Looking for fiction with good trans representation that my family might read. Need books that:
- Normalize trans experiences for cis individuals,
- Match specific genres/themes for each family member, and
- Don’t scream “trans” from the cover.
Dad’s into Tom Clancy, so a military submarine thriller with trans representation would be ideal—super specific, right? Wonder how that would play out!
Left Hand Of Darkness?
Not necessarily trans fiction, but an incredible book with an amazing deconstruction of gender, highly recommend.
Have you read The Dispossessed?
The classic trans fiction book is “Nevada”, by Imogen Binnie. That is more by trans women for trans women though. My personal favourite in the genre is “Small Beauty” Jia Qing Wilson-Yang. It’s a very floaty book about a mixed race trans woman dealing with the death of her cousin, to whom she was close. It’s really good, but again more for trans-women.
“Honeybee” by Craig Silvey is very good and is more written for a general audience. It follows the journey of a trans person coming to terms with their identity. Although it was written by a non-trans author, it is still well written, sympathetic, and decent representation. “This Is How It Always Is” by Laurie Frankel is another good one about parents of a trans child. Very sweet, and obviously written by the parent of a trans child.
To put it in list form, my recomendations are:
- Nevada, Imogen Binnie
- Small Beauty, Jia Qing Wilson-Yang (a favourite of mine)
- Honeybee, Craig Silvey
- This Is How It Always Is, Laurie Frankel
Light from uncommon stars - sci-fi
NK Jemison is a great new scifi author who always includes a trans character in her stories in really natural ways. Not sure they’ll be what you’re looking for, but they’re also incredibly good books.
