What is this list?
Lately, I have been reading quite a bit of LGBTQ2+ young adult fiction. I was finding it hard to find and identify books with non-binary characters - meaning characters whose gender identity isn't exactly that of a boy or a girl (for more information, check out this page from the National Center for Transgender Equality).
Books for young people with non-binary characters are becoming more common, but are still under-represented. It's estimated that 25%-30% of transgender people are non-binary (Webb et al.).
And so this list was born. It is meant for teens and parents interested in finding more stories including non-binary experiences, as well as teachers and librarians who want to recommend books with non-binary characters or include them in their teaching. It is meant for everyone who just wants to read a good book!
If there is enough interest in this list, I will keep it as a living document and will continue to add and update books based on my own reading and the recommendations of others. If you find this list helpful, please let me know and I will do my best to keep it updated.
Why does this matter?
Trans youth are often misunderstood and marginalized in our society, particularly non-binary youth. They often face greater degrees of prejudice than other transgender youth (Webb et al.), and may feel erased and misunderstood by both transgender and cisgender people (Mamone, 2018). They are at greater risk for negative mental health outcomes (such as anxiety and depression) than even their binary transgender peers (Webb et al.).
Webb et al. also note a lack of cultural visibility of non-binary people, meaning there is a lack of representation in media including fiction writing. This lack of visibility can make it difficult for non-binary people to come to terms with their identity and for them to be accepted in society.
Why and how I chose the books I did
Books on this list are all written with the teenage audience in mind and all have a main character who is explicitly identified in the book (either through label or through their actions) as non-binary. This is not a complete list but rather a list of books I have come across in my own limited search. If you have a suggestion for a book that should be added to this list, please let me know what the book is and why you think it should be added.
Similarly, the presence of a book on this list is not an endorsement. While I hope to read all of these books, I have not done so yet! Where possible, I have tried to include books for which I have found positive reviews by trans and non-binary authors and reviewers (special thanks to Jeanne G'Fellers, Tash McAdam and to Trans Book Reviews), but many books were included from GoodReads based on the tags and on the book descriptions. Where possible, I tried to look up external book reviews and use my judgement based on what I read.
What I left off this list
It is fairly common in science fiction or fantasy writing to include non-binary or genderless characters that are non-human (such as robot, monster, or alien). Christine Prevas writes about why this can be harmful. In those cases, their non-binary identity is meant to be a way to signify that they are not human. Books with non-human non-binary characters are left off this list. I also avoided including any characters whose gender varied due to magic or mysterious forces. That being said, Emma Bull's Bone Dance and Jenn Polish's Lunav are frequently included on lists of good non-binary representation, even though it is not human. I would also include Lisa Bunker's Felix Yz, in which the main character is fused with a genderless alien.
I also tried to leave out any books with poor or harmful representation of non-binary characters. As a cisgender woman, I am not the best judge of representation and have relied on the input of others. From a blog post entitled Dos and Don'ts of Writing a Transgender or Non-Binary Character, pennamegrey lists harmful representations like tokenism, representing transgender characters as being unwell, or including them as victims or villains. An example of a book kept off of this list due to representation is Mia Kerick's Love Spell. The main character is gender-fluid, but has a negative view of one gender over another (Jeanne G'Fellers, personal communication).
If you think something should be taken off this list, please let me know. Not only have I not had the chance to read every book on this list, but as a cis-woman, I am not the best authority to speak of the representation in these books. I rely on the reviews of other readers (non-binary readers in particular) to help me curate this list.
The List
The books here have at least one non-binary main character and explore topics of finding love, self-exploration, and acceptance (internal or external).
Lately, I have been reading quite a bit of LGBTQ2+ young adult fiction. I was finding it hard to find and identify books with non-binary characters - meaning characters whose gender identity isn't exactly that of a boy or a girl (for more information, check out this page from the National Center for Transgender Equality).
Books for young people with non-binary characters are becoming more common, but are still under-represented. It's estimated that 25%-30% of transgender people are non-binary (Webb et al.).
And so this list was born. It is meant for teens and parents interested in finding more stories including non-binary experiences, as well as teachers and librarians who want to recommend books with non-binary characters or include them in their teaching. It is meant for everyone who just wants to read a good book!
If there is enough interest in this list, I will keep it as a living document and will continue to add and update books based on my own reading and the recommendations of others. If you find this list helpful, please let me know and I will do my best to keep it updated.
 |
| Jen Wang's The Prince and the Dressmaker. Image care of amazon.ca |
Why does this matter?
