Small Beauty tells the story of Mei, an Asian-Canadian trans woman managing the death of her cousin, the ways she contorts to navigate racism and transphobia, and her desire for community as she takes an opportunity to leave the city and revisit a town from her family’s past, where she discovers queer family history while parsing through her own anger and trauma.

Cycling through time, points of view, and rural and city life, the novel introduces us to Mei’s community in fictional Dundurn and Herbertsville, loosely based on Southern Ontario places: Annette and Connie, other Asian trans women from the drop-ins; Sandy, Mei’s older cousin and constant (if aggressive) support; Diane, an older lesbian with a pick-up and secret links to Mei’s blood family; and Nelson, a presence lost before found, whose story is told in pictures sewn into a suitcase. Interspersed with one culminating night-time lake scene, the book carries us through these stories and towards their completion as the frustrating, necessary web that keeps Mei attached to the world.

Die deutsche Ausgabe gibt es hier, weitere Bücher von Kae Tempest hier.

Rothko Taylor is back in their hometown after fifteen years away. Can life turn out differently this time?
'A master-craftsman of deep feeling and linguistic intimacy' MAX PORTER

'If books can still change the world, this one most likely will' COLUM MCCANN

Rothko Taylor has washed up with the tide, back in their hometown, Edgecliff. Fifteen years since they left it behind.

The past is accelerating towards them: the skateboard kids on the high street that remind them of their teenage years, the splintered benches looking out to sea, where their mum Meg clutched her cans. The nice bit of town, where their dad Ezra tried and failed to build a happy home. And Dionne's block. Beautiful, extraordinary Dionne, the only person who had ever looked at them and seen what was there.

Back then, overwhelmed and full of fear, they sank beneath the surface into chaos. But they made it out alive. And this time, Rothko is determined that things will be different.

A decade since Kae Tempest's last novel, Having Spent Life Seeking is about family and forgiveness; redemption and atonement; desire and abandon; selfhood and community. The things we seek when we are hiding, and what finds us, if we can let ourselves be seen.

Preislich reduziert wegen kleinen Abriebstellen an Coverecken und -kanten.

Basierend auf einer wahren Geschichte thematisiert dieser Roman zugleich Agender- Feindlichkeit - in diesem Fall gegen eine jugendliche Person - und Rassismus, hier gegen einen Schwarzen Jugendlichen im US-Rechtssystem. Die Themen sind gut recherchiert und werden verständlich dargelegt. Empfehlenswert! Auf Deutsch gibt es das Buch hier. Verlagsbeschreibung:

One teenager in a skirt. One teenager with a lighter. One moment that changes both their lives forever.
Two teenagers growing up in Oakland, California. One, Sasha, was born male but identifies as agender, wears skirts and attends a private school. The other, Richard, is an African American from a poor part of Oakland who attends a rough public school.

They have no reason to meet, except for eight minutes every day, they catch the same bus home. And one day, messing about, Richard spies Sasha napping. He flicks the flame of his lighter to Sasha’s skirt, and Sasha wakes up in a ball of flame.

What happens next, as the victim, the perpetrator and the community struggle to come to terms with their sadness and shock, is a story of recovery, reconciliation, forgiveness and, above all, hope. It’s about the power of being true to yourself, bravery and the good and bad in all of us.

And, remarkably, it’s all true.

Beeindrucker Roman, in dem in einer Dystopie eine kleine Utopie entsteht, indem Menschen während einer Naturkatastrophe ein verlassenes Gebäude mit Luxuswohnungen besetzen und selbst verwalten. Eine der Protagonist*innen ist laut Selbstbezeichnung eine "kinda in-between, masc-femme, genderless, genderfuck, person." Und eine trans* Frau kommt ebenfalls vor.

Impressive novel about the creation of a small utopia in a dystopian world in which people occupy an abandoned building with luxury apartments during a natural disaster and manage it themselves. One of the protagonists is a trans* woman and another is a “kinda in-between, masc-femme, genderless, genderfuck, person” according to her self-description.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

In a near-future New York City in which both global warming and a tremendous economic divide are making the city unlivable for many, a huge superstorm hits, leaving behind only those who had nowhere else to go and no way to get out. Makayla is a twenty-four-year-old woman who works at the convenience store chain that’s taken over the city. Jesse, an eighteen-year-old, genderqueer, anarchist punk lives in an abandoned IRT station in the Bronx. Their paths cross in the aftermath of the storm when they, along with others devastated by the loss of their homes, carve out a small sanctuary in an abandoned luxury condo. In an attempt to bring hope to those who feel forsaken, an unnamed, mysterious street artist begins graffitiing colorful murals along the sides of buildings. But the castaways of the storm aren’t the only ones who find beauty in the art. When the media begins broadcasting the emergence of the murals and one appears on the building Makayla, Jesse, and their friends are living in, it is only a matter of time before those who own the building come back to claim what is theirs. Alex DiFrancesco's All City is more than a novel, it’s a foreshadowing of the world to come.

Von Alex Di Francesco gibt es auch den Sammelband Transmutation mit Kurzgeschichten.

Maria, a trans woman in her thirties, is going nowhere. She spends her aimless days working in a New York bookstore, trying to remain true to a punk ethos while drinking herself into a stupor and having a variety of listless and confusing sexual encounters.

After her girlfriend cheats on her, Maria steals her car and heads for the Pacific, embarking on her version of the Great American Road Trip.

Along the way she stops in Reno, Nevada, and meets James, a young man who works in the local Wal-Mart. Maria recognizes elements of her younger self in James and the pair quickly form an unlikely but powerful connection, one that will have big implications for them both.

Nevada is a hilarious, groundbreaking cult classic from Imogen Binnie that inspired a whole literary movement, and is now published in the UK for the very first time.

Vern ist intergeschlechtlich und wächst in einer relativ abgeschotteten Sekte auf, muss deren Anführer heiraten und flieht schwanger. Nach und nach findet sie heraus, worum es in der Kommune wirklich geht, wie der Staat mit drinsteckt und warum sie sich körperlich verändert. Ein vielschichtiger, phantastischer Roman über Geschlecht, Sexualität, Rassismus und Kolonialismus in den USA; über Kontrolle, Empowerment, aber auch düster, dystopisch mit viel Gewalt, mit einem hoffnungsvollen Ende.

