Sharing stories with LGBTQIA+ characters, or stories celebrating non-traditional gender roles, can be a terrific way to normalize difference for our children. I always encourage parents to take a look at their children’s bookshelves and ponder whether the books represent the world they want their children to live in. When we grow up reading stories about the joy of self-expression and the triumph of self-acceptance, when we grow up reading as many stories about people like us as about people who experience the world differently, our capacity for empathy expands exponentially. Happy Pride Month! I hope you’ll enjoy these recent favorites for a variety of ages.

 BOARD BOOKS

 Love in the Wild (by Katy Tanis)

Ages 0-3

This celebration of diverse displays of love in the animal kingdom is filled with rhyming text alongside vibrant illustrations of baby crocodiles hitching rides on their mommy’s back and flamingos “feeding hatchlings beak to beak.” But author Katy Tanis, currently earning a MA in Biology from Miami University of Ohio and partnering with the Wildlife Conservation Society as part of her graduate work, has gone one step further: all of the depictions in the book are based on scientists' observations of same-sex couples, adoption, non-binary gender expression, and more, affirming that “love is love wherever it’s found.” Did you know that male giraffes rub their necks together in a courting ritual called necking? That same-sex relationships are common among Gentoo penguins when given a chance to adopt eggs? That some Diana Fritillary butterflies have been observed with both male and female coloring on their back?

 Families Can (by Dan Saks, illus. Brooke Smart)

Ages 0-4

 Let’s normalize different kinds of families for our children! Single parents, same-sex parents, divorced parents, only children, large families, children with grandparents in the home, blended families...they’re all celebrated in Families Can through rhyming verse and charming pictures of kids in a variety of skin tones cooking, playing, and snuggling with their families. Just remember, “All homes are better/ With books under the covers.”

 PICTURE BOOKS

 Fred Gets Dressed (by Peter Brown)

Ages 2-6

Inspired by Peter Brown’s own childhood, little Fred loves being “naked and wild and free,” romping through every room of his house until he stops at his parents’ closet. He thinks about how his Dad dresses and tries on a shirt, tie, and pair of shoes. But he wonders if it might be more fun to dress like Mom, so he then dons a hot pink dress, scarf, wedge heels, string of pearls, some lipstick gone wrong and…uh oh, here comes Mom and Dad. There’s a tense moment when Fred stares down his parents, until the latter jump into action and begin dressing up themselves. Much like Jessica Love’s critically-acclaimed Julian is a Mermaid, this delightful, neon-infused story resists labels, celebrating the freedom that comes from having parents who take their cue from what delights you.

Grandad’s Camper (by Harry Woodgate)

Ages 3-8

The only thing cooler than having a Grandad with a pink camper van is hearing him recount his years of globe-trotting adventures in it, shared with his lifetime partner, the late Gramps. But this summer, when our young narrator visits Grandad’s cottage by the sea, she notices Grandad’s stories for what they are: memories clouded by grief. She realizes Grandad hasn’t taken the camper van out of the garage since Gramps died, and she devises a plan to change that. This beautiful story, whose deeply saturated illustrations of the same-sex, mixed-race couple radiate with warmth and pride, speaks to a side of grief we don’t often get in children’s literature: that of child as empathizer and healer.

When Aidan Became a Brother (by Kyle Lukoff, illus. Kaylani Juanita)

Ages 3-8 

This heartwarming story by a trans author is equally pertinent whether you’re expecting a new family member or not. Aidan doesn’t simply tail his pregnant mom, fantasizing about a new playmate or worrying he’ll fall to second place. Nope, Aidan’s sets his sights on a larger question: what can he do to ensure his younger sibling feels understood and accepted from the start? Aidan’s fervent, sometimes nervous desire to become a caring big brother is intimately informed by the struggle he faced in his own first years, because “When Aidan was born, everyone thought he was a girl.” Aidan takes us back in time to highlight his own journey, from realizing he wasn’t simply a girl who didn’t like dresses or dollhouses but “another kind of boy,” to enlisting the support of his parents in his self-discovery. Even children who can’t relate to Aidan’s gender reversal will relish details like the alteration of his bedroom, empathizing with the excitement and freedom of being seen by one’s family.

MIDDLE-GRADE FICTION

Ana On the Edge (by A.J. Sass)

Ages 8-12

At a time when trans characters are becoming more common in children’s literature—my daughter read Alex Gino’s George for a school book club this year and absolutely loved it—it is also important to have stories with a nod to the full gender spectrum. Ana hates wearing dresses and prefers short hair because it doesn’t scream “girl,” but she doesn’t identify as trans. She may not feel like a girl much of the time, but she doesn’t feel like a boy, either. Her inner dialogue around these questions kicks into high gear when she’s promoted to a higher level of competitive figure skating and assigned an acclaimed choreographer, who sets her long program to Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty and dresses her in a sequined princess skirt. Once a powerhouse skater, Ana no longer feels like herself on the ice, and she begins to falter, not only in her performance, but in her relationships off the ice. LGBTQIA+ characters abound in this engaging, well-paced novel, including Ana’s gay coach and trans friend, but it’s not until Ana discovers the nonbinary community that her journey towards self-advocation can begin.

