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The Boy in the Dress

David Walliams · back to the book

What’s in it

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24 books with the same feel

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❤️

In One Person

John Irving · 448 pages

A New York Times bestselling novel of desire, secrecy, and sexual identity, In One Person is a story of unfulfilled love—tormented, funny, and affecting—and an impassioned embrace of our sexual differences. Billy, the bisexual narrator and main character of In One Person, tells the tragicomic story (lasting more than half a century) of his life as a "sexual suspect," a phrase first used by John Ir

Gender IdentityIdentity FormationAbsent ParentMale Lead
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The witch boy

Lee Knox Ostertag, Sonia Fernández Ordás · 224 pages

Gender IdentityIdentity FormationMiddle GradeHeartwarming
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Bud, Not Buddy

Christopher Paul Curtis · 249 pages

It's 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud's got a few things going for him: 1. He has his own suitcase filled with his own important, secret things. 2. He's the author of Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself. 3. His momma never told him who his father was, but

Absent ParentHeartwarmingMiddle GradeChildren's
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Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress

Christine Baldacchino · 32 pages

Morris is a little boy who loves using his imagination. But most of all, Morris loves wearing the tangerine dress in his classroom’s dress-up center. The children in Morris’s class don’t understand. Dresses, they say, are for girls. And Morris certainly isn’t welcome in the spaceship some of his classmates are building. Astronauts, they say, don’t wear dresses. One day when Morris feels all alone

Identity FormationGender IdentityHeartwarmingChildren's
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Good Night, Mr. Tom

Michelle Magorian · 318 pages

During World War II, an aging recluse's stony heart is softened by his friendship with a young evacuee from London.

Absent ParentIdentity FormationMiddle GradeChildren's
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The Pants Project

Cat Clarke · 267 pages

Technically, Olivia is not a girl, even though he was born as a girl. He's transgender. Liv knows he was always meant to be a boy. But at Bankridge Middle School, the dress code means he can't wear pants. Only skirts. So Operation: Pants Project begins! To Liv, this isn't just a mission to change the policy. It's a mission to change his life. And that's a pretty big deal.

Gender IdentityIdentity FormationMiddle GradeHeartwarming
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Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Judy Blume · 149 pages

Margaret Simon, almost twelve, likes long hair, tuna fish, the smell of rain, and things that are pink. She’s just moved from New York City to Farbook, New Jersey, and is anxious to fit in with her new friends—Nancy, Gretchen, and Janie. When they form a secret club to talk about private subjects like boys, bras, and getting their first periods, Margaret is happy to belong. But none of them can b

Identity FormationMiddle GradeChildren'sHeartwarming
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George

Alex Gino · 224 pages

When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl.George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part . . . because she's a boy. With the help

Identity FormationGender IdentityMiddle GradeHeartwarming
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Harry Potter Boxset

J.K. Rowling

Absent ParentMiddle GradeHeartwarmingChildren's
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Double Act

Jacqueline Wilson · 187 pages

A brilliant new cover look for this fantastically popular Jacqueline Wilson title about sparky twins Ruby and GarnetNo-one can ever be like a mother to us.NO-ONE. NO-ONE AT ALL.ESPECIALLY NOT STUPID FRIZZY DIZZY ROSE.Ruby and Garnet are ten-year-old twins. Identical. They do EVERYTHING together, especially since their mother died three years earlier. But can being a double act work for ever? When

Identity FormationMiddle GradeChildren'sHeartwarming
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Smile

Raina Telgemeier · 213 pages

Identity FormationMiddle GradeHeartwarmingChildren's
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The Dream-Maker's Magic

Sharon Shinn · 266 pages

Kellen's mother has always insisted that her only child was born male, not female—so Kellen has been raised as a boy. At school, she meets Gryffin, whose mind is as strong as his legs are damaged, and the two become friends and allies. A few years later, the two get jobs working at an inn nearby. When it is discovered that Gryffin is the kingdom's new Dream-Maker—someone whose mere presence can he

Gender IdentityIdentity FormationHeartwarmingMiddle Grade
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Matilda

Roald Dahl · 240 pages

Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security.

Absent ParentHeartwarmingMiddle GradeChildren's
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The Misfits

James Howe · 274 pages

Four students who do not fit in at their small-town middle school decide to create a third party for the student council elections to represent all students who have ever been called names.

Identity FormationMiddle GradeHeartwarmingFunny
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Red: A Crayon's Story

Michael Hall · 40 pages

Identity FormationGender IdentityHeartwarmingChildren's
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Harriet the Spy

Louise Fitzhugh · 298 pages

Harriet the Spy is a children's novel written and illustrated by Louise Fitzhugh that was published in 1964. It has been called "a milestone in children's literature" and a "classic". In the U.S. it ranked number 12 in The 50 Best Books for Kids and number 17 in The Top 100 Children's Novels on two lists generated in 2012.

Identity FormationAbsent ParentMiddle GradeChildren's
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Looking for Alibrandi

Melina Marchetta · 256 pages

During her senior year in a Catholic school in Sydney, Australia, seventeen-year-old Josie meets and must contend with the father she has never known.

Identity FormationAbsent ParentHeartwarmingFunny
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The Secret Garden

Frances Hodgson Burnett · 256 pages

A ten-year-old orphan comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors where she discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden.

Absent ParentHeartwarmingMiddle GradeChildren's
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Because of Winn-Dixie

Kate DiCamillo · 182 pages

Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her becauThe summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket—and comes out with a dog. A big, ugly, suffering dog with a sterling sense of humor. A dog she dubs Winn-Dixie. Because of Winn-Dixie, the preacher tel

Absent ParentMiddle GradeChildren'sHeartwarming
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Belle Prater's Boy

Ruth White · 196 pages

When Woodrow's mother suddenly disappears, he moves to his grandparents' home in a small Virginia town where he befriends his cousin and together they find the strength to face the terrible losses and fears in their lives.

Absent ParentIdentity FormationMiddle GradeChildren's
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Heat

Mike Lupica · 220 pages

**Michael Arroyo has a pitching arm that throws serious heat. But his firepower is nothing compared to the heat Michael faces in his day-to-day life. Newly orphaned after his father led the family's escape from Cuba, Michael's only family is his seventeen-yearold brother Carlos. If Social Services hears of their situation, they will be separated in the foster-care system—or worse, sent back to Cub

Absent ParentMiddle GradeHeartwarmingMale Lead
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Taran Wanderer

Lloyd Alexander · 256 pages

The fourth book of the Prydain cycle tells of the adventures that befell Taran when he went in search of his birthright and the truth about himself.

Identity FormationAbsent ParentMiddle GradeMale Lead
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Joey Pigza Loses Control

Jack Gantos · 201 pages

When Joey Pigza meets his dad, Carter, for the first time in years, he meets a grownup version of his old hyperactive self -- the way he was before his stint in special ed, the way he was before he got his new meds. "He was wired. No doubt about it ... Now I knew what Mom meant when she said he was like me, only bigger." During their summer visit together, Carter is eager to make up to his son for

Absent ParentMiddle GradeChildren'sFunny
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The Other Boy

M.G. Hennessey · 234 pages

"Since twelve-year old Shane moved to a new town, he has been concealing the fact he was born a girl, but when one of his classmates learns he is a transgender, Shane must deal with the reactions of his entire community"--

Gender IdentityIdentity FormationMiddle GradeMale Lead

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