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Whether you celebrate a holiday this time of year or not. Whether one of your family’s love languages is buying each other presents, or you’d rather just avoid this consumeristic season. In these political times, stories of resistance, messages of anti-oppression, and the spirit of anti-fascism are necessary to the children in your life; whether you’re buying them books or helping them find great ones to check out at your local library.
This is a list I have wanted to write for a while. In the age of Trump, we are all reeling from the hatred, ignorance, and constant attacks on our freedoms and civil rights. There is so much wrong with what is being said and legislated, and so many disgusting fringe ideas being mainstreamed right now- I had no idea where to start with a list like this. With so many communities under attack, it felt like going in any one direction would leave out an important group, idea, or cause.
So, to make myself write this list, I have to acknowledge that I cannot write one list that will encompass every community experiencing oppression. I’d have to write an encyclopedia to do that, and while that’s pretty much what I actually want to do, I do not have the time or resources to make that happen. Further, this is not going to be a book list. It’s going to be a list of book lists, or a list of resources I turn to, to find great diverse, defiant youth literature. Many of these are resources I always have listed on my blog’s Resources page, and all of these are great places to find incredible books, media, and information for young people.
One thing, very quickly before we dive in. When we live in a world where books published for children and young adults are still mostly about white, straight, cisgender Christian people, part of the purpose of lists such as these is to help children and families of diverse cultures, ethnicities, religions, and identities find books that reflect themselves and their communities back to them. But also in a world where white supremacy and fascism are on the rise, it is very important that we give privileged children windows into other people’s experiences. It is vitally important that adults show the children in their lives the normalcy, brilliance, and beauty of people from marginalized experiences that are not their own.
Catch all resources to help you find diverse books
The most logical place to start is We Need Diverse Books. #WeNeedDiverseBooks started as an activist movement. Aware of the great lack of diversity in book publishing, authors and readers came together and posted about why they need diverse books, to prove to publishers that there was not only a need but a market for diverse stories. It was a big turning of the tide in the conversations publishers were having, and books that were being put out there. Book publishing still isn’t diverse enough, and We Need Diverse Books is still doing great work! They do mentorship programs for all you undiscovered authors out there, they put out anthologies of diverse work, and they put together great book suggestions most easily found on their Tumblr. They’ve also created the app Our Story, where you can program in the age of your child and the type of diverse stories you’re looking for and it will generate a list of books at the right reading level for you!
Diverse Book Finder is a new resource, it is a database of books aimed at helping you find books that reflect your diverse experience. Their search capabilities are a bit basic, there’s just one search bar. But in the search results there are a number of categories that allow you to filter the search to find the books you’re looking for.
Books for Littles is a website featuring diverse reads that I found out about because of their fantastic list Captivating Kids Stories to Recognize Privilege. It begins by talking about privilege and why it is so crucial to discuss with young people. The list goes on to talk about picture books that address all kinds of privilege, economic, male, white, non-disabled, straight, body size, freedom from religious persecution, colonialist, documented citizen, language and cultural fluency. Truly incredible and one of a kind.
M is for Movement is another great newer resources online. It is edited and maintained by children’s book authors and illustrators who are all also long-time activists. They give great write-ups on activist books, and insight into their process and goals. There are also some great lists for kids about activism: this one from geekdad.com, this one from Popsugar, and this one from All the Wonders.
Christian Zabriskie put together a really great list “Children’s Books Featuring Social Justice Themes A Practical Bibliography Prepared for the Rita Gold Community.” It’s a lovely list of picture books he prepared for his daughter’s school.
One of my long-time, go-to resources is Diversity in YA. It’s a great blog that updates regularly about new great diverse YA titles. It was founded by Malinda Lo, herself an amazing writer of diverse YA books. Rich In Color is another fantastic resource for for finding diverse YA titles, with a diverse staff of writers there’s always a new book to discover.
And even though this list is aiming not to be an encyclopedia, it is too long to be held in one article! Please check out the other two articles in the Give the Gift of Resistance series: Resources to find books, media, and information about specific communities and identities, and Necessary Histories.
