In December 2025, when a parent in Saledo, Texas challenged a public library book that promoted transgender ideology, the library’s review committee voted to keep it on the shelves. Local library patron Brenda Howard was disturbed by this, and decided that if local officials were going to insist that impressionable children learn about transgenderism, then they should learn about detransitioners too.
“When Aidan Became a Brother is not a happy story about a boy finding out that he’s having a sibling,” she told IWFeatures of the pro-transgender book that parents had complained about.
Rather, the book, targeted to 4-8 year olds, is explicit propaganda. The book’s back cover summary reads: “When Aidan was born, everyone thought he was a girl. His parents gave him a pretty name, his room looked like a girl’s room, and he wore clothes that other girls liked wearing. After he realized he was a trans boy, Aidan and his parents fixed the parts of life that didn’t fit anymore, and he settled happily into his new life. Then Mom and Dad announce that they’re going to have another baby, and Aidan wants to do everything he can to make things right for his new sibling from the beginning.”
But, as Howard pointed out, in the real world Aidan’s story all too often ends in irreversible medical harm.
“If parents read the story, they are being led into a lie. They do not have all of the information about what will happen to their daughter who is expressing a desire to be a boy [if she is affirmed],” she said. “So I feel like every single parent in Salado should have access to what comes next for Aiden.”
Howard said she brought a 12-page handout to the library board’s next meeting showing “surgical photos of three types of breast removal surgery and the process of taking skin from the arm to create a [fake] ‘penis.’ I also brought a list of 28 detransition books and recommended that all 28 be purchased by the library,” she said.
Predictably, the board rejected her recommendation, claiming that unlike When Aidan Became a Brother—which won the Stonewall Book Award (an award for “LGBTQIA+ books”)—the books about detransition that she recommended were “not award winners.” The board said they would accept books that were recognized by Curtis Reviews, the Library Journal, the School Library Journal, or the New York Times bestseller list.
Howard pointed out that one of the titles on her list—Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage—had indeed made the New York Times bestseller list. The board was then forced to accommodate that request, but the process has moved forward slowly, Howard said.
One board member tried to placate Howard by telling her that their bookshelves had a novel called Detransition, Baby. But Howard pointed out that this was a flawed argument.
“‘Thank you for your attempt,’” she recalled telling them, “‘but that book is first of all a book of fiction, not non-fiction. I am requesting non-fiction so that parents get accurate information. And second of all, in particular that book—it’s literally three women who are super confused, end up finding science later on, and end up having a baby because you can’t live the lifestyle that they’re promoting and still actually have a baby.’”
“This is a quaint little town that has plenty of money and can easily afford to buy all 28 books,” she said of her request. “I’m not requesting a book ban. They don’t really know what to do with me because I want to add books, and I want to add books that are about the LGBTQIA+ community.”
To try and bring awareness to the issue of detransition, Howard has organized an event at the library. On Saturday, May 23, from 1 to 2 p.m., Protect Salado Kids will present “Soren’s Story” at the Salado Public Library and tell families about Soren Aldaco, a young Texas detransitioner and Independent Women ambassador. Aldaco, who is currently involved in a medical malpractice case before the Texas Supreme Court, is scheduled to speak at the event about her experiences.
Howard hopes local parents will attend.
“We really do want parents in Salado to come, and we want them to understand that When Aidan Became a Brother is a book [that] makes all of this appear normal. It’s not normal,” she said. “These books are creating lifetime patients.”
