Trans Rights Readthon Day 6 Update- And Board Books About Pronouns!

Folks, it's Day 6 of the #TransRightsReadathon! So far I've finished 8 books, and with me pledging $10/book and 9 of you lovely folks pledging a total of $48 a book ($58/book total!), we've already raised $464 for the Trans Health Legal Fund! WOW!!!!! My initial goal for this fundraiser was $250, and we're almost at DOUBLE that!!! If you, or anyone you know, might want to help us reach $60 a book... we're only two $1/book pledges away! Let's do this folks!

Today, I'd like to give a huge shoutout to Bettie's Pages, who created an INCREDIBLE list of books for talking about pronouns, gender, and trans identities to kids. Here's the list from this TikTok of theirs (which I wanted to transcribe in case the app goes away). Check out the video for details on each book, and other videos on their account for more amazing book lists! I am so excited-- many of these are books are new to me! If you buy books from this list on Bookshop.Org, please consider selecting Bettie's Pages in Lowell, MI as your bookstore, to pay them for their time and expertise in curating this incredible list!

Board Books

Being You: A First Conversation About Gender by Megan Madison andJessica Ralli, illustrated by Anne/Andy Passchier

The Pronoun Book by Chris Ayala-Kronos, illustrated by Melita Tirado

Bye Bye, Binary by Eric Geron, illustrated by Charlene Chua

Pink is for Boys by Robb Pearlman, illustrated by Eda Kaban

Picture Books

He's My Mom: A Story for Children Who Have a Transgender Parent or Relative by Sarah Savage, illustrated by Joules Garcia

She's My Dad!: A Story for Children Who Have a Transgender Parent or Relative by Sarah Savage, illustrated by Joules Garcia

My Maddie by Gayle E. Pitman, illustrated by Violet Tobacco

ABC of Gender Identity by Devika Dalal

What are Your Words?: A Book About Pronouns by Katherine Locke, illustrated by Anne Passchier

A House for Everyone: A Story to Help Children Learn about Gender Identity and Gender Expression by Jo Hirst, illustrated by Naomi Bardoff

Picture Books with specifically Trans Kid Rep

I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas

My Rainbow by Deshanna Neal and Trinity Neal, illustrated by Art Twink

Jack (Not Jackie) by Erica Silverman, illustrated by Holly Hatam

I'm Not a Girl: A Transgender Story by Maddox Lyons and Jessica Verdi, illustrated by Dana Simpson

Have fun reading folks! Now, as for what I've read since I last posted...

Nayra and the Djinn was a delightful middle grade fantasy graphic novel about a Muslim student fasting during Ramadan in the face of bullying, djinn drama, and best friend debacles in more than one dimension. The story was light, the themes serious, the art gorgeous... and the layers of storytelling? Wow! I mean... Nayra and the Djinn was GREAT. Sign me up for all of Iasmin Omar Ata's future books!

The Sunbearer Trials, book one in Aiden Thomas' new duology (keep your eyes out for preorders for Book 2, coming soon!), was... look, when I tell you that this book is so, so trans and queer and beautiful and rich in imagery and world building with a gripping plot and characters you love to love and hate to hate and want to scream at and give cocoa to all the time... what I mean to say is... move it to the top of your TBR pile, and plan to stay up late reading once you crack the pages. If you have a library with teens, put this face out on the shelf. It's incandescent in its excellence.

You may be wondering, but what is The Sunbearer Trials about? Well, in a Mexican-inspired world a bunch of kids of gods have to compete in a series of dangerous contests that must result in glory and death to keep the world alive. There are powerful underdogs and fallible Heroes. There's finding the truth of who you are, who your community is, and who they could be. And... SO MUCH beautiful trans, queer rep. Also, good food. Expect to want dessert.

What I'm Reading Next: The Trans Space Octopus Congregation by Bogi Takács with an introduction by Charlie Jane Anders

Why I'm Excited About It: My parter really liked it, and they have good taste. There's "Octopus" in the title. I'm trying to read across different genres this week, and haven't read a prose short story collection yet. This collection of seemingly subversive and wacky speculative short fiction for adults by Bogi Takács, who is a "Hungarian Jewish agender trans person," seems like just the right book to fill that niche.