
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 fit. Calgary 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.
10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert & Rex Ray
Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky
I Am Jazz by Jazz Jennings by Jessica Herthel & Shelagh McNicholas
My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis, Suzanne DeSimone
Rough, Tough Charley by Verla Kay, Adam Gustavson
The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams
When Leonard Lost His Spots: A Trans Parent Tail by Monique Costa
When Aidan Became A Brother by Kyle Lukoff & Kaylani Juanita
The Boy & The Bindi by Vivek Shraya & Rajni Perera
Introducing Teddy: A gentle story about gender and friendship by Jessica Walton & Dougal MacPherson
Who Are You?: The Kid’s Guide to Gender Identity by Brook Pessin-Whedbee & Naomi Bardoff
It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity by Theresa Thorn & Noah Grigni
Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall
They She He Me: Free to Be! by Maya Gonzalez & Matthew Sg
The Gender Wheel: a story about bodies and gender for every body by Maya Gonzalez
A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett
Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills
Becoming Alec by Darwin S. Ward
Beloved Pilgrim by Nan Hawthorne & Christopher Hawthorne Moss
Blacker than Black by Rhi Etzweiler
Blue Water Dreams by Dena Hankins
Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff
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
Happy Families by Tanita S. Davis
Holding Still for as Long as Possible by Zoe Whittall
How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity by Michael Cart
I Know Very Well How I Got My Name by Elliott DeLine
If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
I’ve Got a Time Bomb by Sybil Lamb
Jumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde
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
One in Every Crowd by Ivan E. Coyote
Pantomime (Micah Grey #1) by Laura Lam
Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger
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
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
Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian
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 Low Life in High Heels: The Holly Woodlawn Story by Holly Woodlawn & Jeffrey Copeland
Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community by Noach Dzmura
Beyond the Natural Body: An Archaeology of Sex Hormones by Nelly Oudshoorn
Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits by Loren Cameron
Butch Is a Noun by S. Bear Bergman
From the Inside Out: Radical Gender Transformation, FTM and Beyond by Morty Diamond
FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society by Holly Devor
Gender Outlaws ed. by Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman
Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
Queer & Trans Artists of Color: Stories of Some of Our Lives by Nia King
Self-Made Men: Identity and Embodiment among Transsexual Men by Henry Rubin
The Gender Book by Mel Reiff & Jay Mays
The Transgender Studies Reader by Susan Stryker
Trans Bodies Trans Selves: A Resource for the Trans Community edited by Laura Erickson
Transgender 101: A Simple Guide to a Complex Issue by Nicholas M. Teich
Transition and Beyond, Observations On Gender Identity by Reid Vanderburgh
Trans/Love: Radical Sex, Love & Relationships Beyond the Gender Binary by Morty Diamond
Transmen and FTMs: Identities, Bodies, Genders, and Sexualities by Jason Cromwell
Fanny and Stella: The Young Men Who Shocked Victorian England by Neil McKenna
Female Masculinity by J. Jack Halberstam
How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States by Joanne J. Meyerowitz
Imagining Transgender: An Ethnography of a Category by David Valentine
Transgender History by Susan Stryker
Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman by Leslie Feinberg
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
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 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
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
Assuming a Body: Transgender and Rhetorics of Materiality by Gayle Salamon
Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex by Nat Smith
Decolonizing trans/gender 101 by B. Binaohan
Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive by Julia Serano
In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives by Judith Halberstam
Invisible Lives: The Erasure of Transsexual and Transgendered People by Viviane Namaste
Just One of the Guys?: Transgender Men and the Persistence of Gender Inequality by Kristen Schilt
Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of Law by Dean Spade
Self-Organizing Men: Conscious Masculinities in Time and Space by Jay Sennett
Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism by Patrick Califia-Rice
The Riddle of Gender: Science, Activism, and Transgender Rights by Deborah Rudacille
Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue by Leslie Feinberg
Transforming Citizenships: Transgender Articulations of the Law by Isaac West
Transgender Migrations: The Bodies, Borders, and Politics of Transition ed. by Trystan Cotton
Helping Your Transgender Teen: A Guide for Parents by Irwin Krieger
Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Trans Forming Families: Real Stories about Transgendered Loved Ones by Mary Boenke
Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers by Cris Beam
The ABC’s of LGBT+ by Ashley Mardell
GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens by Kelly Huegel
Sex Plus: Learning, Loving, and Enjoying Your Body by Laci Green
This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
Queer Sex: A Trans and Non-Binary Guide to Intimacy, Pleasure and Relationships by Juno Roche
Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution by Shiri Eisner
Claiming the B in LGBT: Illuminating the Bisexual Narrative by H. Sharif Williams
Ask A Queer Chick: A Guide to Sex, Love, and Life for Girls Who Dig Girls by Lindsay King-Miller
Asexuality: A Brief Introduction by Asexuality Archive
LGBTQ+ Youth: A Guided Workbook to Support Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity by Lee-Anne Gray
Queer, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens by Kathy Belge & Marke Bieschke
The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex: A Medical Handbook for Men by Stephen Goldstone
Gays of Our Lives by Kris Ripper
Weekend by Jane Eaton Hamilton
Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi
Mean Little Deaf Queer by Terry Galloway
Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens edited by Marieke Nijkamp
QDA: A Queer Disability Anthology edited by Raymond Luczak
Dangerous Discourses of Disability, Subjectivity and Sexuality by Margrit Shildrick
Don’t Call Me Inspirational: A Disabled Feminist Talks Back by Marilyn Rousso