Trans youth are often misunderstood and marginalized in our society, particularly non-binary youth. They often face greater degrees of prejudice than other transgender youth (Webb et al.), and may feel erased and misunderstood by both transgender and cisgender people (Mamone, 2018). They are at greater risk for negative mental health outcomes (such as anxiety and depression) than even their binary transgender peers (Webb et al.).
Webb et al. also note a lack of cultural visibility of non-binary people, meaning there is a lack of representation in media including fiction writing. This lack of visibility can make it difficult for non-binary people to come to terms with their identity and for them to be accepted in society.
 |
| Robin Talley's What We Left Behind. Image care of Goodreads. |
Why and how I chose the books I did
Books on this list are all written with the teenage audience in mind and all have a main character who is explicitly identified in the book (either through label or through their actions) as non-binary. This is not a complete list but rather a list of books I have come across in my own limited search. If you have a suggestion for a book that should be added to this list, please let me know what the book is and why you think it should be added.
Similarly, the presence of a book on this list is not an endorsement. While I hope to read all of these books, I have not done so yet! Where possible, I have tried to include books for which I have found positive reviews by trans and non-binary authors and reviewers (special thanks to Jeanne G'Fellers, Tash McAdam and to Trans Book Reviews), but many books were included from GoodReads based on the tags and on the book descriptions. Where possible, I tried to look up external book reviews and use my judgement based on what I read.
 |
| Pat Schmatz's Lizard Radio. Image care of amazon.ca |
What I left off this list
It is fairly common in science fiction or fantasy writing to include non-binary or genderless characters that are non-human (such as robot, monster, or alien). Christine Prevas writes about why this can be harmful. In those cases, their non-binary identity is meant to be a way to signify that they are not human. Books with non-human non-binary characters are left off this list. I also avoided including any characters whose gender varied due to magic or mysterious forces. That being said, Emma Bull's Bone Dance and Jenn Polish's Lunav are frequently included on lists of good non-binary representation, even though it is not human. I would also include Lisa Bunker's Felix Yz, in which the main character is fused with a genderless alien.
 |
| Lisa Bunker's Felix Yz. Image care of Penguin Random House. |
I also tried to leave out any books with poor or harmful representation of non-binary characters. As a cisgender woman, I am not the best judge of representation and have relied on the input of others. From a blog post entitled Dos and Don'ts of Writing a Transgender or Non-Binary Character, pennamegrey lists harmful representations like tokenism, representing transgender characters as being unwell, or including them as victims or villains. An example of a book kept off of this list due to representation is Mia Kerick's Love Spell. The main character is gender-fluid, but has a negative view of one gender over another (Jeanne G'Fellers, personal communication).
If you think something should be taken off this list, please let me know. Not only have I not had the chance to read every book on this list, but as a cis-woman, I am not the best authority to speak of the representation in these books. I rely on the reviews of other readers (non-binary readers in particular) to help me curate this list.
The List
The books here have at least one non-binary main character and explore topics of finding love, self-exploration, and acceptance (internal or external).
·
Jeff Garvin – Symptoms of Being Human
·
Robin Talley– What We Left Behind
·
Jen Wang – The
Prince and the Dressmaker
·
Mason Deaver – I Wish You All the Best
·
Julia Watts – Quiver
·
A.M. Leibowitz – Year of the Guilty Soul
 |
| Julia Watts' Quiver. Image care of amazon.ca |
While it's important to have books that explore the experiences
that are specific to non-binary people, it's also important to acknowledge
the range of experiences. As non-binary author Tash McAdam has said, "we
all deserve to deeply connect to characters and the stories they’re part of” (Harrow,
2018). The books on this second list
represents books with non-binary characters whose stories do not center around
their identity as non-binary. Most are fantasy novels.
