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  Everything Under

  Daisy Johnson

  The dictionary doesn’t contain every word. Gretel, a lexicographer by trade, knows this better than most. She grew up on a houseboat with her mother, wandering the canals of Oxford and speaking a private language of their own invention. Her mother disappeared when Gretel was a teen, abandoning her to foster care, and Gretel has tried to move on, spending her days updating dictionary entries. One phone call from her mother is all it takes for the past to come rushing back. To find her, Gretel will have to recover buried memories of her final, fateful winter on the canals. A runaway boy had found community and shelter with them, and all three were haunted by their past and stalked by an ominous creature lurking in the canal: the bonak. Everything and nothing at once, the bonak was Gretel’s name for the thing she feared most. And now that she’s searching for her mother, she’ll have to face it.

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  Extraordinary Birds

  Sandy Stark-McGinnis

  Eleven-year-old December waits to sprout wings and fly away, until a new foster mother changes her perspective on home and family.--

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  Felix Ever After

  Kacen 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.

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  Freakboy

  Kristin Elizabeth Clark

  Told from three viewpoints, seventeen-year-old Brendan, a wrestler, struggles to come to terms with his place on the transgender spectrum while Vanessa, the girl he loves, and Angel, a transgender acquaintance, try to help.

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  Gay & Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights

  Jerome Pohlen

  Who transformed George Washington's demoralized troops at Valley Forge into a fighting force that defeated an empire? Who cracked Germany's Enigma code and shortened World War II? Who successfully lobbied the US Congress to outlaw child labor? And who organized the 1963 March on Washington? Ls, Gs, Bs, and Ts, that's who...This up-to-date history includes the landmark Supreme Court decision making marriage equality the law of the land. Twenty-one activities enliven the history and demonstrate the spirited ways the LGBT community has pushed for positive social change.

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  George

  Alex Gino

  When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl. George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part.

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  GoblinHeart: A Fairy Tale

  Brett Axel

  Julep longs to grow up. Julep hopes he grows up to be a goblin rather than a fairy.

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  Gracefully Grayson

  Ami Polonsky

  Grayson, a transgender twelve-year-old, learns to accept her true identity and share it with the world.

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  Happy Families

  Tanita S. Davis

  In alternating chapters, sixteen-year-old twins Ysabel and Justin share their conflicted feelings as they struggle to come to terms with their father's decision to dress as a woman.

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  Her Name is James

  C.J. Heath

  At fifteen years old, James Farrow was removed from home by social services for his own safety. Now he is eighteen, he is no longer the responsibility of the welfare state. Returning home to an uncertain reception, James finds his father has mellowed and his brother is delighted to have his hero back. Life could run smoothly for James now he is home again but he has a painful truth to confess; James is transgender. He's always known he wasn't intended to be born a boy but now he wants to begin his transition into the woman he should be.

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  How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity

  Michael Cart

  Presents twelve stories by contemporary, award-winning young adult authors, some presented in graphic or letter format, which explore themes of gender identity, love, and sexuality.

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  I am J

  Cris Beam

  J, who feels like a boy mistakenly born as a girl, runs away from his best friend who has rejected him and the parents he thinks do not understand him when he finally decides that it is time to be who he really is.

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  I Am Jazz

  Jessice Herthel and Jazz Jennings

  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.

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  If I Was Your Girl

  Meredith Russo

  Amanda Hardy only wants to fit in at her new school, but she is keeping a big secret, so when she falls for Grant, guarded Amanda finds herself yearning to share with him everything about herself, including her previous life as Andrew.

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  Introducing Teddy

  Jessica Walton

  Errol's best friend and teddy, Thomas, is sad because he wishes he were a girl, not a boy teddy, but what only matters to both of them is that they are friends.