So, the first thing I need to say about this list is that it is going to be incomplete. There are so many communities and identities in the US, that there is no way I could do a round up of for every one. If I am missing you, your family, your community, I am sorry; please let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to do a round up for y’all soon!
Latinx In Kid Lit is a great resource that focuses on Latinx representation in youth literature. Remezcla is another good website to keep an eye on, as an online newspaper focuses on Latinx culture and issues, they regularly include book reviews; I really loved this list of 8 YA Books With Latino Protagonists We Wish We Had As Teenagers. Along with some fantastic book lists about latinx experiences– like this one on Book Riot, this one on Social Justice Books, this incredible YA list on Bustle, Stanford University’s Children’s books by or about Latinx and Hispanic Americans list, also one of the best books that came this year is called The First Rule of Punk for middle schoolers, and this super sweet one time webcomic by Terry Blas— it’s also a good idea to connect with local immigrant’s rights organizations and engage your kids with local activism. In the Seattle area: Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network does some amazing work you and your kiddo can help out with. Burien Represent does some vital work to amplify the knowledge and experiences of those who have been historically marginalized and disenfranchised. AID NW has a trailer and offers aid to folks released from the for profit immigrant detention center in Tacoma, and they could certainly use community support.
There are a number of great resources about Muslim people and communities, Isra Hashmi wrote this great 10 must Have Books, Simply Islam has a very long list of Islamic Children’s Books, Stanford University’s Library has a Children’s books with an Islamic theme list, BrightMuslim.com has its own 10 Muslim Children’s books list. Book Riot has quite a few lists of YA books featuring Muslim characters (and written by Muslim authors), Diversity in YA has many book reviews featuring Muslim main characters. A great online resource for teenagers is MuslimGirl.com, an online magazine written by and made for young Muslim women. There are independent Muslim kids book publishers like Muslim Children’s Books, or the subscription service Noor Kids. And also I just wanted to point out one book I’m particularly excited about, 1001 Inventions and Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization! A vitally important look at the incredible achievements Muslim people and culture have brought to our world.
There are quite a few places to find quality youth literature about Black people and communities. One resource I’ve used for a long time is The Brown Bookshelf, written and maintained by Black authors the Brown Bookshelf regularly updates with great picture book recommendations. 1000 Black Girl Books Resource Guide is a guide put together by a Black girl named Marley Dias (her excellence and magic are beyond impressive). The Sweet Peas @thesweetpeagirls on Instagram includes photo post recommendations and video submissions of Black girls talking about their favorite books- it’s informative and delightful! We Read Too is an app with loads of recommendations of books by people of color about people of color. Stanford University has a list of Children’s books by or about African Americans, Huffington Post has a list of 21 must read, Essence has a list of 17, you’d think Book Riot would have the most with their list of 100, but the African American Literature Book Club beats them all with their list of 120+. A great local group to be aware of is Seattle Urban Book Expo, they do an annual Book Expo featuring independent Black authors, and their Facebook features local Black authors year round.
The internet is filled with good options if you’re looking for books about Jewish people and their faith. Jewish Books for Kids is cute and delightful, PJ Library offers free books to Jewish Families, and I very much enjoyed their Awesome Multicultural Jewish Children’s Books list. Book Browse has a list of YA books for readers who are done reading about the Holocaust and a list of Jewish Themed books not about the Holocaust. I was also a very big fan of these two short lists, Jewish Journal’s Shavuot inspires children’s books and Interfaith Family’s Little Critics’ Picks for Jewish Children’s Books. Also this “holiday season” perhaps your family would like to learn more about Hanukkah. Tablet did a best list of 2015 and 2016, and My Jewish Learning has a great Jewish Children’s Literature list that explores the classics, and of course Stanford University’s library made a list Children’s books with a Jewish theme.
