Transgender Awareness Week

Transgender Awareness Week is a time focused on educating folks about the issues associated with their transition and identity. It is also the week of celebration. This week always leads to Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20th. On Transgender Day of Remembrance, we remember the victims we lost to anti-transgender violence.

This book list is meant to support Transgender Awareness Week and provides some resources in our Pittsburgh community and beyond.

Reading Resources
Community Resources

You can sign up for a free library card here. If you are new to our eResources, check out these tutorial videos on how to get started. 

Looking for a good book, album, movie or TV show? We’re happy to recommend them to you! Use this Personalized Recommendations form to send us some information about what you like and we’ll curate a list just for you. 

If you have any additional questions, you can contact a librarian through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. You can also call us at 412.622.3114 or email us at info@carnegielibrary.org. 

Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs

This is a book about dogs: the love we have for them, and the way that love helps us understand the people we have been. It’s in the love of dogs, and my love for them, that I can best now take the measure of the child I once was, and the bottomless, unfathomable desires that once haunted me. There are times when it is hard for me to fully remember that love, which was once so fragile, and so fierce. Sometimes it seems to fade before me, like breath on a mirror. But I remember the dogs. You can also check out this title as eBook on Overdrive/Libby.


Detransition, Baby

A loving and thoughtful exploration of family. When Reese and Amy separated, Amy detransitioned to Ames and is now in a relationship with his cis-gendered boss Katrina. When Katrina becomes pregnant with Ames’ baby, Ames, Katrina and Reese consider what an unconventional family could look like. Can they raise the baby together? This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.


Summer Fun

An obsession with a legendary 1960’s band leads a fan to write a series of letters to the enigmatic former frontman (who sounds a lot like Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys). These letters are rooted in adoration, but as they progress they unveil magical manifestation, self-discovery, and trans identity. You can also check out this title as eAudio on Hoopla.


Burn the Page

When Danica Roem campaigned to become the first openly trans person elected to the state legislature, she knew her opponents would look for scandals in her past to discredit her. So she beat them to the punch, admitting and addressing every element of her life that could be used against her – and turning her perceived failings around to become commentaries on living, growing, and telling your own story. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby.


Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man

In this groundbreaking new book, the author, a trans man, trains to fight in a charity match at Madison Square Garden while struggling to untangle the vexed relationship between masculinity and violence. Through his experience boxing–learning to get hit, and to hit back; wrestling with the camaraderie of the gym; confronting the betrayals and strength of his own body–McBee examines the weight of male violence, the pervasiveness of gender stereotypes, and the limitations of conventional masculinity. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.


The Thirty Names of Night

A novel following three generations of Syrian Americans who are linked by a mysterious species of bird and the truths they carry close to their hearts. This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.

 


Gumballs

Gumballs is a one-man variety show spanning graphic memoir, observational comedy, razor-sharp character studies, and so much more. You can also check out this title as an eBook on Hoopla.




Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars

At once a love letter and challenge to the traditional transgender memoir, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars is a playful, surrealist dance through queer coming of age. You can also check out this title as eAudio on Hoopla.