Reading With Pride - Young Adult, Transgender Character

Need a hand finding pukapuka for the Reading With Pride challenge? Look no further!

This is a list of books that will help you complete the first section of the challenge - reading a book with a transgender character.

This is the Young Adult list.

Updated May 11, 2026
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Lark & Kasim start a revolution
Callender, Kacen
Paper Book
From National Book Award-winner Kacen Callender, Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution is a contemporary YA that follows Lark's journey to speak the truth and discover how their own self-love can be a revolution. "A hilarious and bold love story...
Across a Field of Starlight: (A Graphic Novel)
Delliquanti, Blue.
Paper Book
An epic sci-fi graphic novel romance between two non-binary characters as they find one another through time, distance, and war. An amazing story that explores the complexity of human nature and what brings us together. When they were kids, Fassen's fighter spaceship crash-landed...
Hazelthorn
Drews, C. G.
Paper Book
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! CG Drews, instant New York Times-bestselling author of Don't Let the Forest In, returns with another deeply unsettling and yet hauntingly beautiful tale of murder and botanical body horror, perfect for fans of Andrew...
Pet
Emezi, Akwaeke
Paper Book
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * STONEWALL BOOK AWARD WINNER * ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by The New York Times * Time * Buzzfeed * NPR * New York Public Library * Publishers Weekly * School...
Those Pink Mountain nights
Ferguson, Jenny
Paper Book
In her remarkable second novel following her Governor General's Award-winning debut, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, Jen Ferguson writes about the hurt of a life stuck in past tense, the hum of connections that cannot be severed, and one week in a small, snowy town that changes everything. <...
Canto contigo : a novel
Garza Villa, Jonny
Audiobook
These violent delights
Gong, Chloe
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! A BuzzFeed Best Young Adult Book of 2020 Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Serpent & Dove, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai...
Welcome to St. Hell
Hancox, Lewis
Ebook
Magical boy : a graphic novel. Volume 1
Kao Studios
Paper Book
A breathtakingly imaginative fantasy series starring Max--a high schooler chosen to become the next "Magical Girl." There's just one catch . . . he's a trans boy!Although he was assigned female at birth, Max is your average trans man trying to get through high school as himself. But on top of...
When the angels left the old country
Lamb, Sacha
Paper Book
For fans of Good Omens -- a queer immigrant fairytale about individual purpose, the fluid nature of identity, and the power of love to change and endure. Uriel the angel and Little Ash (short for Ashmedai) are the only two supernatural creatures in their...
Meet cute diary
Lee, Emery
Paper Book
Felix Ever After meets Becky Albertalli in this swoon-worthy, heartfelt rom-com about how a transgender teen's first love challenges his ideas about perfect relationships. * A 2022 ALA Rainbow Booklist Selection * A Junior Library Guild Selection * Noah Ramirez thinks he's an expert...
The many half-lived lives of Sam Sylvester
MacGregor, Maya
Paper Book
An Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction Nominee "Look no further for your next favorite read, because The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester has it all- a gripping murder mystery that will keep you turning pages, ghosts, romance, and a...
Beating heart baby
Min, Lio
Paper Book
From debut author Lio Min comes BEATING HEART BABY, a tender love letter to internet friendships, anime, and indie rock, perfect for fans of HEARTSTOPPER When Santi arrives in Los Angeles, he hopes he can move past the loss of the childhood internet friend...
All out
Mitchell, Saundra
Ebook
Take a journey through time and genres to discover stories where queer teens live, love, and shape the world around them. Seventeen young adult authors across the queer spectrum have come together to create a collection of beautifully written diverse historical fiction for...
Even if we break
Nijkamp, Marieke
Paper Book
A shocking thriller about a group of friends who go to a cabin to play a murder mystery game...only to have the game turned against them, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends. FIVE friends go to a cabin. FOUR of them are hiding secrets. THREE...
The deep dark
Ostertag, Molly Knox
Paper Book
From Molly Knox Ostertag, writer-illustrator of the New York Times and ABA Indie bestselling The Witch Boy trilogy and The Girl from the Sea, comes a darkly beautiful story of identity, family, love, loss, and magic. Everyone has secrets. Mags's has teeth. Magdalena...
Homebody
Parish, Theo
Paper Book
YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalist In their comics debut, Theo Parish masterfully weaves an intimate and defiantly hopeful memoir about the journey one nonbinary person takes to find a home within themself. Combining traditional comics with organic journal-like interludes, Theo...
If I was your girl
Russo, Meredith
Paper Book
Meredith Russo's award-winning, big-hearted novel If I Was Your Girl is about being seen for who you really are, with a love story you can't help but root for! Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But...
The Honeys
La Sala, Ryan
Paper Book
From Ryan La Sala, the wildly popular author of Reverie, comes a twisted and tantalizing horror novel set amidst the bucolic splendor of a secluded summer retreat. Mars has always been the lesser twin, the shadow to his sister Caroline's radiance. But when Caroline dies under horrific...
Nimona
Stevenson, ND
Paper Book
Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir...
Celestial monsters
Thomas, Aiden
Ebook
A New York Times-Bestseller! A Kids' Indie Next Pick! A B&N Best YA Book of the Year! New York Times-bestselling author Aiden Thomas returns to the beloved world of The Sunbearer Trials in Celestial Monsters, a heart-stopping duology...
Cemetery boys
Thomas, Aiden
Audiobook
The Sunbearer Trials
Thomas, Aiden
Paper Book
A New York Times-Bestseller! Welcome to The Sunbearer Trials, where teen semidioses compete in a series of challenges with the highest of stakes, in this electric new Mexican-inspired fantasy from Aiden Thomas, the New York Times bestselling author of...
The mermaid, the witch, and the sea
Tokuda-Hall, Maggie
Ebook
In a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic, a desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial lady find a connection on the high seas. Aboard the pirate ship Dove, Flora the girl takes on the identity of Florian the man to earn the respect and...
The backstagers. Volume one, Rebels without applause
Tynion, James, IV
Ebook
James Tynion IV (Detective Comics, The Woods) teams up with artist Rian Sygh (Munchkin, Stolen Forest) for an incredibly earnest story that explores what it means to find a place to fit in when you're kinda an outcast. When Jory transfers to an all-boys private high school, he's taken in by the...
Compound fracture
White, Andrew Joseph
Paper Book
A Michael L. Printz Honor Book A queer Appalachian thriller that pulls no punches--following a trans autistic teen who's drawn into the generational struggle between the rural poor and those who exploit them. The INSTANT New York Times, USA Today, and Indie...
Hell followed with us
White, Andrew Joseph
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A furious, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors. "A long, sustained scream to the various strains of anti-transgender legislation multiplying around the world...
The spirit bares its teeth
White, Andrew Joseph
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! A Stonewall Honor Book in Young Adult Literature! A blood-soaked and nauseating triumph that cuts like a scalpel and reads like your darkest nightmare. New York Times bestselling author Andrew Joseph White...

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