Hier geht es zu weiteren Bücher von Rivers Solomon (Pronomen they). Solomon beschreibt sich selbst u. a. als "a dyke, an anarchist, a she-beast, an exile, a shiv, a wreck, and a refugee of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade".

Verlagsbeschreibung:

A triumphant, genre-bending novel, following a y oung woman through a nightmarish yet recognisable landscape as she attempts to create a new life for herself and her children.

Vern, a hunted woman alone in the woods, gives birth to twins and raises them away from the influence of the outside world. But something is wrong - not with them, but with her own body. It's changing, it's stronger, it's not normal.

To understand her body's metamorphosis, Vern must investigate the secluded religious compound from which she fled and the violent history of dehumanisation, medical experimentation and genocide that produced it. In the course of reclaiming her own darkness, Vern learns that monsters aren't just individuals, but entire histories, systems and nations.

Rivers Solomon's Sorrowland is a memorable work of Gothic fiction that wrestles with the tangled history of racism in America and the marginalisation of society's undesirables. It is a searing, seminal book that marks the arrival of a bold, unignorable voice in American fiction.

Die Geschichte von Greg / Gloria Hemingway, dem "Lieblingskind" von Ernest Hemingway beginnt 1931 in Kansas City und endet 2001 in einem Frauengefängnis in Miami. Dazwischen liegt ein Leben, das faszinierend ist und eine fesselnde Romanhandlung abgibt, fünf Ehen, acht Kinder, eine Karriere als Arzt und eine als Schriftsteller. Russel Franklin liefert uns aber nicht nur die historisch belegten Fakten, sondern bietet einen berührenden Einblick in Gregs / Glorias Gefühle und Gedanken. Als Kind auf Kuba, das nichts mehr will, als dem überlebensgroßen Vater zu gefallen und später als getriebene, zerrissene Persönlichkeit, die versucht mit Elektroschocktherapie die manischen und depressiven Phasen zu bekämpfen.

Ich bin Hals über Kopf eingetaucht in dieses Leben voller Tragik und Schmerz und Suff und Bruderliebe und kurzen Momenten der Euphorie und des Friedens. Russel Franklin erzählt bildgewaltig und es gelingt ihm, die Komplexität der (sich wandelnden) Geschlechtsidentität der Hauptfigur einzufangen. Die Geschichte ist nicht linear erzählt und entsprechend fließt die Handlung nicht chronologisch, aber wir bleiben durchgängig in der Perspektive von Greg / Gloria und kommen diesem komplexen Charakter so nah, dass es manchmal schwerfällt, sich daran zu erinnern, dass das hier ein Roman ist und keine (Auto-) Biografie. (Rezi von Ulla)

Verlagsbeschreibung:

In 1931, Gregory Hemingway's life begins in Kansas City, Missouri. The third and favourite child of an overbearing father, Greg is a paragon: a star athlete, a crack shot, bright and handsome and built like a pocket battleship.

In 2001, Gloria Hemingway's life ends in a Miami women's correctional institution. Complex and contradictory, radiant and resilient, it is a life that has flourished against the odds and been lived to the full.

Inspired by true events and spanning seventy years of the last century, this is the story of a miraculous existence, told with beauty and compassion. Transporting the reader back and forth in time, from Cuba to New York and Montana to Florida, The Broken Places explores what it means to grow up in the shadow of a man famous for his masculinity, to bear the weight of expectation and a tragic family legacy, and to finally step out into the light.

Soft- und Hardcover jetzt zum gleichen Preis!

Go read this or listen to it. Really. Adult, over 30yo trans woman in a novel, living, a cute-ish dog, an old ex girlfriend and Copenhagen. And it's not about her coming out and transitioning and it's not even set in the US or UK and it's not even SciFi or fantasy. And they are adults.
(And I'm wondering if it is even possible for a novel by and with a trans woman to not "talk" to other novels by and with trans women. Loved it. Needed it. We need more like this.)
Read this book, even if you're not a trans woman. Maybe especially then. (Rezi von Lior)

Verlagsbeschreibung:

New home, new name and newly thirty: Phoebe Forde has stepped into emigrant life in Copenhagen with her anxious dog, Dolly. Almost three years into her gender transition, she has learned to move through the world carefully, savouring small moments of joy.

A woman without a past can be anyone she wants – that is, until an unexpected visit from Grace, her first love, brings memories of Dublin and a life she thought she’d left behind.

Over the course of a single weekend, as their old romance kindles something sweet and radically unfamiliar, Grace helps Phoebe to navigate the jagged edges of migration, nostalgia and hope.

Eine schöne Poly-Liebesgeschichte mit Schwarzen, nichtbinären und trans* Haupt- und Nebencharakteren über Freund*innenschaft, Missverständnisse, dem Druck anderen gefallen zu wollen, Followerschaft auf Twitter gewinnen zu wollen; und es geht ums Füreinander-Einstehen, Rechenschaftspflicht und Ehrlich-Sein. CN: Mobbing, Manipulieren einer Beziehung, Erwähnung von Diskriminierungen. Da der Hauptcharakter versucht, ein Buch zu schreiben, gibt es zwischendrin und im Nachwort Schreibtipps für angehende Autor*innen. Die deutsche Ausgabe gibt es hier, weitere Bücher von Kacen Callender hier.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

From the bestselling and award-winning author of Felix Ever After comes a heart-melting and joyful romance.

Maybe it’s too late to tell them how I really feel. That I’ve had these feelings for months, for years . . .

Lark Winters wants to be a writer, and for now that means posting anything and everything on their social media accounts – just to build their platform. When former best friend Kasim accidentally posts a thread on Lark’s Twitter declaring his love for a secret, unrequited crush, Lark’s tweets are suddenly the talk of the school.

