Book picks similar to
Desperate Measures by Karin Bishop


fiction
transgender
transgender-fiction
transgender-ya-fiction

Porky


Deborah Moggach - 1983
    But she felt no different – not until she realised she was losing her innocence in a way that none of her friends could possibly imagine. Only a child robbed of her childhood can know too late what it means to be loved too little and loved too much…

Firekeeper's Daughter Sneak Peek


Angeline Boulley - 2021
    In Firekeeper's Daughter, debut author Angeline Boulley crafts a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange. As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. Daunis dreams of studying medicine, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, certain details don’t add up and she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into the heart of a criminal investigation. Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, but secretly pursues her own investigation, tracking down the criminals with her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home. Now, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she'll go to protect her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.

Parrotfish


Ellen Wittlinger - 2007
    Her whole life is leading up to the day she decides to become Grady, a guy. While coming out as transgender feels right to Grady, he isn't prepared for the reaction he gets from everyone else. His mother is upset, his younger sister is mortified, and his best friend, Eve, won't acknowledge him in public. Why can't people just let Grady be himself? Grady's life is miserable until he finds friends in some unexpected places -- like the school geek, Sebastian, who explains that there is precedent in the natural world (parrotfish change gender when they need to, and the newly male fish are the alpha males), and Kita, a senior who might just be Grady's first love. From acclaimed writer Ellen Wittlinger, this is the groundbreaking story of one teen's search for self and his struggle for acceptance.

I Know Very Well How I Got My Name


Elliott DeLine - 2013
    Amy Wagner names him—and she would know best. Amy knows all kinds of things that Dean doesn’t understand—things about sex, music, and the darker side of life. All Dean knows is his safe suburban home with his parents, books, and imaginary games. Until now, he’s been able to hide his true identity, even from himself. To the rest of the world, he is a teenage girl—an awkward, boyish teenage girl, but a girl nonetheless. Meeting Amy changes everything. Soon that protected world around him begins to fall apart, and he is left with no other option but to face himself and the truth. I Know Very Well How I Got My Name chronicles Dean’s clumsy progression through the American public school system. It is the 90’s and early 2000’s, in suburban Syracuse, New York—a world in which LGBTQ bullying is not yet a hot topic in schools, and there is little tolerance for outsiders of any kind. A prequel to the award-winning novel Refuse, Elliott DeLine’s second book is about the prevailing myths surrounding bullying and abuse, and the hardships of being young and transgender without a community, support, or a roadmap.

Love In Transition


E.M. Leya - 2014
    Now an adult, Alexander is Lexi, a beautiful woman trying to make her way in the world as she saves enough money for the surgery she desires.John has one goal... To make the Olympic ski team. His entire focus is on his dream. That is until he meets Lexi. She has a way of making him forget everything and he knows his world will never be the same now that he's met her.A quick friendship forms between the two, and it's clear John wants to take things a bit farther, but Lexi hasn't told him her secret, sure he will up and leave like most the others in her life do when they find out.Unable to deny the growing emotions between them, they both have to make life-changing choices that could easily break them apart. Teaching both that sometimes in life, you have to take a chance or risk losing it all.

Becoming Robin: A Tale of Self Discovery


Zoe Taylor - 2017
    A cross-country move away from everything Robert has known followed by a chance encounter trigger a different sort of existence. Can "Robin" adapt or will it all come tumbling down?

This is Our Story


Wendi Adelson - 2011
    Their experiences with the underbelly of globalization here in our own backyard, and the legal battles they wage against their traffickers with their immigration attorney, Lily, are told in their own voices, and hers, in vivid and compelling detail.

Circle of Change


Laney Cairo - 2009
    The thing is, Kim is not only gay, but he's transgender, too. He's unhappy and lost in his female body, and his mother has agreed it's time for him to undergo hormone therapy and possibly surgery.Things get even more complicated when university student Dash joins Kim's mother's coven. Dash is immediately attracted to Kim and they wind up going out together, but when Kim reveals he's a female to male transgender, Dash reacts badly.With all the other things going on in their lives, will Kim and Dash be able to try again and find happiness with each other?

Two Roads


Chris Crowe - 1994
    It was the night everything changed. It was the night Leisel died.Now, two years later, as Jared reflects on his life, he can't help but wonder at the chain reaction of choices that led him to this: a black nametag and a calling to serve as a missionary of God.It had been Leisel who had first sparked Jared's interest in the gospel. She and Rob had befriended Jared early on in his senior year of high school. But even as all of Rob's choices seem to be leading him away from the Church, all of Jared's choices were drawing him closer to it--and to Leisel. And on the night of the horrible crash, Jared finally understands how life-changing the consequences of a choice can be.

The Piano Raft


Sara Alexi - 2017
    A new tale of discovery from INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLING AUTHOR Sara Alexi. The Piano Raft is an unforgettable, heart-warming story about love, a piano and a hand-built raft that will have you enthralled, laughing and sitting on the edge of your seat as you sail (precariously) upon the rivers and canals from Yorkshire to London.Neil, a disillusioned art student, wakes to find himself drifting down a canal on a raft, accompanied by a small fluffy dog, to the sound of his girlfriend's piano being played by a stranger.Through the fog of his hangover, he tries to piece together the events of the night before which brought him to this curious and unexpected situation, and to work out what on earth to do next.The current is carrying him swiftly on towards the capital, where Kim, the piano's owner, has recently started a new life.As Neil’s journey continues, and whilst trying to conjure the courage to win Kim back, his story captures the hearts and imaginations of the country as locals in the towns he passes and national media alike follow this unlikely hero on his equally unlikely adventure.How will these extraordinary circumstances challenge and change a man whose life has been stuck in first gear, and who now needs to decide how far he will go for the woman he loves?The current is swift, and there's no turning back...

