Allison, Dorothy. Two or Three Things I Know for Sure. New York, New York, Netherlands, Penguin Books, 1996
Allison takes a probing look at her family's history in this lyrical, complex memoir that explores how the gossip of one generation can become legends for the next. Illustrated with photographs from the author's personal collection, the book tells the story of the Gibson women--sisters, cousins, daughters, and aunts--and the men who loved them, often abused them, and, nonetheless, shared their destinies. With luminous clarity, Allison explores how desire surprises and what power feels like to a young girl as she confronts abuse. Steeped in the hard-won wisdom of experience, expresses the strength of her unique vision with beauty and eloquence, Allison is provocative, confrontational, and brutally honest.

Anderson, Chad. Gay Mormon Dad. Salt Lake City, Utah, Chad Anderson (Self Published), 2017
Chad Anderson grew up gay in a large Mormon family. After years of trying to conform to religious standards, which promised a cure for homosexuality, he married and had children before finally coming out of the closet. Gay Mormon Dad is his story of finally learning to love himself in a complicated world.

Black, Dustin Lance. Mama’s Boy: A Story from Our Americas. New York, New York, Penguin RandomHouse, 2019
LGBTQ activist Dustin Lance Black, Milk’s Oscar-winning playwright screenplay who also helped overturn California’s anti–gay marriage Proposition 8 shares his journey from being raised by a single mother in a conservative Mormon household outside San Antonio, Texas who, as a survivor of childhood polio, endured brutal surgeries as well as braces and crutches for life. Despite the abuse and violence of two questionably devised Mormon marriages, she imbued Lance with her inner strength and irrepressible optimism.

Clifton, Lucille. Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969–1980 (American Poets Continuum). Edition Unstated, Rochester, NY, BOA Editions Ltd., 1987
Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980 includes all of Buffalo native Lucille Clifton's first four published collections of extraordinary vibrant poetry-- Good Times, Good News About the Earth, An Ordinary Woman, and Two-Headed Woman--as well as her haunting prose memoir, Generations.

Mock, Janet. Redefining Realness: My Path To Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More. New York, New York, Atria Books (Simon & Schuster), 2014
With unflinching honesty and moving prose, Janet Mock relays her experiences of growing up young, multiracial, poor, and trans in America, with insights into the unique challenges and vulnerabilities of a marginalized and misunderstood population. Though undoubtedly an account of one woman’s quest for self at all costs, Redefining Realness is a powerful vision of possibility and self-realization, pushing us all toward greater acceptance of one another—and of ourselves—showing as never before how to be unapologetic and real.

Serano, Julia. Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. Berkeley, California, Seal Press, 2016
Julia Serano, a transsexual (sic) woman whose writing reflects her background as a lesbian transgender activist and professional biologist, shares her powerful experiences and observations-both pre- and post-transition-to reveal the ways in which fear, suspicion, and dismissiveness toward femininity shape our societal attitudes toward trans women, as well as gender and sexuality as a whole.

Shraya, Vivek. I’m Afraid of Men. Toronto, Ontario Canada, Penguin Canada, 2018
Vivek Shraya, a trans artist, explores how masculinity was imposed on her as a boy and continues to haunt her as a girl--and how we might reimagine gender for the twenty-first century. Throughout her life she's endured acts of cruelty and aggression for being too feminine as a boy and not feminine enough as a girl. In order to survive childhood, she had to learn to convincingly perform masculinity. As an adult, she makes daily compromises to steel herself against everything from verbal attacks to heartbreak. Now, with raw honesty, Shraya delivers an important record of the cumulative damage caused by misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, releasing trauma from a body that has always refused to assimilate.