I was able to find a number of lists about Asian American youth literature, but I had a hard time finding a website that focused solely on the subject (please point out a resource if I missed it). Stanford of course has a great list Children’s books by or about Asian Americans. Multiracial Asian Families (another very cool online resources) had another great list of Multiracial Asian Children’s Books. Brightly has a cute list of 13 children’s books, and The Color of Us had a list of 30. There’s also quite a few YA lists: Bustle made a list of 11, Diversity in YA did a roundup, and the list Sharanya Sharma put together for Book Riot is the most comprehensive I’ve ever seen! Also the best YA romance I’ve read since Eleanor and Park (Another good romance with an Asian American lead) is When Dimple Met Rishi. When Dimple Met Rishi is a light-hearted and endearing story of two young Indian Americans, who meet without Dimple knowing their parents had arranged for them to be married. After Dimple sets the record straight that she will be married off, the two are awkwardly trapped together as teammates in Insomniacon, then against all odds they find themselves falling in love. Also I want to quickly mention one of my all time favorite authors Gene Luen Yang, he is a prolific graphic novelist who always features Asian main characters, most frequently Chinese and Chinese American. I also tried to find book lists and resources solely dedicated to Pacific Islander stories, and was only able to find Pacific Island Books, whose design looks like it came straight from the 90’s… [edit, suggestion from the comments: Here’s a site that focuses on South Asian children’s books and diverse books: https://kitaabworld.com]
American Indians in Children’s Literature is a resource I have been using for years to get reviews of youth literature featuring Indigenous characters, all run and written by Indigenous people. Indian Country Media Network is an online Indigenous-run newspaper, that is a great way to keep up on current events, culture, and opportunities for Indigenous communities. The Library at The University of Illinois created a fairly comprehensive list of online and print materials. A fantastic book list that just came out is #IndigenousReads by Indigenous Writers: A Children’s Reading List, put together by the Conscious Kid Library. Stanford University has a very strong list of Children’s books by or about Native Americans. Strong Nations has a comprehensive database of Indigenous books for teens, and books for kids. Book Riot put together a list of YA books featuring Indigenous main characters by Indigenous women. YA Interrobang did a great list of #OwnVoices Representation: Native American Authors. We are also very fortunate in Seattle, because we are neighbors with the highest population of Indigenous Americans in an urban area. You can go visit and support the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, or go to one of their amazing events. The Duwamish Tribe has a Longhouse and Cultural Center you can support and visit, as well as a calendar of events to go to. And there’s the Steinbrueck Native Gallery that features Native arts and artists year round.
There are also a number of places you can turn to when looking for queer representation in Youth Literature. Don’t let the title of Gay-Themed Books for children fool you, they feature books for trans and gender nonconforming people, alternative family building, and even gender play via “crossdressing” and “tomboys” (I do wish they had a bi section though…). LGBTQ Reads is a great Tumblr to follow, they review and recommend books regularly, and have an “ask for a rec section” that they answer all the time! Another great Tumblr to follow is YA Pride, while they are a little more tumblr-y with many reposts of related but not all book-rec posts, they are constantly posting about queer YA and issues surrounding queer representation in literature. Stanford University has a great list of Children’s books with an LGBTQ theme. Book Riot just put together this lovely long list of great 20+ LGBTQ reads for your kids. Book Riot also has a list of 100 YA books. Autostraddle’s book reviews are not purely for young people, but many of them are. The Advocate has a good list of 21 picture books. Bustle has a lovely list of 30. Common Sense Media has a list with books for folks starting at 3 and ending at 17. I also would recommend you check out the independent book Publisher Flamingo Rampant who creates and publishes books for gender-independent kids and families!
Of course we need resources on mixed race protagonists and multiracial families. As I mentioned in the Asian American resources paragraph Multiracial Asian Families is a great online resource. Mixed Remixed is the nation’s premiere cultural arts festival celebrating stories of mixed-race and multiracial families and individuals through films, books and performance, and I love their Top 10 Children’s Books with Mixed Race Families list. Colours of Us is a website all about multicultural Children’s books, and here’s a great list they did of 50 books. I’m NOT the Nanny is Thien-Kim’s blog she writes about her life, which is in large part about her biracial kids, and she put together this list of 9 picture books. What Do We Do All Day has a list of 14 Children’s Books with Multiracial Families. I had a harder time finding YA books, YALSA’s The Hub did a list Mixed but Not Mixed Up, VOYA did a list of Mixed-Race Identity and Power in YA Fiction, and Diversity in YA has a Multiracial Characters tag that will bring you a long list of reviews.