To protect Kasim, Lark decides to take the fall, pretending they accidentally posted the thread in reference to another classmate. It seems like a great idea: Lark finally gets the courage to ask out their crush, Kasim keeps his privacy and Lark’s social media stats explode. But living a lie takes a toll – as does the judgement of thousands of Internet strangers. Lark tries their best to be perfect at all costs, but nothing seems good enough for the anonymous hordes – or for Kasim, who is growing closer to Lark, just like it used to be between them . . .

In the end, Lark must embrace their right to their messy emotions and learn how to be in love.

Very wonderful, empowering novel including a love story of the non-binary teenager Ben De Backer who uses they/them pronouns. After Ben comes out to their parents, they are thrown out of the house and Ben seeks out contact with their sister. Ben’s sister has long left their parent’s home. At a new school Ben is not yet out as non-binary but makes friends and meets Nathan. Between the two of them they develop a loving and supportive relationship, which gives Ben the strengths to stand up to their non-binary-phobic parents. The novel shows ways out of crisis, worries and fears and portrays Ben and Nathan as young people, who hold on to the beliefs of a happy life. “I wish you all the best” is an Own Voices book. Content Warning: Transphobia (Übersetzung von Jamie - es folgt die Rezension auf Deutsch und dann die englische Verlagsbeschreibung)

Sehr schöner, empowerender Roman inklusive Liebesgeschichte eines nichtbinären Jugendlichen mit Pronomen they. Als they sich seinen Eltern gegenüber outet, wird they rausgeschmissen und nimmt Kontakt mit their Schwester auf, die das Elternhaus schon vor Längerem verlassen hat. Zunächst ungeoutet schließt Ben an einer neuen Schule Freund*innenschaften und trifft Nathan. Zwischen den beiden entwickelt sich eine unterstützende und liebevolle Beziehung, die Ben auch darin stärkt, sich gegenüber den nichtbinär-feindlichen Eltern zu behaupten. Der Roman zeichnet Wege aus Krise, Sorgen und Ängsten und zeigt Ben und Nathan als junge Menschen, die an den Vorstellungen eines glücklichen Lebens festhalten. “I wish you all the best” ist ein Own-Voices-Buch. Inhaltswarnung: Transfeindlichkeit (Rezi von Anton und Nello.)

Verlagsbeschreibung:

Nach Band 1 All Our Hidden Gifts und Band 2 The Gifts That Bind Us entscheidet sich Roe endgültig für das Pronomen they (in der deutschen Ausgabe übersetzt mit sier). Die Freund*innen um Maeve haben viel geübt und ihre magischen Fähigkeiten verbessert. Allmählich wird klar, wieviel mehr hinter der Queerfeindlichkeit der christlichen Sekte steckt und wohin so viele Kinder verschwinden. Es kommt zu internen Unstimmigkeiten und unerwarteten Allianzen. Weitere Bände aus dieser Reihe (auf Deutsch und Englisch) gibt es hier.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

A spellbinding supernatural teen drama and final book in the Gifts series.

With the return of the Housekeeper on the cards, Maeve must find out everything she can about the vengeful tarot spirit in order to finally defeat her. Crossing over into a parallel dimension inside the old school building, she explores the history of the Housekeeper – and spends too long in a world and a mind not her own. With the Children of Brigid closing in once more, and Maeve's friend group now fractured across Ireland, can they hope to ultimately save the town – and Maeve – from the grip of a power greater than they ever imagined?

Empowernder Roman über einen trans* Jugendlichen namens Spencer, der an seiner neuen Schule nicht geoutet und leidenschaftlicher Fußballspieler ist. Als sein Team an Wettkämpfen teilnimmt, wird seine Geburtsurkunde benötigt. Spencer lebt im US-Bundesstaat Ohio und bis vor Kurzem (und somit zu der Zeit, als die Geschichte spielt) war es trans* Menschen in Ohio nicht möglich ihren Geschlechtseintrag in der Geburtsurkunde ändern zu lassen. Spencer muss sich entscheiden, ob er bereit ist, sich zu outen, um an den Tournieren teilnehmen zu können. - Es gibt einen Nebencharakter mit Pronomen they.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother and a Messi-in-training. He's also transgender. After transitioning at his old school leads to a year of bullying, Spencer gets a fresh start at Oakley, the most liberal private school in Ohio.

At Oakley, Spencer seems to have it all: more accepting classmates, a decent shot at a starting position on the boy's soccer team, great new friends, and maybe even something more than friendship with one of his teammates. The problem is, no one at Oakley knows Spencer is trans - he's passing.

So when a discriminatory law forces Spencer's coach to bench him after he discovers the 'F' on Spencer's birth certificate, Spencer has to make a choice: cheer his team on from the sidelines or publicly fight for his right to play, even if it means coming out to everyone - including the guy he's falling for.

Ein preislich reduziertes Exemplar wegen kleinen Knicken im Vordercover. Ansonsten in sehr gutem Zustand.

In dieser schönen, sexpositiven, dramatischen Liebesgeschichte mit nonbinärer Hauptfigur (Pronomen dey) und mit Kritik an hetero- und gendernormativen gesellschaftlichen Einstellungen geht es or allem ums Kochen, Sich-Verlieben, Identität, und darum, für sich und einander einzustehen. CN: Misgendering, Nichtbinär-Feindlichkeit. - This beautiful, sex-positive, dramatic love story with a non-binary main character (pronoun they) and a critique of hetero- and gender-normative social attitudes is all about cooking, falling in love, identity and standing up for oneself and each other. Misgendering, non-binary-hostility. Die deutsche Ausgabe mit Neopronomen dey gibt es hier.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

The first openly nonbinary contestant on America’s favourite cooking show falls for their clumsy competitor in this delicious romantic comedy debut!

Every recipe needs a little chemistry . . .

Recently divorced Dahlia Woodson is ready to reinvent herself and she’s found the perfect opportunity: the hit cooking competition show Chef’s Special. Falling flat on her face on the first day is admittedly not the best start, but Dahlia isn’t going to let it mess up her focus.

London Parker is also there to win. As the first non-binary contestant on Chef’s Special, they have a lot to prove, and they have enough on their mind without being distracted by the pretty contestant who crashed into them on Day One and hasn’t really stopped talking since.

