Using an array of research methods, popular culture examples, and perspectives, The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Transgender Studies provides a valuable introduction to the lives and realities of transgender people in the United States. This handbook provides an accessible and effective teaching tool for those seeking to understand how transgender people navigate and experience their lives and interactions within society. It also provides a guide for understanding how normalizing cisgender (not transgender) experiences across social institutions reproduce inequality against transgender communities in the 21st Century. -- Nik Lampe, Postdoctoral Scholar, Vanderbilt University J.E. Sumerau has put together a series of informative and emotionally compelling essays designed to inform trans people as we struggle to understand ourselves, the societies we are trying to thrive/survive in, and the various options available/unavailable to us as we work to constructive liveable lives. The title of this collection might as well be Trans Studies For Trans People, not that trans people are treated as monolithic, but that trans people in all our diversity need resources that are not primarily academic but rather informative and relevant to us. The book reminds me a little of Ivan Coyotes Tomboy Survival Guide Lee Airtons Gender: Your Guide in tone but with broader reach. -- Dr. Travers, Simon Fraser University We need more stories that engage the multitude of transgender life and politics. In The Handbook of Transgender Studies we are offered an adaptive project that mobilizes a variety of approaches that do not seek to encompass all of transgender studies, but rather break open several avenues for complimentary projects to emerge. It takes a refreshingly personal approach to trans life, seeking to enrich and enliven debate in our field. This collection offers an urgent multiplicity of standpoints and is an invaluable tool for researchers in transgender studies as well as scholars who find themselves mentoring and teaching in the field. -- Abraham Weil, University of Kansas Through multidisciplinary research and an intersectional lens, the complex lives and broad experiences of transgender people are illuminated. Establishing trans voices at the center of the discussions, contributors examine issues, experiences, and populations while being mindful of race, class, ethnicity, ability, and sexuality, religion. This focuses on how to create better systems, supports, and institutions for trans people, as well as increase education, awareness, and empathy all while improving and expanding research.... Championing advocacy, autonomy, and affirmation, this intensely academic look at the lived experiences of trans people empowers and normalizes trans experiences while educating allies how to best serve and support this community. An essential, insightful overview of current issues in the field of Transgender Studies. * School Library Journal, Starred Review *
