Tuesday, September 22, 2026

School Days

September marks the beginning of the school year in many parts of the U.S. Here are some children's and YA books with trans kids at school.

Cover image of Ice Apprentices featuring a boy in heavy coat and hat with an ice monster in the background.

Ice Apprentices by Jacob North (Middle Grade Fantasy, 2025)

Trans boy and foundling, Oswin Fields, is summoned to a school for Ice Apprentices in the icy Tundra to learn magic. This is the first book in a series also called Ice Apprentices. The second book is The Frozen Curse (2026).

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Cover image with Melissa in different color letters and a young person peeking out of the A. Previously published as George in small print at the bottom.

Melissa by Alex Gino (Middle Grade, 2015)

"Melissa really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte (in Charlotte's Web). But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part . . . because she's a boy. With the help of her best friend, Kelly, Melissa comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte -- but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all

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Worst-Case Scenario cover illustration with two teens looking toward the reader with a school hallway in the background.

Worst-case scenario by Ray Stoeve (Young Adult Romance, 2026)

Featuring a nonbinary student, Worst-Case Scenario is an enemies-to-lovers romance about nemeses who are forced to share their school's Queer Alliance presidency following a tie in the election.

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Just Happy to Be Here cover image with the face of a teenager applying lip gloss


Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia (Young Adult, 2024)

The first out trans girl at an all-girls school must choose between keeping her head down or blazing a trail.

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Cover image of Welcome to St. Hell, with a comic drawing of a young person in a girl's school uniform walking down a high school hallway. In the background in a man leaning against a locker saying "That was me in High School"


Welcome to St. Hell : My Trans Teen Misadventure by Lewis Hancox (YA Graphic Novel, 2022)

Lewis has a few things to say to his younger teen self. He knows she hates her body. He knows she's confused about who to snog. He knows she's really a he and will ultimately realize this... but she's going to go through a whole lot of mess (some of it funny, some of it not funny at all) to get to that point. Lewis is trying to tell her this... but she's refusing to listen.

The sequel, Escape from St. Hell, was published in 2024.

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More YA & Children's books with school settings


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