teens: 5 Articles

The Making of TRANS+: An Interview with the Authors

For our last post celebrating Pride Month, Magination Press presents an interview with the co-authors of TRANS+: Love, Sex, Romance, and Being You.  Read about why and how they wrote TRANS+ and their advice for supporting trans+ kids. Magination Press: What inspired you to write TRANS+? Kathryn Gonzales: No book like TRANS+ had ever been written. I could have certainly used a book like TRANS+ growing up, and I knew that the transgender and nonbinary youth I work with at Out Youth needed it too! Even when the writing process got tough, I knew I had to keep going because this book was going to help a lot of youth feel less alone.  Karen Rayne: When Magination Press invited me to write a book about love, sex, and romance for teens who identify as a girl, my first question was whether they had a book for trans and nonbinary youth also planned. They didn’t - until I asked that question and they were immediately enthusiastic. I was lucky enough to find Kathryn as a co-author for this book that desperately needed to be written. MP:  What is TRANS+ about? KG: TRANS+ is a growing-up guide for transgender and nonbinary youth and all the people who love them. We cover a variety of topics like “What is gender?” and coming out to puberty, transition, dating, and relationships! It’s important to understand that TRANS+ is meant to be a starting point for a reader’s journey and we link to many resources in the book and on our website at thetransbook.com.  MP:  TRANS+ is such a comprehensive guide. How did you decide what to include? KG: Even though I am transgender, I didn’t for a moment think I knew what transgender and nonbinary youth growing up in the 21st century wanted to know about. That’s why we sent out a survey to transgender and nonbinary youth all over the country to get their input. A special thanks, of course, to my literal in-house focus group of youth at Out Youth! KR: We asked trans and nonbinary youth what they have questions about - and what they wish they had known at the beginning of their journey into their identity.  MP:  What have reader responses been? KG: I don’t think we’ve received a single response from a reader that wasn’t about their deep and heartfelt gratitude that Karen and I wrote TRANS+. Trans and nonbinary youth tell us it’s exactly what they needed, trans and nonbinary adults tell us it’s exactly what they wished they’d had growing up, and parents tell us that it’s helped them communicate with their youth about being trans, transition, and mental health. MP:  You wrote TRANS+ as a team. What was your process working together? KG: Our writing partnership worked so well because we each took charge of writing chapters about topics in which we were experts. Karen, being a world-renowned sex educator, wrote all of the content about sex, sexual health and reproduction, and healthy relationships. I, as

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The Making of TRANS+: An Interview with the Authors 2020-11-16T21:19:07-05:00

Support Your Teen with Pride

As teens navigate the waves of personal, intellectual, and physical changes brought on by puberty and adolescence, they are, at the same time, working to figure out who they are. They need resources. Having role models and resources that support positive views towards sexual orientation and gender identity will help tweens and teens understand their feelings and promote acceptance of diverse backgrounds. Magination Press publishes award-winning books to help teens find their way and themselves. This book is written for guys who identify themselves as guys, regardless of what parts they have. It’s written for you, whether you are interested in boys, girls, both, “not yet,” or none of the above. Dating and Sex Dating and Sex: A Guide For The 21st Century Teen Boy, by Andrew P. Smiler, PhD, is a comprehensive, inclusive, and accessible guide to sex and relationships. In addition, it explores puberty, identity, consent, body image, and safe sex and provides questions to help readers better understand themselves. Dating and Sex has won awards for nonfiction writing. Read a piece Dr. Smiler wrote about teens and dating here. Either Way: Story of a Gay Kid, by Sandra Levins, is a graphic novel with three intertwined stories: a coming-of-age coming out story, a lesson on civil rights and marriage equality, and historical fiction about a gay man in the military. It explores the personal experience of discovery and coming out as well as the history of gay rights in America. Either Way won the 2017 National Indie Excellence Award Winner for LGBTQ Fiction for Children and Young Adults. Girl: Love, Sex, Romance, and Being You, by Karen Rayne, PhD, is an inclusive guide to sexuality for all self-identified girls. It provides information about identity, dating, romance, love, relationships, and sex. It also includes self-reflection quizzes, resources, and must-read real-life stories from girls. Girl was included in the Chicago Public Library's 2017 Best of the Best Books List for Teen Nonfiction. Trans+: Love, Sex, Romance, and Being You, Karen Rayne, PhD and Kathryn Gonzales, MBA, is an all-inclusive, uncensored guide for teens who are transgender, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, or gender-fluid. This comprehensive guide answers questions about gender and explores mental health, physical health and reproduction, transitioning, relationships, sex, and life as a trans or nonbinary individual. Trans+ also includes real-life stories and extensive resources. It is a 2020 ALA Rainbow Book List Selection, in addition to receiving other awards. Learn about respectful and accurate language to discuss gender diversity in a piece from Trans+ here. Finding yourself reflected in the pages of a book is a powerful, affirming experience. Help your teen find themselves with books from Magination Press. Check out Magination Press's Rainbow Collection. Magination Press is proud to offer books for kids and teens that celebrate LBGTQ+ voices and promote inclusive school and family values. Our books: are evidence-based and written by child development experts come with guides for caregivers and resources to further books’ messaging in the classroom, in the community, and at home backed by the American Psychological Association’s mission to benefit society

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Support Your Teen with Pride 2020-11-16T21:21:02-05:00