After filming a few episodes, Dahlia and London grow closer and things get a little steamy as they spend more time together outside of the show.

Suddenly winning isn’t as important as either of them thought, but when their relationship starts to feel the heat both in and out of the kitchen, Dahlia and London realise that love doesn’t always follow a recipe.

Preislich reduziert wegen sehr kleinen Knicken in Coverecken.

Die Hauptfigur ist bisexuell, ihre Schwester trans*. Weitere Nebenfiguren in einem queeren Verein sind asexuell, lesbisch, schwul, pan und nichtbinär. CN: Bifeindlichkeit, Drogen, Alkohol. Die deutsche Ausgabe gibt es hier.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

A bisexual girl who gives anonymous love advice to her school friends is hired by the hot new kid to help him get his ex back. Leah on the Offbeat meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – the new queer YA rom-com from Sophie Gonzales.

Darcy Phillips:
Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes – for a fee.
Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
Really cannot stand the new Australian jock at school, Alexander Brougham.
Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke…who is in love with someone else.
Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

But when Brougham catches Darcy in the act of collecting letters from locker 89 – out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service – that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Darcy has good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she’s behind the locker, some things she’s not proud of will come to light, and there’s a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who’s already fallen for him once? What could possibly go wrong?

Hardcover zum selben Preis wie das Softcover!

A great book about family, relationships, identities, conflicts, caring, friendships and how to deal with trans hostility. In addition to trans identity, the book also deals with power relations such as racism / whiteness and class. The characters sometimes appear determined and clear, then again embarrassed and almost overwhelmed by emotion. Torrey Peters describes the strategies for dealing with structural violence without moralizing, sometimes with wit, and with a palpable desire to shake up gender relations.

/ Detransition, Baby erzählt von Reese, Amy / Ames und Katrina. Zwischen überraschender Schwangerschaft und unerfülltem Kinderwunsch treffen die drei aufeinander und beginnen, Familie, Beziehung, Identitäten und Trennlinien auszuhandeln. In kurzen Episoden, die sich nach und nach zu einem Erzählstrang verbinden, zeichnet Torrey Peters vor allem die Wege ihrer transweiblichen Figuren nach und erzählt vom Umgang mit Transfeindlichkeit, von Konflikten, Fürsorge und Freundinnenschaften, und Vorbildern in Sachen Weiblichkeit.
Neben Transgeschlechtlichkeit sind auch andere Identitätsaspekte und Machtverhältnisse wie Rassismus / weiß sein und Klassenzugehörigkeiten Themen des Buches. Dabei treten die Charaktere mal bestimmt und klar, dann wieder verlegen und von Emotionen fast überwältigt auf. Die Strategien, mit struktureller Gewalt umzugehen, schildert Torrey Peters ohne moralischen Fingerzeig, manchmal mit Witz, und mit spürbarer Lust am Aufrütteln der Geschlechterverhältnisse. (Rezi von Nello)

Weitere Bücher von Torrey Peters gibt es hier.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

Reese nearly had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York, a job she didn't hate. She'd scraped together a life previous generations of trans women could only dream of; the only thing missing was a child. Then everything fell apart and three years on Reese is still in self-destruct mode, avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.

When her ex calls to ask if she wants to be a mother, Reese finds herself intrigued. After being attacked in the street, Amy de-transitioned to become Ames, changed jobs and, thinking he was infertile, started an affair with his boss Katrina. Now Katrina's pregnant. Could the three of them form an unconventional family - and raise the baby together?

Preislich reduziert wegen hellgrauen Schmutzflecken auf dem Rückcover, weißem, getrocknteten Klebestreifen am oberen Rand des Vordercovers und kleiner Abriebstelle an an der Ecke vom unteren Buchrücken zum Rückcover.

A great book about family, relationships, identities, conflicts, caring, friendships and how to deal with trans hostility. In addition to trans identity, the book also deals with power relations such as racism / whiteness and class. The characters sometimes appear determined and clear, then again embarrassed and almost overwhelmed by emotion. Torrey Peters describes the strategies for dealing with structural violence without moralizing, sometimes with wit, and with a palpable desire to shake up gender relations.

/Detransition, Baby erzählt von Reese, Amy / Ames und Katrina. Zwischen überraschender Schwangerschaft und unerfülltem Kinderwunsch treffen die drei aufeinander und beginnen, Familie, Beziehung, Identitäten und Trennlinien auszuhandeln. In kurzen Episoden, die sich nach und nach zu einem Erzählstrang verbinden, zeichnet Torrey Peters vor allem die Wege ihrer transweiblichen Figuren nach und erzählt vom Umgang mit Transfeindlichkeit, von Konflikten, Fürsorge und Freundinnenschaften, und Vorbildern in Sachen Weiblichkeit.
Neben Transgeschlechtlichkeit sind auch andere Identitätsaspekte und Machtverhältnisse wie Rassismus / weiß sein und Klassenzugehörigkeiten Themen des Buches. Dabei treten die Charaktere mal bestimmt und klar, dann wieder verlegen und von Emotionen fast überwältigt auf. Die Strategien, mit struktureller Gewalt umzugehen, schildert Torrey Peters ohne moralischen Fingerzeig, manchmal mit Witz, und mit spürbarer Lust am Aufrütteln der Geschlechterverhältnisse. (Rezi von Nello)

Weitere Bücher von Torrey Peters gibt es hier.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

Reese nearly had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York, a job she didn't hate. She'd scraped together a life previous generations of trans women could only dream of; the only thing missing was a child. Then everything fell apart and three years on Reese is still in self-destruct mode, avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.

When her ex calls to ask if she wants to be a mother, Reese finds herself intrigued. After being attacked in the street, Amy de-transitioned to become Ames, changed jobs and, thinking he was infertile, started an affair with his boss Katrina. Now Katrina's pregnant. Could the three of them form an unconventional family - and raise the baby together?

