Transformed - Amaia Brooke

Jasper, a trans-questioning and gender-nonconforming child who uses they/them pronouns, is frequently bullied at school. To cheer them up, their grandfather tells them a fairy tale of the most beautiful butterfly who ever lived - who turns out to have more than a few similarities to Jasper. In the story-within-a-story, caterpillars Mikael and Frankie are both bullied in their little town of Coconut Grove. Mikael is a boy caterpillar who wears a pink glitter scarf. Frankie is a girl caterpillar who wears a hat and looks like a boy. They don't seem to fit in, and their caregivers are nothing shy of flat-out mean. The magic fountain grants their wish to find the island Shaman to help them find them a new home, and they set out on a grand and surprising adventure. They learn that there is nothing wrong with who they are for being different, how to love themselves, that is it okay to be their true selves, and how to forgive those who have hurt and bullied them. This feel-good story helps children see that there is nothing wrong with being lesbian, transgender, and gender nonconforming. Transformed is for young LGBTQ+ readers in need of a positive story, and is intended to help them feel good about who they are in a world that all too often makes them feel abnormal, weird, or invisible.

Ten percent of the proceeds from Transformed are going to The Trevor Project, a leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services 24/7 to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) young people under age 25.