Inspiring and honest accounts from relatable role models.
Nine transgender people share their stories.
Each tale in this work of graphic nonfiction, depicted by a different, talented illustrator, is told from the point of view of a real trans person. Brooke Guinan fought to make the NYC Fire Department more diverse and inclusive. Diamond Stylz, executive director of Black Trans Women Inc., endured bullying and parental neglect before meeting supportive queer friends and filing a lawsuit against her school for the right to attend prom in a dress. Marli Washington grappled with alcoholism and disordered eating but eventually began transitioning, fell in love, and started a company that designs chest binders. The individuals profiled are racially diverse and include transgender men and women as well as nonbinary people. Though it isn’t entirely clear how the stories came to be written (the subjects aren’t listed as co-authors, nor is there an explanation about an interview process), it’s a small point. The book overwhelmingly leaves readers with a sense of positivity. Even when the subjects confront painful situations—being bullied, getting kicked out of the house—all agree: It’s important to find a way to be true to yourself. They discuss not only their gender transitions, but also how they discovered their voices, passions, and careers. Though the work will resonate with many readers, it will especially speak to trans youth.
Inspiring and honest accounts from relatable role models. (Graphic nonfiction. 8-13)Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781949518269
Page Count: 144
Publisher: A Wave Blue World
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy.
Through the author’s own childhood diary entries, a seventh grader details her inner life before and after 9/11.
Alyssa’s diary entries start in September 2000, in the first week of her seventh grade year. She’s 11 and dealing with typical preteen concerns—popularity and anxiety about grades—along with other things more particular to her own life. She’s shuffling between Queens and Manhattan to share time between her divorced parents and struggling with thick facial hair and classmates who make her feel like she’s “not a whole person” due to her mixed White and Puerto Rican heritage. Alyssa is endlessly earnest and awkward as she works up the courage to talk to her crush, Alejandro; gushes about her dreams of becoming a shoe designer; and tries to solve her burgeoning unibrow problem. The diaries also have a darker side, as a sense of impending doom builds as the entries approach 9/11, especially because Alyssa’s father works in finance in the World Trade Center. As a number of the diary entries are taken directly from the author’s originals, they effortlessly capture the loud, confusing feelings middle school brings out. The artwork, in its muted but effective periwinkle tones, lends a satisfying layer to the diary’s accessible and delightful format.
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy. (author's note) (Graphic memoir. 8-13)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77427-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats.
Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory?
Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries. These include Shapur II, who was formally crowned king of Persia before he was born, Indian dancer/professional architect Sheila Sri Prakash, transgender spokesperson Jazz Jennings, inventor Param Jaggi, and an international host of other teen or preteen activists and prodigies. The individual portraits range from one paragraph to several pages in length, and they are interspersed with group tributes to, for instance, the Nazi-resisting “Swingkinder,” the striking New York City newsboys, and the marchers of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Mitchell even offers would-be villains a role model in Elagabalus, “boy emperor of Rome,” though she notes that he, at least, came to an awful end: “Then, then! They dumped his remains in the Tiber River, to be nommed by fish for all eternity.” The entries are arranged in no evident order, and though the backmatter includes multiple booklists, a personality quiz, a glossary, and even a quick Braille primer (with Braille jokes to decode), there is no index. Still, for readers whose fires need lighting, there’s motivational kindling on nearly every page.
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats. (finished illustrations not seen) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-751813-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Puffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
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