10 Books With Characters Who Use Neopronouns

2 weeks ago 15

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Tomorrow is International Pronouns Day, which got me thinking about books that use neopronouns. Neopronouns are any pronouns people use outside of he, she, or they, such as e/em or ze/zir. These are still fairly rare in literature, even as we’ve seen more characters use they/them pronouns.

Here are ten books with characters who use neopronouns (or in one case, no pronouns at all). This isn’t a complete list! If you’re looking for more, check out author S. Qiouyi Lu’s list of Neopronouns in Speculative Fiction.

Most of the examples I could find fell into two categories: children’s/YA contemporary fiction and adult SFF. Sci-fi and fantasy books often include neopronouns because they can reflect different society’s relationships to gender. Still, I’d like to see neopronouns included in a broader range of genres, because they’re used by real people on Earth, not just aliens and faeries.

I’ve stuck with books have either have a main character or a significant side character who uses neopronouns, but even books that mention neopronouns briefly for minor characters—like in Katee Robert’s Crimson Sails series—make for more inclusive worlds, which I always appreciate.

All Access members can find a bonus list of 51(!) new queer books out this week at the end of this post.

Payden’s Pronoun Party written by Blue Jaryn and illustrated by Xochitl Cornejo

Camp QUILTBAG by Nicole Melleby and A.J. Sass

This middle grade novel follows two preteens at Camp QUILTBAG, a summer camp for queer and trans kids. Abigail (she/her) is excited to finally be in a place where she belongs and can talk about her crushes on girls. Kai (e/em) would rather have stayed home and hung out with eir friends, but eir parents insisted Kai go to Camp QUILTBAG after the incident that left eir arm in a sling.

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

The main character of this one uses he/him pronouns, but a major character experiments with pronouns, including neopronouns. This is (I think) the only book I’ve read that has a character try on different pronouns to decide which one suits them best.

Noah runs a blog called Meet Cute Diary, where trans people share their sweet meet cutes—except that he actually makes them all up himself. When his blog begins to lose credibility, he starts a fake relationship to try to bolster it. But real dating turns out to be a little more messy than the neat fictional versions he’s used to.

The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta

This cozy YA novel with a dose of magic is one of the most comforting books I’ve ever read, and it stars an agender main character with a genderfluid love interest. When Syd (no pronouns) bakes brownies after a breakup, anyone who eats them ends their romantic relationship. With the help of bike delivery person Harley (he or they, check the pronoun pin), the two of them try to find everyone who ate a brownie and repair the damage.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

I hope to see more memoirs by authors who use neopronouns in the future! In this graphic memoir, Kobabe (e/em) reflects on eir adolescence as a nonbinary and asexual person and how e reached the point of understanding emself and coming out.

This is also one of the most banned books in libraries and schools across the U.S. in recent years. It’s such an essential book for nonbinary and asexual young people looking to see themselves represented, and it’s completely backwards that Gender Queer is being banned where it’s needed most.

In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu

Ora is a city governed by a panopticon, a network known as the Gleaming. Anima (æ/ær) uses the Gleaming to monitor the city and keep its citizens safe. But when a new person arrives in Ora with stories to tell of life outside, Anima begins to question everything æ thought æ knew about the world. This is a speculative fiction novella that uses several sets of neopronouns, including æ/ær and e/em.

Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault

Horace (e/em) has held a range of jobs, but never for long. Now, e is on their last chance in the city of Trenaze, apprenticing as a guard. But before e can complete eir trial, the city’s protective dome is pierced by glowing shards. A strange elf dissipates the shards and then collapses. Horace scoops them up and carries them to safety, ignoring questions from eir fellow guards. When Aliyah (they/them) awakes, they convince Horace to join them on a journey outside the domed city to find the forest Aliyah can’t stop dreaming about.

Màgòdiz by Gabe Calderón

In this post-apocalyptic novel, the last humans struggle to survive. A spiritual entity named the Madjideye uses Enforcers to keep these survivors in line. In Zhōng yang, Riordan (xe/xir) leads a gang and is on the run from Elite Enforcer H-09761, who want to arrest xir for theft.

Six main characters’ stories collide, including Two-Spirit characters, as they work to reclaim the gifts lost during the forgotten war: storytelling, healing, and firekeeping.

Meru by SB Divya

In Meru, humans have been confined to Earth for centuries, a punishment for their rampant destruction. Alloys, a genetically altered post-human species, explore the stars. When an Earth-like planet, Meru, is discovered, the human Jayanthi (she/her) and alloy Vaha (ze/zer) are sent to test its habitability and shape the future for human-alloy relations.

Cloudship Trader by Kate Diamond

Miris (ney/nir) is a cloudship flier whose life changes when ney and nir companion Seres, a Wind spirit, visit a merchant and find they’re selling lamps with Star spirits trapped inside. This endangers the relationship between people and spirits, so Niris and Seres—with the help of the merchant’s assistant—set off to find the source of the lamps to end this enslavement of spirits before it becomes widespread.

51 More New Queer Books Out This Week

As a bonus for All Access members, here are 51 queer books out this week, including DILF: Did I Leave Feminism? by Jude Doyle, Sir Callie and the Final Stand by Esme Symes-Smith, and The Gilda Stories (Penguin Speculative Fiction Special) by Jewelle Gomez with an afterword by Alexis Pauline Gumbs.

All Access members, read on for 51 new queer books out this week.

Isaac by Curtis Garner (Queer Fiction) (Content note: This is about a relationship between a 17 year and old and 28 year old. It is toxic and not romanticized.)

The Dogs of Venice by Steven Rowley (Gay Fiction)

Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor (Gay Fiction)