Snapdragon (by Kat Leyh)

Ages 10-14

Wacky, unpredictable, and surprisingly funny, this graphic novel defies categorization. On the one hand, it’s about a girl who befriends the town’s witch and comes to discover her own magic in the process. On the other hand, it’s about roadkill and horror flicks and flying motorcycles and unrequited love and trans identity and anatomical science. Or maybe, most accurately, it’s about the kind of friendships which re-frame how we see ourselves, which have us believing we’re less weird and more deserving of love than we thought. Snap’s town has a witch. Or, as Snap tells us, “that’s the kind of bull the dumb kids at my school say.” In reality, Jacks is a heartbroken woman who sells roadkill online after she performs a ritual to put their spirits to rest. With the help of a new friend, a trans girl also struggling to define herself against the mold, Snap uncovers a truth about Jacks’ past that sets into motion a chain of suspenseful, supernatural events.

The Cardboard Kingdom: Roar of the Beast (by Chad Sell)

Ages 8-12

 To say that Chad Sell’s first graphic novel, The Cardboard Kingdom, co-written as part of a team of ten comics collaborators and starring a group of neighbor kids who bond together one summer over their imagined alter egos, was a massive hit with my kids would be a gross understatement. My kids came for the kooky superhero costumes, but they stayed for the electric array of gender identities and presentations, races, ethnicities, and body shapes—a true “melting pot” of a literary universe. Now, three years later, Sell and his team are back with a sequel, Roar of the Beast, which follows the same group of kids as they try to solve the mystery of a monster, allegedly lurking in the nighttime shadows of the neighborhood. Nothing goes smoothly—there’s bullying, broken legs, and lots of destroyed cardboard—but as with the first novel, friendship and self-expression reign supreme.

YOUNG-ADULT NOVELS

 Felix Ever After (by Kacen Callender)

Ages 15-18

“Own voices” author Kacen Callender nails the teen voice—overtly shunning authority while secretly craving affirmation—at the same time that she sweeps us up in this Black trans queer teen’s vulnerable, layered journey of self-discovery. Despite his name, Felix Love has never been in love, and he’s desperate to know what it’s like. But it’s hard to love someone when you’re still working on loving yourself. He knows it took him longer than many to recognize his gender identity—a rising senior in high school, he only recently transitioned—but even now he doesn’t always feel like a boy. On top of these secret doubts, Felix is the victim of transphobic bullying, when a classmate from his summer art program decorates the school with his deadname. Felix’s fixation on discovering the bully’s identity begins to eclipse his friendships, his art, his college plans, and his already fragile relationship with his father. Even more dangerous, it distracts him from asking—and answering—difficult questions of himself. Felix Ever After is a beautiful validation of the trans experience, but it’s also a refreshing reminder that we don’t often fit cleanly inside one box. (Kacen Callender also wrote last year’s acclaimed middle-grade novel, King and the Dragonflies, about a boy struggling with his sexual identity while grieving the loss of his brother.)

The Girl from the Sea (by Molly Knox Ostertag; color by Maarta Laiho)

Ages 12-15

“The love of a selkie is something special. It comes in like a storm from the sea, all sudden and powerful and impossible to predict. And in its wake, things are changed forever.” This infectious, brilliantly colored graphic novel gives new meaning to the phrase “summer fling,” as fifteen-year-old Morgan falls for a mysterious girl who washes up on her island hometown and claims to be part seal. Morgan had grand plans to make it high school without anyone finding out she likes girls: not her depressed, divorced mom; not her volatile little brother; and not her gossipy group of friends. But Keltie throws Morgan’s neat little boxes into complete chaos, challenging her not to wait a moment longer to be who she was meant to be—and have the summer of her life in the process. But is it possible Keltie has a secret of her own? Readers might recognize author Ostertag from her middle-grade graphic series, The Witch Boy, and now she proves herself equally adept at appealing to the teen audience.

Flamer (by Mike Curato)

Ages 14-18

Mike Curato’s deeply moving and gorgeously wrought graphic novel is inspired by his years as a closeted gay teen in the mid 90s, confronting the homophobic culture of the Boy Scouts and the Catholic Church. Candidly narrated in the first person, the story stars Aiden Navarro, a half-Asian, comics-loving, fourteen-years-old altar boy and assistant patrol leader, glad to be spending his summer at Scouts camp as much for the canoeing and orienteering as for the distraction from starting public high school. But Scouts doesn’t offer complete relief from plaguing feelings of self-doubt and shame—or from bullying. As Aiden fantasizes about his tent mate, his conflicted feelings about his own desires only grow. Curato’s freehand charcoal sketches are accented with splashes of orange, which, like Aiden’s own journey towards self-love, begin as an allusion to the flames of hell and morph into a metaphor for the powerful life force within him.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club (by Malinda Lo)

Ages 15-18

Historical fiction meets queer romance in this gripping, atmospheric novel set in 1950s San Francisco Chinatown during the Red Scare. Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu has always been the “good Chinese girl”—polite and studious, with dreams of building rockets—but when she stumbles upon a newspaper advertisement for a lesbian nightclub, featuring a male impersonator, and finds a classmate willing to sneak out with her, she begins to rebel in ways she never expected. Lily’s foray into the lesbian scene, already risky for a young girl at the time, becomes even more dangerous given her race and the Communist accusations made against her family, including the threat of deportation to her father. With richly detailed prose, Malinda Lo brings the city and its nightclub scene to life, delivering a powerful coming-of-age novel that tears you down before it builds you back up again.

Blog contribution and photos by Melissa LaSalle.
Edited by Shannon McCarthy.