Books like Sissy

A funny, deeply moving exploration of growing up outside the gender binary that balances heartache with abundant joy. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Sissy.

poignant
warm
reflective
uplifting

01
Redefining realness
Janet Mock
An intimate, unflinching, and ultimately triumphant journey of claiming one's truth and bodily autonomy against all odds.
Shares:
- reflective
- vulnerable
- earnest
- coming of age
02
Gender outlaw
Kate Bornstein · 1994
A playful, mind-altering manifesto that invites you to completely dismantle everything you thought you knew about gender.
Shares:
- earnest
03
Trans like me
C. N. Lester
A thoughtful, deeply personal exploration of gender identity that invites readers to look beyond limiting labels toward true authenticity.
Shares:
- reflective
- earnest
04
Gender Queer
Maia Kobabe
A deeply vulnerable, beautifully illustrated journey through the messy, confusing, and ultimately joyful process of finding the right words for who you are.
Shares:
- vulnerable
- candid
- earnest
- coming of age
05
Tomboy
Liz Prince
A funny, heartfelt exploration of the messy middle ground between boyhood and girlhood, fueled by punk rock and adolescent angst.
Shares:
- poignant
- reflective
- humorous
06
Gender Outlaws
Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman
A radical, polyvocal chorus that dismantles the gender binary and builds a joyful, expansive world in its place.
Shares:
- earnest
07
Beyond the Gender Binary
Alok Vaid-Menon
A vibrant, fiercely compassionate manifesto that invites you to unlearn the rules and celebrate the boundless possibilities of human identity.
Shares:
- earnest
08
Beyond Magenta
Susan Kuklin
An intimate, unfiltered window into the lived realities of transgender youth, told in their own words.
Shares:
- reflective
- candid
- earnest
- coming of age
09
genderqueer
Joan Nestle
A galvanizing chorus of first-person voices navigating the limitless possibilities of identity beyond the binary.
Shares:
- earnest
10
All Boys Aren't Blue
George M. Johnson
A deeply personal, older-sibling-style guide to surviving and thriving at the intersection of Blackness and queerness.
Shares:
- warm
- reflective
- vulnerable
- earnest
11
Whipping Girl
Julia Serano
A paradigm-shifting blend of memoir and cultural critique that fiercely defends femininity and dismantles deeply ingrained gender assumptions.
Shares:
- reflective
- earnest
12
The chronology of water
Lidia Yuknavitch
A raw, untraditional plunge into grief, fluid sexuality, and the fierce current of survival.
Feels:
- turbulent
- visceral
- grief-stricken

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