very Well How I Got My Name by Elliott DeLine 

If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan 

If We Shadows by D.E. Atwood 

I’ve Got a Time Bomb by Sybil Lamb 

Jumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde 

Just Girls by Rachel Gold 

Last Letters from Hav by Jan Morris 

Like Son by Felicia Luna Lemus 

Lipshitz 6 or Two Angry Blondes by T Cooper 

Lockpick Pornography by Joey Comeau 

Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab by Shani Mootoo 

Nevada by Imogen Binnie 

One in Every Crowd by Ivan E. Coyote 

Pantomime (Micah Grey #1) by Laura Lam 

Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger 

Refuse by Elliott DeLine 

Ring of Fire by Hellery Homosex (Zine) 

Runaways Deluxe, Vol. 1 (Runaways Deluxe #1) by Brian K. Vaughan 

Sacred Country by Rose Tremain 

Shadowplay (Micah Grey #2) by Laura Lam 

Six Months, Three Days by Charlie Jane Anders 

Static by L.A. Witt 

Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica by Tristan Taormino 

Teeny Weenies: And Other Short Subjects by Matt Kailey 

The Automation (Circo del Herrero series, #1) by G.B. Gabbler 

The Best Boy Ever Made by Rachel Eliason 

The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard by Tom Léger 

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff 

The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich 

The Legend of Pope Joan, Part.1 Frankia by Rachel Dax 

The Sweet In-Between by Sheri Reynolds 

The Twyborn Affair by Patrick White 

The Worth of a Shell (Stories of the Jokka) by M.C.A. Hogarth 

Transparency by Ethan Stone 

Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian 

Transposes by Dylan Edwards 

Trumpet by Jackie Kay 

Two Boys Kissing by Levithan 

Vintage Toys for Lucky Boys (Randy and Max #1) by G.R. Richards 

Wandering Son by Shimura Takako, Matt Thorn 

What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucc 

Willful Impropriety: 13 Tales of Society, Scandal and Romance by Ekaterina Sedia 

A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today by Kate Bornstein

A Strange Sort of Being: The Transgender Life of Lucy Ann / Joseph Israel Lobdell, 1829-1912 by Bambi L. Lobdell

Alice in Genderland by Richard J. Novic  

An Unspoken Compromise by Rizi Xavier Timane 

Becoming a Visible Man by Jamison Green  

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin  

Blood, Marriage, Wine & Glitter by S. Bear Bergman  

Both Sides Now by Dhillon Khosla  

Branded T by Rosalyne Blumenstein  

Bumbling into Body Hair: A Transsexual’s Memoir by Everett Maroon 

Charley’s Choice: The Life and Times of Charley Parkhurst by Fern J. Hill   

Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography by Christine Jorgensen  

Confessions of a Transsexual Porn Star by Meghan Chavalier 

Cooking in Heels: A Memoir Cookbook by Ceyenne Doroshow & Audacia Ray  

Crossing: A Memoir by Deirdre N. McCloskey  

Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods–My Mother’s, My Father’s, and Mine by Noelle Howey 

Gender Failure by Ivan E. Coyote & Rae Spoon  

GenderQueer: Voices From Beyond the Sexual Binary by Joan Nestle  

Goddess: Memoir Of A Transsexual by Raquel Reyes   

Head Over Heels Wives Who Stay with Cross-Dressers and Transsexuals by Virginia Erhardt  

Hidden in Plain Sight by Leslie Townsend  

Hiding My Candy: The Autobiography of the Grand Empress of Savannah by Lady Chablis & Theodore Bouloukos  

Hung in the Middle by Alana Nicole Sholar  

Hung Jury: Testimonies of Genital Surgery by Transsexual Men by Trystan Cotton 

I Rise – The Transformation of Toni Newman by Toni Newman  

Labor of Love: The Story of One Man’s Extraordinary Pregnancy by Thomas Beatie 

Letters for My Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect by Megan M. Rohrer 

Letters for My Sisters: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect by Andrea James & Deanne Thornton  

Manning Up: Transsexual Men on Finding Brotherhood, Family & Themselves by Zander Keig  

Mark 947: A Life Shaped by God, Gender and Force of Will by Calpernia Sarah Addams 

Mary Diana Dods: a Gentleman and a Scholar by Betty T. Bennett  

My Husband Looks Better in Lingerie Than I Do… Damn It by Bobbie Thompson 

Nina Here Nor There: My Journey Beyond Gender by Nick Krieger  

Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme by Ivan E. Coyote, Zena Sharman 

Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders by Diane Anderson-Minshall, Jacob Anderson-Minshall  

Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender Creative Son by Lori Duron 

Real Man Adventures by T Cooper  

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock 

Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition by Katie Rain Hill 

Tango: My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels by Justin Vivian Bond  

The End of San Francisco by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore 

The First Man-Made Man: The Story of Two Sex Changes, One Love Affair, and a Twentieth-Century Medical Revolution by Pagan Kennedy 

The Lives of Transgender People by Genny Beemyn & Susan R Rankin 

The Last Time I Wore a Dress by Daphne Scholinski, Jane Meredith Adams  

The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You by S. Bear Bergman  

The Testosterone Files: My Hormonal and Social Transformation from Female to Male by Max Wolf Valerio  

Trans/forming Feminisms: Transfeminist Voices Speak Out edited by Krista Scott-Dixon  

Transgender Lives: Complex Stories, Complex Voices ed. by Kirstin Cronn-Mills 

Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man by Chaz Bono  

Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey between Genders by Joy Ladin  

Transparently: Behind the Scenes of a Good Life by Lisa Salazar 

Trauma Queen by Lovemme Corazón  

Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy Seal’s Journey to Coming Out Transgender by Kristin Beck  

What Becomes You by Aaron Raz Link & Hilda Raz  

When My Boyfriend Was a Girl: A Memoir by Sunshine Mugrabi  

Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano 

Wrapped In Blue: A Journey of Discovery by Donna Rose