List

Pride Books for Grades 3-8

By Skokie Staff Youth Services

Books featuring LGBTQ+ characters, topics, and themes for kids in grades 3-8.

  • A High Five for Glenn Burke

    2020 by Bildner, Phil

    Sixth-grader Silas Wade finds the courage to slowly come out as gay after researching Glenn Burke, the first major league baseball player to come out as gay. Grades 5-8.

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  • The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James

    2019 by Blake, Ashley Herring

    After a heart transplant, 12-year-old Sunny decides it's time for a new plan that includes kissing a boy for the first time. But when she meets her new best friend, Quinn, she discovers that she maybe doesn't want to kiss a boy at all. Grades 3-6.

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  • Zenobia July

    2019 by Bunker, Lisa

    Zenobia July is an expert coder and hacker. After her father dies, she starts a new life in a new place and begins to live openly as the girl she always knew she was. When someone puts anonymous hate memes on her new middle school's website, she finds confidence in being able to help discover who is posting them. Grades 5-8.

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  • King and the Dragonflies

    2020 by Callender, Kacen

    This book captures the inner struggles of 12-year-old King as he grapples with the unexpected death of his 16-year-old brother, small-town homophobia, and finding his own identity. Grades 4-8.

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  • The Pants Project

    2017 by Clarke, Cat

    Everyone assumes Liv is a girl, but he's transgender and hasn't come out to anyone. When he finds out there's a dress code that says girls must wear skirts at the middle school he's starting in the fall, he makes it his project to challenge the dress code, making new friends along the way. Grades 3-7.

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  • George

    2015 by Gino, Alex

    George has a secret she thinks she'll keep forever until she wants to try out for a part that her teacher says is gender-specific. Grades 3-6.

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  • The Other Boy

    2016 by Hennessey, M. G.

    Twelve-year-old Shane is a typical boy to the outside world, but he was assigned female at birth and struggles with his dad who thinks this is a "phase" and doesn't want him taking testosterone. Pages from the graphic novel that he is writing appear between chapters. Grades 4-8.

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  • The Whispers

    2019 by Howard, Greg

    Ten-year-old Riley's mother disappears and he thinks he can bring her back by finding the magical voices from a local legend. He struggles with being attracted to boys, which is at odds with his evangelical Christian upbringing. Grades 4-8.

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  • The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher

    2014 by Levy, Dana Alison

    A loving family made up of two fathers and four adopted boys makes it through the school year with some regular drama around fitting in, friend and family issues, and a cranky neighbor. Grades 3-7.

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  • Spin with Me

    2021 by Polonsky, Ami

    Told from the perspectives of a girl and a nonbinary classmate about their first love. Grades 4-7.

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  • Ana on the Edge

    2020 by Sass, A. J.

    The author is a nonbinary figure skater, and this story about a gender-questioning 12-year-old skater in a traditionally binary sport offers great insights. Grades 3-8.

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  • To Night Owl from Dogfish

    2019 by Sloan, Holly Goldberg

    Bett and Avery’s dads want them to be friends, so they send them to the same summer camp. It turns out that the dads have been secretly dating. Told in alternating messages from each girl's point of view. Grades 3-7.

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  • The List of Things That Will Not Change

    2020 by Stead, Rebecca

    Ten-year-old Bea deals with her parent's divorce, her father coming out as gay, and getting a new stepsister. Grades 3-7.

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