Die vermeintlicht Tochter eines wohlhabenden Hauses im viktorianischen England - die Früchtenamen als Flüche verwendet - flieht vor ihrer Hochzeit und nennt sich fortan Henry. Des Weiteren gibt es eine nichtbinären Charakter namens Property. Der Rede- und Schreibstil von Henry war etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig für mich, aber insgesamt eine schöne Lektüre für gemütliche Stunden.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

"To be blunt: I must escape." 1893. Henry Nettleblack has to act fast or she'll be married off by her elder sister. But leaving the safety of her wealthy life isn't as simple as she thought.

Ambushed, robbed, and then saved by a mysterious organisation - part detective agency, part neighbourhood watch - a desperate Henry disguises herself and enlists. Sent out to investigate a string of crimes, she soon realises that she is living in a small rural town with surprisingly big problems. When the net starts to close around Henry, and sinister forces threaten to expose her as the missing Nettleblack sister, the new people in her life seem to offer her a way out, and a way forward.

Is the world she's lost in also a place she can find herself? Told through journal entries and letters, Nettleblack is a subversive and playful ride through the perils and joys of finding your place in the world, challenging myths about queerness - particularly transness - as a modern phenomenon, while exploring the practicalities of articulating queer perspectives when you're struggling for words.

Die Geschichte enthält mehrere Highschool-Dramen und einige Handlungen und Reaktionen sind ziemlich daneben, andere zuckersüß und am Ende löst sich alles in Wohlgefallen und Happy-End auf. Darf auch mal sein und liest sich schön. Evenfalls von Tobly Smith: Act Cool.

CW: misgendern, deadnaming, sich nicht outen wird als Lüge bezeichnet (so sehen die trans* Hautpfigur und die Freundin, in die er verliebt ist, das - schön und unerwartet ist, dass seine zwei besten Kumpels aus der Schule dem nicht zustimmen); physiche Gewalttat mit Krankenhausaufenthalt.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

Debut author Tobly McSmith delivers a coming-of-age teen love story about a transgender boy who’s going stealth at his new Texas high school and a cisgender girl who is drawn to him, even as she’s counting down the days until graduation.

Pony plans to fly under the radar this year. Tired of getting too much attention at his old school after coming out as transgender, he’s hoping for a fresh start as a Hillcrest High senior. But it’s hard to live your best life with the threat of exposure lurking around every corner.

Georgia is beginning to think there’s more to life than cheerleading. She just wants to keep a low profile until graduation . . . which is why she promised herself that dating is a nonstarter for the foreseeable future.

Then, on the very first day of classes, the new guy and the cheerleader lock eyes…

In this moving, honest debut from Tobly McSmith, one transformative relationship opens the eyes of a whole town—and opens the door for Pony and Georgia to celebrate their truths, even when it feels hard.

Roman mit bisexuellen, asexuellen, pansexuellen, schwulen, lesbischen und agender Charakteren über Identitätsfindung, Leistungsdruck und Freund*innenschaft. TW: Mentale Gesundheit. Die deutsche Ausgabe gibt es hier. Weitere Bücher von Alice Oseman hier. Verlagsbeschreibung:

The second novel by the phenomenally talented Alice Oseman, author of Solitaire and graphic novel series Heartstopper - now a major Netflix series. What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong? Frances has always been a study machine with one goal, elite university. Nothing will stand in her way; not friends, not a guilty secret - not even the person she is on the inside.

But when Frances meets Aled, the shy genius behind her favourite podcast, she discovers a new freedom. He unlocks the door to Real Frances and for the first time she experiences true friendship, unafraid to be herself. Then the podcast goes viral and the fragile trust between them is broken.

Caught between who she was and who she longs to be, Frances' dreams come crashing down. Suffocating with guilt, she knows that she has to confront her past... She has to confess why Carys disappeared...

Meanwhile at uni, Aled is alone, fighting even darker secrets. It's only by facing up to your fears that you can overcome them. And it's only by being your true self that you can find happiness.

Frances is going to need every bit of courage she has. A YA coming of age read that tackles issues of identity, the pressure to succeed, diversity and freedom to choose, Radio Silence is a tour de force by the most exciting writer of her generation.

Naomi Soloveitchik has taken the first steps towards medical transition and with them, the womanhood she hopes to embody. However, she does not really understand what that means for her relationships, both to friends and lovers, but also to her own body. She wrestles with the more masculinized forms of womanhood she had admired and aspired to all her life, asking herself if it is possible for a trans woman to be that kind of woman. As she attempts to find her body and her body’s place in this new, exciting, and at points terrifying world she encounters a cast of characters both from her immediate past, who haunt her and leave her wondering what their roles served to do to her, and new ones who she must learn if she can trust enough to love.

In addition to the central story, also included are a small collection of poems and a brief essay on trans femme butch identity.

Praise for Reverse Tomboy

“Sweet, poignant, and achingly honest, Reverse Tomboy is a gorgeously-sketched portrait of trans loneliness and pleasure.”
- Gretchen Felker-Martin

“Reverse Tomboy offers an intimate exploration of the lives of trans people today. Following in the footsteps of Leslie Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues and Imogen Binnie's Nevada, Autogyniphiles Anonymous shares a semi-autobiographical narrative of how one becomes oneself. Wedged in the intersection of trans literature and philosophy, readers won't be able to put down the hilariously scathing — and satisfying — critique of the gender roles our society still clings to.”
- Eli Erlick, author of Before Gender: Lost Stories from Trans History, 1850-1950

Hardcover zum selben Preis wie das Softcover!

A coming-of-age story about transgender tween Obie, who didn't think being himself would cause such a splash.

Sehr schöne Geschichte über den trans* Jugendlichen Obie. Nach seinem Outing wird er aus dem Schwimmteam geworfen und seine zwei besten Freund*innen distanzieren sich von ihm. Obies Eltern und Großeltern dagegen unterstützen ihn und er findet Freund*innen in einem neuen Schwimmteam, um für die Junior Olympics zu trainieren, und hat ein erstes Date. Das Buch zeigt, wie wichtig Unterstützung und Vorbildfunktionen sind (Obie lernt einen ältereren trans* Schwimmer kennen) und dass es manchmal etwas Zeit braucht, sich von den Erwartungen vorheriger Vorbilder (hier der ehemalige Trainer) freizumachen. CN: Trans*feindlichkeit, Homofeindlichkeit, Mobbing, einmal wird Obie verprügelt.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

Hardcover-Exemplare zum selben Preis wie das Softcover!