·
Tash McAdam – We Are the Catalyst (Psionics series #2)
·
Laura Lam – Pantomime; Shadowplay; and Masquerade (Micah Grey Series)
·
Michael Grant– Monster and Villain (Monster
Series)
·
RoAnna Sylver – Chameleon Moon and The
Lifeline Signal (Chameleon Moon Series)
·
Linsey Miller – Mask of the Shadows and Ruin
the Stars (Mask of the Shadows Series)
·
Amy Rose Capetta – The Brilliant Death and The
Storm of Life (The Brilliant Death Series)
·
Pat Schmatz – Lizard Radio
 |
| Tash McAdam's We Are the Catalyst (Psionics #2). Image care of amazon.ca |
All young people deserve to see
their experiences reflected in the books they read, no matter their gender
identity. Some young adult novels like Steve Brezenoff’s Brooklyn, Burning attempt to achieve a universal appeal by not
identifying the gender of the characters. However, non-binary people in
particular suffer from a lack of representation in young adult fiction. It is important,
for empathy and for self-self acceptance, to have a wide range of stories
featuring a variety of non-binary characters available for young readers.
 |
| Steve Brezenoff's Brookly, Burning. Image care of amazon.ca |
Happy Reading!
References
Brezenoff, Steve (2011).
Brooklyn, Burning. Carolrhoda Books.
Bull, Emma
(1991). Bone Dance. Ace.
Bunker, Lisa
(2017). Felix Yz. Viking Books for
Young Readers.
Capetta, Amy Rose
(2018). The Brilliant Death. Viking.
Capetta, Amy Rose
(expected 2020). The Storm of Life.
Viking.
Deaver, Mason
(expected 2019). I Wish You All the Best.
Push.
Garvin, Jeff
(2016). Symptoms of Being Human. Balzer
& Bray.
G’Fellers, Jeanne
(2019). The Enby Book List. Retrieved
from https://jeannegfellersauthor.com/the-enby-book-list/
GoodReads (2019).
Non-Binary and Genderqueer Characters in
YA Fiction. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/79537.Non_Binary_and_Genderqueer_Characters_in_YA_Fiction
Grant, Michael
(2016). Monster. Katherine Tegen
Books.
Grant, Michael
(2018). Villain. Katherine Tegen
Books.
Harrow, Alex
(2018). Queering Up Your Bookshelf: Tash
McAdam. Retrieved from https://www.alexharrow.com/blog/queering-up-your-bookshelf-tash-mcadam
Kerick, Mia
(2015). Love Spell. Cool Dudes
Publishing.
Lam, Laura
(2016). Pantomime. Tor.
Lam, Laura
(2016). Shadowplay. Tor.
Lam, Laura
(2017). Masquerade. Tor.
Leibowitz, A.M.
(2018). Year of the Guilty Soul.
Beaten Track Publishing.
Mamone, Tris
(2018). We Need to Talk About How
Non-Binary Invisibility Affects Mental Health. Retrieved from https://www.ravishly.com/non-binary-invisibility-affects-mental-health
McAdam, Tash
(2019). We Are the Catalyst. NineStar
Press.
Miller, Linsey
(2017). Mask of the Shadows.
Sourcebooks Fire.
Miller, Linsey
(2018). Ruin of Stars. Sourcebooks
Fire.
National Center
for Transgender Equality (2018). Understanding
Non-Binary People: How to Be Respectful and Supportive. Retrieved from https://transequality.org/issues/resources/understanding-non-binary-people-how-to-be-respectful-and-supportive
pennamegrey
(2015). The Dos and Don’ts of Writing a
Transgender or Non-Binary Character. Retrieved from https://thestoryanditswriter.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/the-dos-and-donts-of-writing-a-transgender-or-non-binary-character/
Polish, Jenn
(2018). Lunav. NineStar Press.
Prevas, Christine
(2018). We Need More Non-Binary
Characters Who Aren’t Aliens, Robots, or Monsters. Retrieved from https://electricliterature.com/we-need-more-non-binary-characters-who-arent-aliens-robots-or-monsters-6b93639f7bf2
Schmatz, Pat
(2015). Lizard Radio. Candlewick
Press.
Sylver, RoAnna
(2016). Chameleon Moon. RoAnna
Sylver.
Sylver, RoAnna
(2017). The Lifeline Signal. Roanna
Sylver.
Talley, Robin
(2015). What We Left Behiind.
Harlequin Teen.
Wang, Jen (2018).
The Prince and the Dressmaker. First
Second.
Watts, Julia
(2018). Quiver. Three Rooms Press.
Webb, A.,
Matsuno, E., Budge, S., Krishnan, M., & Balsam, K. (n.d.) Non-Binary Gender Identities. Society
for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, APA Division 44.
Retrieved from https://www.apadivisions.org/division-44/resources/advocacy/non-binary-facts.pdf
Zusak, Markus
(2006). The Book Thief. Alfred A.
Knopf.
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