#transrightsreadathon

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Two amazing cozy short story and poetry collections I have read recently:

Everyday Aliens by Polenth Blake (an ecologist) is about diverse non-humanoid aliens doing their slice-of-life things: eating, courting, changing, exploring, etc.

Bittersweetness & Light by Anne Nydam is about hope and kindness. It's not cliché or empty positivity, rather a collection of well written stories that have a joyful note.

Cover of Bittersweetness & Light. It is a print of a black and blue background, depicting a white seed pod releasing fluffy seeds
Cover of Everyday Aliens. It is a tangle of rainbow colored plant and animal patterns on a black background

Finished reading The Sunbearer Trials and I really liked it! I haven't read YA in ages, but this was a good one. I liked teens behaving like actual teens, I liked that the MC was not a brooding loner but a likable guy with friends, and I absolutely adored all the detail and fun references that went into the world building. It is a colorful, exciting, likable book.
... that ends on a cliffhanger so now I gotta read the next one 😄

Cover of The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas, featuring Theo, the main character, who is a brown-skinned, dark-haired trans boy with quetzal wings.

#7 My favorite so far, The Prospects by K.T. Hoffman.

One of the best sports romances I've ever read; the passion for baseball is as vital as the romantic passion. Gene, a young trans man, has trained himself to be happy that he made it into the minors and not to dream of more. But when he starts to fall for a new colleague, he begins to wonder if it's okay to let himself want. Enjoyable quirky prose and good disability rep too.

@bookstodon

I finished Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore for the . I loved it. I cried. I texted myself quotes. I had to pause and stare into the distance. I cried more. I texted friends. This was so good. I talk too much about Amanda in this video, Lore and Bastian are the real heart of the story, but I was really moved by the Amanda storyline and Lore being treated with care, naming injustice. Here's the video - https://videos.tiffanysostar.com/w/aiSST4Ed2McCsfdREWYaz3

#5 transitions by Elodie Durand. (English translation, by a non-binary translator.) A graphic novel based on a true story of a mother coming to accept her transgender child, interposed with vignettes on gender diversity in history and biology. Includes an ending written by her son.

Honestly, this was a rough read. As a mom, I get having feelings about a child's transition, but she's so resistant for so long, risking total estrangement...

cont.

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#4 Us by Sara Soler. (English translation.) Romantic me, I love true stories about couples who stay together after one of them transitions. A super cute graphica memoir, which has fun with the comic format. The author/artist is cis, but her girlfriend also contributes her point of view. Would make a great starter book for someone trying to understand a loved one's trans identity.

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