Spannender Roman mit nichtbinärem Hauptcharakter namens Sam. Sam ist Autist und verortet sich auf dem Ace-Spektrum - auch Sams Vater ist asexuell und aromantisch. Vor allem aber geht es darum, einen 30 Jahre zurückliegenden Todesfall zu klären und ob und wie Angriffe gegen Sam und Sams neue Freundin an der neuen Schule damit zusammenhängen, denn anfangs fand Sam an der Schule, wo they offen nichtbinär ist, viel Unterstützung.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

In this queer contemporary YA mystery, a nonbinary teen with autism realizes they must not only solve a 30-year-old mystery but also face the demons lurking in their past in order to live a satisfying life. Sam Sylvester has long collected stories of half-lived lives of kids who died before they turned nineteen. Sam was almost one of those kids.

Now, as Sam's own nineteenth birthday approaches, their recent near-death experience haunts them. They're certain they don't have much time left Yet Sam's life seems to be on the upswing after meeting several new friends and a potential love interest in Shep, their next-door neighbour. Yet the past keeps roaring back in Sam's memories and in the form of a thirty-year-old suspicious death that took place in Sam's new home.

Sam can't resist trying to find out more about the kid who died and who now seems to guide their investigation. When Sam starts receiving threatening notes, they know they're on the path to uncovering a murderer. But are they also approaching their own end? The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester explores healing in the aftermath of trauma and the joy in living a full life.

A beautiful, tender love story between a trans* and a cis boy. And about what it's like to be queer in the countryside.

Eine wunderschöne, zarte Liebesgeschichte zwischen einem trans* und einem cis Jungen. Und darüber, wie es ist, auf dem Land queer zu sein. Die deutsche Ausgabe findet ihr hier.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

From the New York Times bestselling author of EVERY DAY, this is a queer love story for the ages–told over the course of a couple’s first ten dates.

When a blue-haired boy (Ryan) meets a pink-haired boy (Avery) at a dance–a queer prom–both feel an inexplicable but powerful connection. Follow them through their first ten dates as they bridge their initial shyness and fall in love–through snowstorms, groundings, meeting parents (Avery’s) and not (Ryan’s), cast parties, heartbreak, and every day and date in between.

Amanda – still under her birthname/deadname - is struggling with bullying at her school and with her own feelings. After Amanda’s parents divorced, a suicide attempt, support in a peer support group and her transition, Amanda is moving from her mom’s place to her dad’s in a city in the south of the US, where she knows no one. She gains some friends and falls in love with Grant, who is a Star Wars fan just like her. She is happy. But there are also doubts gnawing at her. Grant seems to be keeping something from her. And what happens if her friends and boyfriend find out about her being trans?

Despite some traditional stereotypes (Amanda, who was assigned male at birth, doesn’t like playing Baseball, which is supposed to undermine her female identity) it is still a beautiful story. (translated by Jamie)

/ Amanda kämpft - noch unter dem Geburtsnamen/Deadname - in der Schule mit Mobbing sowie mit ihren eigenen Gefühlen. Nach der Trennung der Eltern, einem versuchten Selbstmord, Unterstützung in einer Selbsthilfegruppe und der Transition zu Amanda, zieht sie von ihrer Mutter zu ihrem Vater in eine Stadt im Süden der USA, wo niemand sie kennt. Sie gewinnt Freundinnen und verliebt sich in Grant, der wie sie ein Star Wars Fan ist. Sie ist glücklich. Doch es nagen auch Zweifel an ihr. Grant scheint etwas vor ihr zu verheimlichen. Und was wenn ihr Freund und ihre Freundinnen herausfinden, dass sie trans ist?

Trotz einiger klassischer Stereotype (so spielt die Hauptperson, der bei Geburt das Geschlecht männlich zugeordnet wurde, von klein auf nicht gern Baseball, was vermutlich ihre weibliche Identität herausstreichen soll), dennoch eine schöne Geschichte. (Rezi von Anton)

Verlagsbeschreibung:

Amanda Hardy is the new girl at school.

Like everyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is holding back. Even from Grant, the guy she's falling in love with.

Amanda has a secret.

At her old school, she used to be called Andrew. And secrets always have a way of getting out...

Ein schöner Roman von Rae Spoon mit nichtbinärer Hauptfigur. Verlagsbeschreibung:

From writer and musician Rae Spoon: a rollicking yet introspective young adult adventure about screwing up, finding yourself, and forging a new life on your own.

At age nineteen in the year 2000, the queer narrator of Green Glass Ghosts steps off a bus on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver, a city where the faceless condo towers of the wealthy loom over the streets to of the east side where folks are just trying to get by, against the deceptively beautiful backdrop of snow-capped mountains and sparkling ocean.

Armed with only their guitar and their voice, our hopeful hero arrives on the West Coast at the beginning of the new millennium and on the cusp of adulthood, fleeing a traumatic childhood in an unsafe family plagued by religious extremism, mental health crises, and abuse in a conservative city not known for accepting difference. They're eager to build a better life among like-minded folks, and before they know it, they've got a job, an apartment, openly non-binary friends, and a new queer love, dancing, busking, and making out in bars, parks, art spaces, and apartments. But their search for belonging and stability is disrupted by excessive drinking, jealousy, and painful memories of the past, distracting the protagonist from their ultimate goal of playing live music and spurring them to an emotional crisis. If they can't learn to care for themselves, how will they ever find true connection and community?

The haunting illustrations by Gem Hall conjure the moody, misty urban landscape and represent a deep collaboration with the author based on their shared experience of seeking safety, authenticity, and acceptance on the West Coast. Green Glass Ghosts is an evocation of that delicate, aching moment between youth and adulthood when we are trying, and often failing, to become the person we dream ourselves to be.