There are also a lot of great resources to help kids engage with feminism. A Mighty Girl offers regular book reviews, and has the most comprehensive book review section I’ve seen on a website not solely dedicated to books. Rejected Princesses is really fun online resource; they tell the stories of incredible women throughout history–warriors, explorers, scientists, spies, etc– as if they were Disney princesses, they are real fun to follow on Facebook too. New York Magazine did a great list of 16 books, and Buzzfeed did a list of 30, Mother mag made their own feminist kids books list. For YA New York Mag made a list of 11, and both Book Riot and Bitch Media made lists of 100. A book I want to Highlight is Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History. I also want to highlight a few (not at all comprehensive) kids books about Transgender girls and Trans Feminine kids, because what is feminism that’s not trans inclusive? Worthless. Be Who You Are, I am Jazz, My Princess Boy, and 10,000 Dresses. And a great local resource is Geek Girl Con (Twitter) (Facebook) (Tumblr) (Instagram), they always post fun facts, and great recommendations, plus an annual con!
Again, please let me know in the comments if you would like to see a list for a community, identity, or experience not represented here. And please check out the other two articles in the Give the Gift of Resistance series. The series began with Catch all resources to help you find diverse books, and finishes with Necessary Histories.
One resource I was really hoping to find was world history resources for young people. One of the reasons white Supremacy is allowed to thrive is because African, Latin American, Asian, Middle Eastern and Arab histories are not taught in primary school. The great advances that civilizations made outside of Europe and post-colonial US simply are not known to the average American- not because they didn’t happen, but because of our Eurocentric educations. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a lot. You can of course find kids books about all the countries in the world at your local library. But a single hub where you can learn world history remains out of my grasp (please, please, PLEASE let me know if you know of such a resource). One great list I was able to find, was put together by Kelly L Roll and Kathryn M Kerns, both librarians at Stanford University. Their list Children’s Books About History is one of the most comprehensive and inclusive ones I’ve seen. Roll and Kerns also made great picture books lists on Children’s books with an African theme, Children’s books with an Asian theme, and Children’s books with a Latin American theme.
A good place to look for World History online is Britannica Online, which you can access for free with your library card from (Seattle Area Library’s) KCLS or SPL’s websites. Britannica allows you to search as a child, teen, or adult; you can search for continents, countries, cultures, and ethnic groups that should be covered more in US public education. A great way to learn about the contemporary world is via Culturegrams, which again you can access for free with your library card on KCLS or SPL’s websites. And of course you can always go into your local library, and a librarian or another information professional will be happy to show you print and online materials about any topic you’d like to know more about.
The Zinn Education Project is a really great resource for learning about US histories that far too often get left out of school curriculum. Howard Zinn is famous for being a historian who put together A People’s History of the United States of America, a history book focused on people’s movements–primarily labor– and trying to demystify some of the mythology that leads to our worship of some pretty terrible leaders from our past. The Zinn History Project continues his work, and collects a wide variety of resources from fiction books, to profiles of untold American heroes, to even more great websites.
And while we’re talking about filling in the massive gaps left out of most US history classes, I think it’s vitally important we learn about the cost that European Colonialism had on Indigenous nations and tribes. When searching for children’s books about colonialism what you tend to find are Eurocentric books, with lots of illustrations of white people in settler towns. So to find resource lists about that brutality of European colonizers I had to search for the trail of tears, and even then the pickings were slim. The Best Children’s Books offers this short list, and Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus offered this longer one. I would again refer you to American Indians in Children’s Literature, Indian Country Media Network, and The Library at The University of Illinois’ list to find more materials about how messed up colonization was.