Tamara's Child


B.K. Mayo - 2010
    And when she falls victim to a diabolical scheme to steal her newborn baby from her, she is not about to give up her child without a fight, even if she has to take on the wealthiest and most powerful family in the country. But is Tamara fighting against her child's own best interests? Only she can decide. And it's a decision that she — and her child — will have to live with for the rest of their lives.If you value family, if you have ever yearned for unconditional love, if you want to experience a story whose themes will resonate long after you have turned the last page, then you will want to read this book.

Shut In


Nathan Jones - 2019
     Ellie Feldman is on the way home from a business trip, looking forward to seeing her kids, when her plane is grounded on the tarmac in Hawaii. No one wants to tell her what's going on, until finally she learns of the virulent disease spreading over the globe. Now she has to find a way to get home to her family. Back at home her ex-husband, Nick Statton, thinks his problems revolve around financial hardships and helping their children as they continue to adjust to the recent divorce and going from parent to parent with shared custody. Then he discovers there's something far worse to worry about. As the nation descends into chaos around them, she must face the challenges of being out in a society falling apart, while he and their children face those of being shut in.

Don't Abandon the Superstar (Strong Family Romances #8)


Cami Checketts - 2020
    When their mixed luck crosses paths, life will never be the same. Is love at first sight possible? Austin Strong didn’t believe it, until Kate Joy met his gaze, and he crashed into a glass wall. Life would never be the same for the irresistible charmer of the Strong family, and he doesn’t want it to be. Forget his hundred and twenty-six other girlfriends. He only needs one. Don’t miss the surprising, romantic, and heartbreaking Strong Family finale as Austin meets his match with no way of knowing if he can win the one heart he truly wants. 1. Don’t Date Your Brother’s Best Friend - Ella Strong 2. Her Loyal Protector 3. Don’t Fall for a Fugitive - Heath Strong 4. Don’t Ditch a Detective - Cassie Strong 5. Don't Miss the Moment - Gavin Strong 6. Don't Love an Army Ranger - Nick Strong 7. Don't Chase a Player - Stetson Strong 8. Don't Abandon the Superstar - Austin Strong Try out Cami's newest series: The Jewel Family: Do Marry Your Billionaire Boss

It Hit The Fan: Piney River Apocalypse


John Sullins - 2019
    When a Missouri school teacher is fired from his job, he heads to a small river to get away from his problems and the virus. It might be the best decision he ever made.

Drama Geek


S.M. Dritschilo - 2013
    Katie O'Connell does--a Wish List actually. Because she longs to be someone new, the kind of girl you take notice of and remember. Someone who isn't just a part of the background. Unfortunately, Katie has no idea how to make that happen, but her outspoken best friend does: a Junior Year Wish List of goals, starting with earning a role in the senior play, and bookish Katie reluctantly agrees. Now she has barely ten months to meet all five goals that will transform her from a bookworm to a butterfly. Wish List in hand, Katie draws her motley crew of dramatic friends closer for support to launch her Junior Year with a fresh (somewhat anxious) attitude. Until the boy who was her first childhood friend, the boy who disappeared right before her tenth birthday, shows up on the first day of school pulling her quiet life into an emotional tailspin. His reappearance will start Katie's junior year with more questions than answers. Why did he leave? Where has he been all this time? Can friendships last after a seven-year break? Is achieving her Wish List possible now? Most importantly, will he be the one to make Wish Number Five a reality?Author's NoteFeminism is about equality and the freedom of choice. The choice to: wear makeup or not, to wear loose fitting clothes or tight fitting clothes or not give a damn about my clothes at all, to like boys or girls or both or neither. It’s about women having choices based on equality of the sexes. There’s no wrong way or right way to be a woman. Just like men, women can care about their appearance or not care, women can be thin or curvy, short or tall, women can be smart or ignorant, women have the freedom to be whatever type of human they want to be at every stage of their life.High school is the next step in a teenager’s life that allows them the time to explore those choices in greater detail just like college, or trade school, or their first paying job, or their fifth, or their 20th will. High school students are dealing with real life adult issues but with little autonomy—stress of home life, relationships, figuring out who we are, what we want to do, who we want to be, how we’ll change, how we deal with change, our sexual identity. High school is all about self-discovery, and, unfortunately, having to do it all weighed down by society’s pre-conceived notions and subjective judgments about our choices and the tiny cramped boxes they think we belong in.If you think it will make you happy, try being a drama geek, try being a cheerleader, student government, a mathlete, an athlete, a bookworm, a scientist, a journalist, a singer, a dancer, an artist, or an observer of life. Dress up, dress down, dress comfy…just be safe and be happy.Please, please, please don’t let anyone tell you who or what you should be, or how you should act, but also please listen to advice from others that's given respectfully with the hope that your path will be a little less bumpy than theirs was. Be and do what makes you happy, dip your toes into the waters of our beautiful diverse world, or cannonball in and explore every nook and cranny you want to until you find the perfect fit, and don’t be afraid if you outgrow what fits and want to try something new. That’s the beauty of life, we don’t have to be stagnant. We have the freedom to change.Katie wanted to explore and try something new, be someone different for a while to see how it fit, but she never lost her true self, she was-and always will be-a book-loving artist devoted to her family and friends.