Weitere Bücher von Rae Spoon gibt es hier.

Blue-eyed boy or girl next door?

Das Buch erzählt die Geschichte des inter* Jugendlichen Max ohne zu stereotypisieren und klärt dabei über unnötige Operationen an inter* Menschen auf sowie zum Teil deren Folgen. Nach der Geburt hielt der Vater die Ärzt*innen, davon ab, Max zu operieren. Im Großen und Ganzen fühlt Max sich wohl, so wie er ist; unternimmt viel und ist an der Schule beliebt. Zu gewissen Unsicherheiten - und Max's schwieriger Entscheidungsfindung, ob er sich nicht doch einer geschlechtszuweisenden Operation unterziehen soll - trägt die Mutter mit ihren negativen Ansichten über Intergeschlechtlichkeit bei (außerdem ist sie homophob), das Schweigen innerhalb der Familie zum Thema und die Angst, wie Max' Freund*innen auf seine Intergeschlechtlichkeit reagieren könnten, was an der gesellschaftlichen Tabuisierung von Intergeschlechtlichkeit liegt. Max trifft zum Glück auf eine sympathische Ärzt*in, die sich zum Thema informiert, um Max' Fragen beantworten zu können. Doch vor allem geht es darum, dass Max eigenständig eine Entscheidung trifft.

TW: Die Geschichte fängt mit der ausführlich beschriebenen Vergewaltigung von Max durch seinen ehemals besten Freund an. Die Folgen davon sowie Max' Umgamg damit ist ein Fokus der Geschichte und wird meiner Einschätzung nach einfühlsam erzählt.

Here's a review by intersex activist Hida Viloria.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

To the outside world, Max Walker is a golden boy: a loving son and brother, the perfect student, captain of the football team and every girl’s dream boyfriend. But Max was born intersex – neither fully boy nor fully girl. Now something terrible has happened to him, the consequences of which have left him questioning his gender identity.

Can the people around him – his girlfriend, his classmates, his ambitious parents – accept him for who he is? Or will Max’s secret tear his world apart?

Captivating story about finding your identity and love. Felix spends most of his time with his best friend Ezra. In his school most people did not know him before his transition, but some people have heard about it. One day old pictures of him including his deadname appear in the school gallery. In his attempt to find out who is responsible for this, Felix questions friendships and develops (new) liaisons. His coming out as trans* is long in the past but the label is still not feeling quite right, so Felix joins an LGBT support group; writes E-Mails about himself to his absent mother, which he never sends; researches online (and finds the label demiboy); draws and searches for himself in his self-portraits. “Felix Ever After” is an Own Voices book. Content warning: Transphobia (Übersetzung von Jamie - es folgt die Rezension auf Deutsch und dann die englische Verlagsbeschreibung)

Fesselnde Geschichte über Identitätsfindung und Liebe. Felix verbringt viel Zeit mit seinem besten Freund Ezra. An seiner Schule kannte ihn niemand vor der Transition, doch manche wissen davon. Und eines Tages hängen alte Fotos von ihm mitsamt Deadname in der Schulgallerie. In dem Versuch, herauszufinden, wer es war, werden Freund*inschaften in Frage gestellt, und (neue) Liebschaften entwickeln sich. Sein Coming-Out als trans* hat Felix längst hinter sich; doch so ganz passt es immer noch nicht und Felix geht zu einer LGBT-Gruppe, schreibt Mails über sich an seine abwesende Mutter, die er nicht abschickt, recherchiert online (und findet den Begriff demiboy), malt und sucht sich in seinen Selbstportraits. "Felix ever After" ist ein Own-Voices-Buch. Inhaltswarnung Transphobia (Rezi von Anton)

Zur deutschen Ausgabe geht es hier. Weitere Bücher von Kacen Callendar gibt es hier.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

From award–winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time.
Felix Love has never been in love – and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalisation too many – Black, queer and transgender – to ever get his own happily-ever-after.
When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages – after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned – Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle . . .
But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.
Felix Ever After is an honest and layered story about identity, falling in love, and recognising the love you deserve.

Mehr Titel von Kacen Callender gibt es hier.

Auf Deutsch findet Ihr das Buch hier.

Meet Eric and Morgan. Born on the same day, at the same time, in the same place.

They've always shared this one day together, but as they grow up they begin to grow apart. Everyone expects Eric to get a football scholarship, but no one knows he's having second thoughts. Former quarterback Morgan feels utterly alone, as she wrestles with the difficult choice to live as her true self. Both of them are struggling to be the person they know they are. Who better to help than your best friend?

Told on one day every year, over six years, this is a story about how change pulls people apart... and how love brings them back together.

Hardcover zum selben Preis wie das Softcover!

A trans teen walks the fine line between doing whatever it takes for his acting dream and staying true to himself in this moving, thought-provoking YA novel from the acclaimed author of Stay Gold.

Aspiring actor August Greene just landed a coveted spot at the prestigious School of Performing Arts in New York. There’s only one problem: His conservative parents won’t accept that he’s transgender. And to stay with his aunt in the city, August must promise them he won’t transition. August is convinced he can play the part his parents want while acting cool and confident in the company of his talented new friends. But who is August when the lights go down? And where will he turn when the roles start hitting a little too close to home?

Zwischen Einsamkeit, Black-Lives-Matter-Demos und Dating mit trans* Männern und bisexuellen cis Männern führt uns das Buch während des Corona-Lockdowns mit dem Rad durch New York und von einer geheimen, queeren Dating-Party aus mitsamt Doppelgänger Charlie durch ein Zeitportal nach Paris – ein wunderschön fantasievoller Einschub. Trotz der Schwere mancher Themen eine flüssig lesbare, spannende, autofiktionale Erzählung. (Rezi von Anton)

Verlagsbeschreibung:

It’s early summer in New York City, 2020. The city is largely shut down, and Orpheus—our queer, disabled, poly hero—is lonely, devoid of touch and community. Orpheus manages to buy a bike just before they sell out and takes to the streets looking for Eurydice, the first woman she fell in love with, who broke her heart. But then Orpheus hears mysterious news of the underground bar Le Monocle, fashioned after the 1930s Parisian lesbian club of the same name. Can she find it? Will she ever be allowed to love again?