Another topic very much worth discussing with young people in your lives are Indian boarding schools (here in the US) or Indian residential schools (in Canada), and there are quite a few lists and books on this topic. American Indians in Children’s Literature offers a great list, with books for multiple ages, along with nonfiction titles, websites, and videos. Color in Colorado also offers a hefty list, as does Worlds of Words. A movie I watched in high school that introduced me to the realities of Indian Boarding Schools was Rabbit-Proof Fence. Set in Australia– where they had a near identical boarding school program for Aboriginal communities– you see three girls taken from their families, forced into a cruel boarding school, and then break out to start an incredible and dangerous journey home.
Also, it is incredibly important that as we teach young people about the oppression of indigenous people, that we talk about how these are not problems relegated to the United States’ past. Standing Rock only happened last year, Nations and Tribes continue to fight for sovereignty, sacred lands, and that the federal government respect treaties it signed. Teaching For Change has some great resources on teaching about No DAPL, as does the Institute for Humane Education. The Duwamish Tribe–local to us here in Seattle– is currently fighting for Federal Recognition, you can learn about them on their website, join the Real Rent movement to support them— please learn more about real rent at realrentduwamish.org—work with your young activists to support their cause.
Another part of history young people need to have a very honest understanding of is slavery. First let’s address this absolute foolishness that the confederacy was about anything besides maintaining slavery. There are a great number of books for children and teenagers about The Civil War, and I hope that they all will tell the truth that confederate leaders rallied their support around the cause of supporting slavery. In fact the Vice President of the confederacy gave a speech calling slavery the ‘cornerstone’ of the confederacy. There are many booklists about slavery, and all young people need to learn how horrible and disgusting that part of our history was. The Huffington Post has a list of honest books about slavery for varying ages, Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site has a number of teaching tools along with a book list, School Library Journal has a list of Slightly more recent books about Slavery, Social Justice Books has a great long list for all ages. Also, as we try and position ourselves in these times I think it’s important that we show young people heros who stood for freedom. Horn book has a great list of books about Harriet Tubman, who, let’s be real, was the actual GOAT. And I want to highlight a book John Brown: His Fight For Freedom. John Brown is the person Malcolm X said white allies should try and emulate if they wanted to be allies to Black Liberation; and this book has beautiful and dynamic pictures, well-written verses, and tells Brown’s story in a compelling way for children.
There are also a number of great resources on the Civil Rights movement. A Mighty Girl has a fantastic list featuring women and girls who were instrumental to the Civil Rights movement, Common Sense Media has a long list starting for kids 4 years old and going up to 13, The Best Children’s Books has a hefty list for younger and older kids, and YALSA has a list of books for teen readers. I also want to highlight a few books, first and foremost the March graphic novel series by John Lewis. March tells John Lewis’ story of the Civil Rights Movement in an incredibly moving and compelling way. The illustrations are beautiful, and the story action packed and suspenseful, amazing enough to get the most reluctant readers into history. Lewis highlights all the great activists and change makers he worked with, highlighting some lesser known and incredibly important leaders in the Civil Right Movement. I think the March series is important to activists of any age, because it grounds you in the work it takes to create change. John Lewis was involved in many actions and campaigns, he put his comfort, safety, and life on the line over and over again. These times have us all overwhelmed and overloaded, but reading about the incredible work Lewis and his peers did is an important reminder that we have to continue to show up, continue to keep fighting. Now, because this is Lewis’ story it’s from his point of view, and takes his side on infighting within the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. I would suggest that in tandem with reading March young readers also check out The Black Power Movement and Black Power, both of which look at folks like Stokely Carmichael–the man who coined the phrase “black power”– and Black Liberation Politics in a more positive light.