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  It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living

  Dan Savage and Terry Miller

  Growing up isn't easy. Many young people face daily tormenting and bullying, and this is especially true for LGBT kids and teens. It Gets Better is a collection of original essays and expanded testimonials written to teens from celebrities, political leaders, and everyday people, because while many LGBT teens can't see a positive future for themselves, we can.

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  It’s Okay to Sparkle

  Avery Jackson

  The inspirational story, told in her own words, of 7-year-old Avery Jackson, who was assigned male at birth, but has now transitioned into a young girl, tells the story of how she realized she was a girl and how she helped her parents and friends to understand her transition. Her heart-warming story covers themes of friendship, bullying and self-esteem. Whether you're into dolls, ninja warriors or teddy bears, climbing trees, Tae Kwon Do or ballet, this book lets readers know that it's okay to be who you want to be. Avery's words are incredibly wise and articulate for such a young person and she will undoubtably provide support and inspiration to other families in similar situations.

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  It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health

  Robie H. Harris

  Introduces human sexuality, describes the changes brought about by puberty, and discusses sexual abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, and pregnancy.

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  Jack (Not Jackie)

  Erica Silverman

  Susan loves her baby sister, Jackie, but as Jackie grows older and behaves more and more like a boy Susan must adjust to having a brother, Jack, instead.

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  Jazz Jennings: Voice for LGBTQ Youth

  Ellen Rodger

  A groundbreaking advocate for transgender youth and LGBTQ rights, Jazz Jennings is one of the first youth to speak publicly about her experiences as a transgender individual. A spokesperson, writer, and public figure, Jazz inspires all people to embrace themselves and be accepting of all people. Overcoming incredible struggles as a young transgender person, Jazz now uses her platform to make a difference in the LGBTQ community. A vocal advocate for equal rights, she co-founded the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation-all before the age of 15.

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  Jumpstart the World

  Catherine Ryan Hyde

  Sixteen-year-old Elle falls in love with Frank, the neighbor who helps her adjust to being on her own in a big city, but learning that he is transgendered turns her world upside-down.

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  Just Girls

  Rachel Gold

  To quell the controversy over a trans girl living in their dorm, Tucker claims she is transgendered, and is placed on the receiving end of prejudice and bullying over it.

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  Kicked Out

  Sassafras Lowrey

  This volume is collection of essays written by young people who were kicked out of their homes as minors for identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), as well as a few policy essays from service providers. Diverse contributors ranging in age, experience, and current living situation share stories of perseverance and abuse with poignant accounts of survival. The editors point out that very few urban areas have recognized the need to serve dispossessed LGBT youth by establishing shelters or safe houses; money is tight and public support is often hard to muster. They feel that homelessness of these kids is but a symptom of a larger and more pervasive cultural problem: we are a society that does not value all people, and somehow there seems to be a tacit belief that parents of LGBT youth are entitled to abdicate their responsibility to love and protect the children they have created. They feel that such a mindset is due to a homophobic and transphobic culture. This anthology intends to present the points-of-view of the voiceless and also to challenge the stereotypical face of homelessness.

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  Kiss Number 8

  Colleen AF Venable

  Mads is pretty happy with her life. She goes to church with her family, and minor league baseball games with her dad. She goofs off with her best friend Cat, and has thus far managed to avoid getting kissed by Adam, the boy next door. It's everything she hoped high school would be... until all of a sudden, it's not. Her dad is hiding something big--so big it could tear her family apart. And that's just the beginning of her problems: Mads is starting to figure out that she doesn't want to kiss Adam... because the only person she wants to kiss is Cat. Just like that, Mad's tidy little life has gotten epically messy--and epically heartbreaking. And when your heart is broken, it takes more than an awkward, uncomfortable, tooth-clashing, friendship-ending kiss to put things right again. It takes a whole bunch of them.

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  Laverne Cox

  Erin Staley

  Highlights the struggles and achievements of Laverne Cox, an American actress, who became the first openly transgender person to win numerous awards and have a wax work in Madame Tussauds.