Books about LGBTQ+ characters, families, and gender expression.
This hub is for rainbow families, gender-curious kids, and anyone stocking a shelf that is not a debate. LGBTQ+ life here is play, grandparents, crushes, and ordinary Tuesdays. It is not a special episode, and it is not only June.
We keep transgender books as its own hub so families looking for that specificity do not have to wade through a general list. This page still includes gender expression, because kids do not wait for our information architecture.
Joyful self-expression. Families that are already a family. Stories where the child on the page is not present to win an argument. We skip tragedy-as-the-point for picture books. We skip titles that treat two moms as the twist.
A starter picture-book pile lives in LGBTQ+ picture books for families. Teens who want a slow love story or a bar that lets them see a future should start with an inclusive YA shelf.
Leave the books in the regular pile. Read them on a random night. If a child asks a question you were not ready for, it is allowed to say you need to think, then actually come back. After the last page is the method for that pause.
Related guides: LGBTQ+ Picture Books for Families · Starting an Inclusive YA Shelf
49 books · Page 2 of 3
Ages 3–8
My Princess BoyCheryl Kilodavis
He’s a Princess Boy. Inspired by the author’s son, and by her own initial struggles to understand, this heartwarming book is a call for tolerance and an end to bullying and judgments.
Ages 3–8
The Sissy DucklingHarvey Fierstein
Henry Cole's gently humorous illustrations give it a new vitality. This is a book to share with all children, to help them understand that each one of them is unique and valuable.
Ages 3–8
10,000 dressesMarcus Ewert
Every night, Bailey dreams about magical dresses: dresses made of crystals and rainbows, dresses made of flowers, dresses made of windows. . . . Unfortunately, when Bailey's awake, no one wants to hear about these beautiful dreams. Quite the contrary. "You're a BOY!" Mother and Father tell Bailey. "You shouldn't be thinking about dresses at all." Then Bailey meets Laurel, an older girl who is touched and inspired by Bailey's imagination and courage. In friendship, the two of them begin making dresses together. And Bailey's dreams come true!
Ages 3–8
One of a kind like meLaurin Mayeno
It's almost closing time will Danny find the costume of his dreams in time? One of A Kind, Like Me / Unico como yo is a sweet story about unconditional love and the beauty of individuality.
Ages 3–8
When Kayla was KyleAmy Fabrikant
When Kayla Was Kyle is a picture book children of all ages will want to read because it addresses the increasingly emerging ideas around Gender Diversity. Amy Fabrikant is a writer, literacy coach, and LGBTQ safe school consultant.
Ages 3–8
Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?Sarah Savage
Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl? by Sarah Savage — a thoughtfully chosen inclusive book for young readers.
Ages 3–8
I am JazzJessica Herthel
Jazz always knew she was different from other kids. She had a girl's brain and a boy's body. This is her story. The story of a transgender child based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings, who has become a spokesperson for transkids everywhere. From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl's brain in a boy's body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn't feel like herself in boys' clothing. This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way. Jazz's story is based on her real-life experience and she tells it in a simple, clear way that will be appreciated by picture book readers, their parents, and teachers.
Ages 3–8
CalvinJ. R. Ford
In this joyful and impactful picture book, a transgender boy prepares for the first day of school and introduces himself to his family and friends for the first time. Calvin has always been a boy, even if the world sees him as a girl.
Ages 3–8
Gender-KramLouie Läuger
Now, we’re starting to understand it’s not that simple. That’s what this book is about: figuring out what gender means, one human being at a time, and giving us new ways to let the world know who we are.
Ages 8–12
RickAlex Gino
Rick's never questioned much. He's gone along with his best friend Jeff even when Jeff's acted like a bully and a jerk. He's let his father joke with him about which hot girls he might want to date even though that kind of talk always makes him uncomfortable. And he hasn't given his own identity much thought, because everyone else around him seemed to have figured it out.But now Rick's gotten to middle school, and new doors are opening. One of them leads to the school's Rainbow Spectrum club, where kids of many genders and identities congregate, including Melissa, the girl who sits in front of Rick in class and seems to have her life together. Rick wants his own life to be that . . . understood. Even if it means breaking some old friendships and making some new ones.
Ages 8–12
DramaRaina Telgemeier
Callie rides an emotional roller coaster while serving on the stage crew for a middle school production of Moon over Mississippi as various relationships start and end, and others never quite get going.
Young adult
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the UniverseBenjamin Alire Sáenz
Fifteen-year-old Ari Mendoza is an angry loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents, and his family that he has never asked before.
Young adult
Cemetery BoysAiden Thomas
Cemetery Boys is necessary: for trans kids, for queer kids, for those in the Latinx community who need to see themselves on the page. Don’t miss this book." —Mark Oshiro, author of Anger is a Gift and co-author of The Sun and the Star
Young adult
Felix Ever AfterKacen Callender
Felix Love, a transgender seventeen-year-old, attempts to get revenge by catfishing his anonymous bully, but lands in a quasi-love triangle with his former enemy and his best friend.
Young adult
Last Night at the Telegraph ClubMalinda Lo
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND STONEWALL BOOK AWARD • From acclaimed author Malinda Lo comes a gripping, tender coming-of-age novel exploring identity, queerness, and historical upheaval set in San ...
Young adult
PetAkwaeke Emezi
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 ...
Young adult
They Both Die at the EndAdam Silvera
Uplifting and devastating, charming and haunting, They Both Die at the End is a tour de force from acclaimed author Adam Silvera, whose debut novel the New York Times called “profound.” It’s a story that reminds us there’s no life ...
Young adult
Heartstopper: Volume 1Alice Oseman
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out. "Absolutely delightful. Sweet, romantic, kind. Beautifully paced. I loved this book.
Young adult
FlamerMike Curato
In her groundbreaking and essential debut The Three Mothers, scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the three women who raised and shaped some of America's most pivotal heroes.
Young adult
Ace of SpadesFaridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Someone who holds all the aces. And they're planning much more than a high-school game...Unputdownable and utterly compulsive, this high-octane thriller takes a powerful look at institutionalized racism.
Young adult
Anger is a GiftMark Oshiro
Something will have to change—but who will listen to a group of teens? When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes again, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.
Young adult
The Taking of Jake LivingstonRyan Douglass
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Get Out meets Holly Jackson in this YA social thriller where survival is not a guarantee. Sixteen-year-old Jake Livingston sees dead people everywhere.
Young adult
PrittyMiller, Keith F., Jr.
2024 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist 2025 Rainbow Book List Concrete Rose meets Things We Couldn't Say in Pritty, a debut novel by Keith F. Miller Jr.--the inspiration behind the forthcoming animated short film of Kickstarter fame--that ...
Adult
The SafekeepYael van der Wouden
Rural Netherlands, 1961. Isabel keeps her late mother’s house in strict order until her brother leaves his new girlfriend, Eva, there for the season. Desire, suspicion, and missing silverware open a door onto what the family kept after the war.