And again, it is important to ground these histories in the contemporary civil rights struggles of the Black Lives Matter movement. Kiera Parrott made this excellent Black Lives Matter reading list for teens, that I am going to add onto mostly because a few amazing books came out after she wrote this list. Hush by Jacqueline Woodson tells the story of 12 year old Toswiah, who goes from always having had a positive relationship to the police–her father is a cop– to having to hide from them in witness protection when her dad speaks out about fellow officers shooting an unarmed Black teen. The Hate U Give is one of the most talked about books this year, and for good reason. Angie Thomas is a beautiful writer, you feel so deeply for Starr as she has to deal with the pain of her childhood best friend being gunned down by police in front of her eyes, and then deciding how to respond and be involved in the aftermath. Dear Martin just came out in October, and tells the story of a young man who experiences brutality, told in real time and in his letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I am Alfonso Jones, which is so new it’s still on order at the King County Library System, is a graphic novel about the ghost of Alfonso Jones as he follows friends and family in a subway car on their way to fight for justice for him.
A part of American history so shameful many of us are not taught about it at all in US history is Japanese Internment Camps. The Best Children’s Books has a list for students grades 1-8, Pragmatic Mom’s list is beautiful as she weaves her own family history into it, YALSA has a list for teen readers. But to be honest I see far more overlap in the books mentioned in the lists then in others I have pulled together. I would like to highlight a couple of books, keeping in step with the need to show young people heroes I would strongly recommend Fred Korematsu Speaks up. Fred Korematsu, a Japanese American man, fought the internment camps all the way to the Supreme Court. Also Dear Miss Breed which chronicles the real life correspondence between children in internment camps and their friend and Children’s Librarian Miss Breed; I am so deeply honored to share a profession with her.
Anti-Asian racism is also not a thing of the past and often times written off as not a problem. Talk to your kids about the lack of Asian representation in movies and TV shows. Learn about Asian American history and contemporary culture! Splinter News just did a great article on America’s radical Asian Activists. American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs is a fantastic documentary about a bad-ass woman who fought for change until she died. No area libraries have it but you can watch it on Netflix. A+J did a great series on contemporary Chinese culture. A great local resource is the Wing Luc Museum, which always offer great exhibits and insight into Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences and histories.
I was very depressed by the greater lack of queer history books for young audiences then I was expecting. I could find one book for teens that looked contemporary Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights and I was fairly disappointed that I didn’t find Sylvia Rivera or Marsha P Johnson listed in the index for it… And I was able to find one book for Children Gay & Lesbian History for Kids The Century-long Struggle for LGBT Rights, With 21 Activities. The supreme lack of youth literature in queer history alone shows how contemporary homophobia and transphobia are. An upcoming book I am very excited about, All Out edited by Saundra Mitchell, is a collection of short stories where amazing contemporary YA authors write historical fiction of queer youth throughout time. Also if you know any teens who want to start a queer history project, hit me up, that’s my dream library program.
And to finish off this list I think it’s necessary we teach all young people about the evils of Nazis and facism, and the great heroes who resisted and fought them. Teach with Picture Books has a short list on their website, and a very long annotated list in pdf form, many of which are about resisters. Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site has a comprehensive list, Pragmatic Mom has a good list of books for kids, and the Jewish Book Council offers a long list of books for teens. One book I adored and very much want to recommend is We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler. We Will Not Be Silent tells the true story of young people brave enough to write and distribute anti-fascist literature in Nazi Germany. Their words are beautiful, their story compelling, and the price they paid harrowing. It is heartbreaking and inspiring, and while it cannot offer its readers a happy ending it reminds us how powerful young change makers can be.
These are not even close to all the histories that need to be told, and I hope if you see stories and communities I left out you will let me know in the comments! I hope you have enjoyed the Give the Gift of Resistance series, and in case you missed it this article has two predecessors: Catch all resources to help you find diverse books and Resources to find books, media, and information about specific communities and identities.
The idea of Red: A Crayon’s Story is so simple it’s perfect!
This is the story of a crayon in a Red wrapper, because he’s in a red wrapper everyone thinks he’s Red. So nobody can understand why he can’t draw strawberries correctly, and why the portrait he drew of himself isn’t red! All the crayons have an opinion about why he can’t be red well, and the other office supplies try and help, but this red crayon just can’t be red for the life of him. Then one day a violet crayon asked if he would draw the sea for the ship she was drawing, and he does it perfectly! Suddenly it all becomes clear to everyone, this Crayon is BLUE! He takes off his wrapper and lives very happily as a blue crayon for the rest of his days!
