For the book, Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults, describing their sense of identity before, during, and after transitioning.

[1] After writing No Choirboy, a book about incarcerated teens, Kuklin wondered what it might feel like to be imprisoned inside your own body, which led her to thinking about transgender individuals.

[24] In 2015, Beyond Magenta was listed as the fourth-most banned book in the United States because of its inclusion of offensive language, homosexuality, and sex education.

[1] Challengers deemed the book anti-family and inappropriate for the age group, also stating that it had conflicts with political and religious viewpoints.

[1] In 2019, Beyond Magenta became the second-most banned book because of its LGBTQIA+ content, "its effect on any young people who would read it," and concerns that it was sexually explicit and biased.