Transgender Lending Library

Six books are now available for sign-out on transgender issues, as put together by the Rainbow Alliance. Ranging from historical perspective to fiction, from bios to personal essays, from adult to children, in their own way all present a truth worthy of exploration.

Available for sign-out now. Look for them on the new lending library shelves.

Transgender History: Covers the history of the transgender movement from the mid-20th century through 2008. The first chapter includes a useful vocabulary breakdown. There’s an extensive resources list for other materials.

Gender Outlaws: the Next Generation: A personal look at the lives of a range of transgender folks. Essays, commentary, comic art, and conversations, all of which explore what gender means. Written by Kate Bornstein, who authored the original Gender Outlaws. Kate’s collaborator S. Bear Bergman is an award- winning author, storyteller, and performer.

Gender Failure: a creative book with alternating biographical essays. Includes song lyrics, photos, and art. Spoon, an indie folk-electronic musician, writes of the difficulties of dating when questioning one’s identity. Coyote, an author and spoken-word performer, writes of the decision to get a bilateral mastectomy.

Red: A Crayon’s Story: A picture book that makes the point to be true to your inner self, despite the opinions of others. A blue crayon mislabeled red tries to live up to the expectations of others who want him to conform to what red is. A new friend offers a fresh perspective that makes all the difference. Works as an uplifting story for children (pre-school through kindergarten) and as an allegory for adults.

10,000 Dresses: about a gender-variant child’s struggle to become who she feels she is inside. Bailey dreams about magical dresses but no one appreciates her passion. When Bailey meets Laurel, her life changes. NOTE: some reviewers thought negative elements in the story were not resolved. We advise you read Dresses before sharing with your child. Elementary reader level.

Symptoms of Being Human: the teen offering in our compendium. A debut novel in which Riley, the protagonist, is tagged an “it” in high school. Riley identifies as gender fluid and is forced to decide if they should come out when their anonymous blog attracts threats. Deals with many teens’ feelings of isolation.