It’s very sweet, amazingly well written, and like I said: perfect. This metaphor is a great way to introduce trans identities to young children. And most importantly in a way they will really enjoy!
I cannot recommend it enough!
So, like my first gender fluid kids books blog post, most of these books explore femme trans identities. I’m not totally sure why femme trans narratives dominate the youth lit– lemme know if you have thoughts– but that seems to be where we’re at right now. I think it’s important to remember that we, right now today, are at the very beginning of trans/gender nonconforming representation in kid’s lit. So while there are some glaring holes–and it’s not just MOC kids getting left out, these books are also mostly about White kids– in what gender independent narratives that are getting told right now, one could be optimistic about the diverse gender representations that are going to be in kid’s books as more and more of them get published.
Which brings me to my first couple of reviews. Flamingo Rampant is an independent kid’s book publishing company, that focuses on stories of gender independent folks. (They are about to launch a book club which will be 6 new picture books over 2015; you can find out all about it on the main page of their website). Currently they have published two books, Backwards Day and The Adventures of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy.
Backwards Day has a really fun concept! On a far away planet called Tenalp a lot of things are different, one of which is that one day every year everything is the reverse of how things usually are. Day is night, upstream runs down, and binary genders switch! While there are a lot of things to enjoy on backwards day– ice cream for breakfast!– one kid named Andrea LOVES backwards day because it’s the one day of the year she [sic] feels like herself [sic]: a boy. The book looks at one particular Backwards Day where Andrea stays a girl – a particularly devastating day- and the following day when Andrea becomes (and ends up staying) a boy [sic]! While it’s confusing to his parents at first when a nice doctor explains that Andrea is actually boy, and sometimes the magic of backwards day lets folks permanently transform into who they really are, everyone ultimately gets on board, and Andy’s totally thrilled!
The Adventures of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy felt a little amateurish to me. It’s another super cute concept, but it’s just not executed as well as the other books on this list. My main issue is that it just has too many words jam packed onto every page; it feels too scrunched to be a picture book. I feel like it would have done better as an illustrated chapter book or a kid’s graphic novel. It tells the story of Tulip who, true to the title, is a fairy who grants birthday wishes. One day he gets a special birthday wish from a boy who wants to be a girl [sic]. After receiving guidance from the head wish granting fairy, Tulip gives this child luck and courage, and also gives the kid’s family open minds to see who their child really is. After the child’s birthday has passed, Tulip continues to work with this family giving them strength, resilience and the ability to advocate for their trans child after the rest of his birthday wish duties are done. Tulip is so dedicated to this child that he is given a new job as the fairy who helps gender nonconforming children with their transition wishes.
Be Who You Are, by Jennifer Carr
Be Who you Are is a realistic story about a young trans girl who goes through the process of transitioning. Everything goes the way you would hope it would. Her family is open to her identity and advocates for her at school, which allows her to be who she is. Her brother has a hard time with the concept, then they have a rather sweet conversation about it and he gets on board too. It’s a cute, light hearted book that one would hope could serve as a blueprint on how to handle kids transitioning in your community.
Like the two previous, this book initially uses the main character’s birth name and the gender pronouns she was coercively assigned at birth and switches to her real name and gender pronouns at the end. This isn’t my favorite; I am a much bigger fan of trans kids books that consistently use the kid’s real pronouns throughout the narration. However I included all three books in this review since, as I’m sure you already know, there isn’t a great variety of gender independent youth lit to choose from. For some kids and families it would make sense to have a more selective collection of picture books that uses the child’s real gender pronoun consistently; but for some kids and families it would make sense to have more books with trans narratives even if some use outdated and/or incorrect language. And I’m just hoping I give folks enough information to make those choices for themselves.
