RESOURCES: Recommended Reading
A list of selected books for children, teens, adults, and educators.
Children
When Kayla Was Kyle by TYFA parent Amy Fabrikant, illustrated by Jennifer Levine
10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert (Read our review)
Are You a Boy or a Girl? by Karleen Pendelton Jimenez
Be Who You Are by Jennifer Carr
Choose To Love: A Poem About Life, Love & Choices by C. Kevin Wanzer, Artwork by Kristin Tuller
My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis
Dogs Don’t Do Ballet by Anna Kemp
From Bullies to Friends by C.T. Nikolet
Stop Bullying Bobby!: Helping Children Cope with Teasing and Bullying by Dana Smith-Mansell
You’re Different and That’s Super by Carson Kressley
Tutus Aren’t My Style by Linda Skeers
We Are All Alike . . . We Are All Different by The Cheltenham Elementary School Kindergartners
We’re Different, We’re the Same (Sesame Street) by Bobbi Kates
It’s Okay To Be Different by Todd Parr
Incredible You! 10 Ways to let your greatness shine through by Dr. Wayne Dyer
¡Eres increible! (Incredible You!):
10 formas de permitir que tu GRANDEZA brille a traves de ti by Dr. Wayne Dyer
Teens
Choir Boy by Charlie Anders
Freak Show by James St. James
Morgan in the Mirror by C.C. Saint Clair
My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman,
the Real You, or Something Else Entirely by Kate Bornstein
My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving World Peace
Through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity by Kate Bornstein
Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws by Kate Bornstein
My Brother Beth by Rebecca Sardella
Luna by Julie Anne Peters
Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger
Creating Safe and Supportive Learning Environments: A Guide for Working with Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth and Families
edited by Emily S. Fisher and Karen Komosa-Hawkins
Adults
The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals
by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper
Becoming a Visible Man by Jamison Green
Mom I Need to be a Girl by “Just Evelyn”
Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers by Cris Beam
Trans Forming Families by Mary Boenke
True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism–For Families, Friends,
Coworkers, and Helping Professionals by Mildred Brown and Chloe Rounsley
Transgender Explained For Those Who Are Not by Joanne Herman
Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon
Creating Safe and Supportive Learning Environments:
A Guide for Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth and Families,
edited by Emily S. Fisher and Karen Komosa-Hawkins (our review)
Educators
Creating Safe and Supportive Learning Environments:
A Guide for Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth and Families,
edited by Emily S. Fisher and Karen Komosa-Hawkins (our review)
Difference Isn’t Wrong…It Just Is (PDF)
Excellent introduction to gender variant and transgender children and their families. Feature article by
TYFA Executive Director, Kim Pearson, published in The Bottom Line (San Diego, CA), November 2, 2007.
Written by TYFA Advisory Board Member, Reid Vanderburgh, MA this piece addresses the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation as well as the joys and challenges of childhood gender transition.
Other Documents
Many of these documents should be printed and placed in your Safe Folder.
Endocrine Treatment of Transsexual Persons: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline (PDF)
Published in June, 2009, this lengthy set of protocols for the treatment of transgender persons is the current standard for use by endocrinologists in the U.S. Archived in the Practitioners and the Parents Resources sections of this website.
Clinical management of gender identity disorder in adolescents (PDF)
A protocol on psychological and paediatric endocrinology aspects — Treatment outcome in transsexuals is expected to be more favourable when puberty is suppressed than when treatment is started after Tanner stage 4 or 5.
American Academy of Pediatrics (PDF)
This document is excerpted from “Caring for Your School-Age Child: Ages 5-12″, Bantam 1999. It was published by the American Academy of Pediatrics and briefly illustrates that by age 4, children’s gender identity is stable, and they know they will always be a boy or a girl.
AMA Resolution 122: Removing Financial Barriers to Care for Transgender Patients (PDF)
A resolution by the American Medical Association in support of insurance coverage by insurance carriers for the treatment of transgender persons.
To the Beat of a Different Drummer (PDF)
The article describes the gender variant child. Gender variance is defined as a behavioral pattern of intense, pervasive, and persistent interests and behaviors characterized as typical of the opposite gender. Gender variance, though, not a common issue in primary care practice, should be taken seriously when it presents.
Transgenderism, overview by Norman Spack, M.D. (PDF)
This article from Lahey Clinic Medical Ethics journal highlights the ethical concerns of providing treatment for transgender children.
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