First written and published online in weekly installments, Carley Moore’s Panpocalypse is the time-bending, genre-busting queer novel of our pandemic-afflicted world. Finally being released in print, the original serial is joined here by a new, epic conclusion.

Die deutsche Übersetzung findet ihr hier.

Erica Skyberg is thirty-five years old, recently divorced—and trans. Not that she’s told anyone yet. Mitchell, South Dakota, isn’t exactly bursting with other trans women. Instead, she keeps to herself, teaching by day and directing community theater by night. That is, until Abigail Hawkes enters her orbit.

Abigail is seventeen, Mitchell High’s resident political dissident and Only Trans Girl. It’s a role she plays faultlessly, albeit a little reluctantly. She’s also annoyed by the idea of spending her senior year secretly guiding her English teacher through her transition. But Abigail remembers the uncertainty—and loneliness—that comes with it. Besides, Erica isn’t the only one struggling to shed the weight of others’ expectations.

As their unlikely friendship evolves, it comes under the scrutiny of their community. And soon, both women—and those closest to them—are forced to ask: Who are we if we choose to hide ourselves? What happens once we disappear into the woodwork?

Detransition Baby meets Fleishman is in Trouble in this remarkable debut novel from an incisive contemporary voice. A story about the awkwardness of growing up and the greatest love story of all, that between us and our friends, Woodworking is a tonic for the moment and a celebration of womanhood in all its multifaceted joy.

This first book by Rae (who uses "they" as a pronoun) is a candid, powerful story about a young person growing up queer in a strict Pentecostal family in Alberta.

The narrator attends church events and Billy Graham rallies faithfully with their family before discovering the music that becomes their salvation and means of escape. As their father's schizophrenia causes their parents' marriage to unravel, the narrator finds solace and safety in the company of their siblings, in their nascent feelings for a girl at school, and in their growing awareness that they are not the person their parents think they are. With a heart as big as the prairie sky, this is a quietly devastating, heart-wrenching coming-of-age book about escaping dogma, surviving abuse, finding love, and risking everything for acceptance.

Great autobiographically inspired novel. / Sehr interessanter autobiografisch geprägter Roman.

More Books by / Weitere Bücher von Rae Spoon gibt es hier hier.

A gripping own-voice coming-of-age novel that addresses issues such as classism and sex work. / Ergreifender Own-Voices Coming-of-Age Roman, in dem u.a. Klassismus und Sexarbeit thematisiert werden. Verlagsbeschreibung:

An unnamed young trans woman grows up in a working-class suburb that has no place for her. She discovers community and kinship in downtown Madrid, amid a dazzling party scene animated by charming junkies, glamorous pop divas, and fallen angels.

With each step she takes forward in the city, she finds herself confronted by an antagonism she does not yet know how to counter. In this thrilling and yet often frightening place each decision can have the highest of stakes and yet she knows that only she can forge a path forward to the life she truly wants to live. Beautiful and deeply moving, Bad Habit by Alana S Portero is translated by Mara Faye Lethem, and deftly illuminates the search for identity and the power of chosen family.

Die deutsche Ausgabe gibt es hier.

Eine schöne Geschichte über ein gender-nichtkonformes Kind namens Birdie, das Glitzer mag und bunte Klamotten. Da Birdie bei Geburt das Geschlecht männlich zugeordnet wurde und Birdie die Erwartungen hieran nicht erfüllt, gibt es immer wieder Ärger. Als Birdie gefragt wird, ob Birdie schwul oder ein Mädchen ist, weiß Birdie das nicht. Und das ist auch völlig in Ordnung. Birdie und seine Schwester ziehen nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter zu ihren Onkels in eine kleine Stadt. Vor allem geht es in der Geschichte um das Zusammenfinden der Familienmitglieder und darum, dass Birdie sein kann, wie Birdie ist. Ein schönes Mutmach-Buch. Die deutsche Ausgabe gibt es hier.

Verlagsbeschreibung:

An emotional and uplifting debut about a girl named Jack and her gender creative little brother, Birdie, searching for the place where they can be their true and best selves.

After their mama dies, Jack and Birdie find themselves without a place to call home. And when Mama’s two brothers each try to provide one–first sweet Uncle Carl, then gruff Uncle Patrick–the results are funny, tender, and tragic.

They’re also somehow . . . spectacular.

With voices and characters that soar off the page, J. M. M. Nuanez’s debut novel depicts an unlikely family caught in a situation none of them would have chosen, and the beautiful ways in which they finally come to understand one another.

Basierend auf eigenen Erfahrungen schreibt Lexie Bean eine Mutmach-Geschichte über einen trans* Jugendlichen, der statt eines Tagebuchs Briefe schreibt und mit Luftballons losschickt. In den Briefen schreibt er darüber, wie er in der Schule ausgegrenzt wird. In den Briefen sucht und findet er seinen Vornamen, den er nur wenigen mitteilt, und deutet er den Missbrauch durch seinen Vater an. Verlagsbeschreibung:

Tender and wise, The Ship We Built is about the bravery it takes to stand up for yourself—even to those you love—and the power of finding someone who treasures you for everything you are.

Sometimes I have trouble filling out tests when the name part feels like a test too. . . . When I write letters, I love that you have to read all of my thoughts and stories before I say any name at all. You have to make it to the very end to know.

Rowan has too many secrets to write down in the pages of a diary. And if he did, he wouldn’t want anyone he knows to read them. He understands who he is and what he likes, but it’s not safe for others to find out. Now the kids at school say Rowan’s too different to spend time with. He’s not the “right kind” of girl, and he’s not the “right kind” of boy. His mom ignores him. And at night, his dad hurts him in ways he’s not ready to talk about yet.

But Rowan discovers another way to share his secrets: letters. Letters he attaches to balloons and releases into the universe, hoping someone new will read them and understand. But when he befriends a classmate who knows what it’s like to be lonely and scared, even at home, Rowan realizes that there might already be a person he can trust right by his side.