I am Jazz, by
Jessica Herthal & Jazz Jennings
This book is really exciting because Jazz Jennings co-wrote it about her own experience being a trans girl! It starts off introducing Jazz, what she does, what she likes, and who her friends are. Then it goes back and talks about what it was like for her to be coercively assigned male as a young child and what transitioning was like for her. Her family is so sweet and supportive, and it’s delightful to read about the joy she experiences when they get it and she gets to start publicly being who she is. Her wider community does find it confusing. For a while they make her play on boy’s soccer teams, and some kids still tease her and use a boy name for her. But she has friends who love her, support her, and know who she is. It ends with Jazz proclaiming she doesn’t care if she’s different; she knows who she is, happy, fun, and proud. She is Jazz!
What Makes a Baby, by Cory Silverberg
I’m including this book, even though it’s not a trans narrative, because I want trans inclusive kids books to go beyond stories of transition, and What Makes a Baby does that. What Makes a Baby is a really great kids book about how babies get made that is inclusive to all families! When it talks about what you need to make a baby, it talks about sperm, eggs, and uteruses; what’s really exciting is it doesn’t assign any of those pieces to any kind of body or gender. What Makes a Baby also goes beyond trans inclusivity when it asks the reader “Who helped bring together the sperm and the egg that made you?” and “Who was happy that it was YOU who grew?” Making it inclusive to babies who who conceived not only by trans parent(s) but any parents using donor sperm or a surrogate womb, or parents who adopted their babies. And while I think it’s pretty awesome that as the cover says this is “a book for every kind of family and every kind of kid,” it is the first kids book about making babies that is inclusive to trans parents and trans kids which is pretty ground breaking.
So Mask Magazine is a “Reader Supported, Ad-free, Style + Culture for the Disappointed Generation” online publication. I know the editors, started subscribing and have really enjoyed it. I suggest you check it out as well. I was asked to write a buying guide of youth lit for it, and promptly and excitedly threw this thing together. Check it out, get some books to some kids or something!
So I’m doing a femme edition of gender fluid kid’s books because books about gender nonconforming kids exploring masculinity or androgyny have not been available through any of the library systems I’ve had cards at. I have every intention of creating a masculine and an androgynous edition of this blog post, if I can find and purchase relevant books, so please let me know about books that fit the bill!
My Princess Boy, by Cheryl Kilodavis
My Princess boy is an absolutely fantastic book! It’s a nonfiction picture book written by a mother of a feminine boy, and just gives you a snap shot of their lives. You see her Princess Boy play with his father and brother, go to parties with his friends, enjoy going to school; but you also see how strangers react to him with laughter, and hurts him and his mother. One of the best things about this books is how it challenges it’s readers to consider how they would treat a princess boy. It’s also exciting that it tells the story of an accepting and loving Black family, I just wish the artist had drawn their faces…
Jacob’s New Dress, by Ian Hoffman
Jacob’s New Dress is a lovely simple story of a boy who loves wearing dresses. He starts wearing them as he and his best friend find them in the costume box during free time in class; but he ultimately decides he want to wear one at school as just his outfit that day. The book feels like it could happen in real life: there’s a mean kid who tells him boys can’t wear dresses, his parents have to think about whether or not he should wear one to school. But his best friend and teacher always have his back, and his parents get behind him too, his mom even makes his dress. It’s a sweet validating little book.
10,000 Dresses, by Marcus Ewert
10,000 dresses is a book about Bailey, a little girl who dreams of beautiful dresses every night; when she wakes up and tries to get her family to help her makes them they tell her that she’s a boy and boys don’t wear dresses. While it is sad that Bailey’s identity and dreams are denied by her family, the reason I love this book is because she goes out and finds someone who won’t. She wanders a way from her house and finds a girl who just happens to be trying to make dresses, and is thrilled Bailey has many dreams worth of dress inspiration. While of course all queer children hope their families will love and accept them for who they are, a lot of us grew to understand if we wanted a family that would love and accept all of us we had to go out into the world and find it. I love that the happy ending of this book is that Bailey finds a friend who thinks she’s the coolest girl ever.
Mx. Maggie's Rad Books for Rad Kids 
