A necessary life companion for readers of all backgrounds.
Three members of the Crunk Feminist Collective, a group of feminists of color, join forces to deliver a bold and thorough guidebook.
This title delivers wisdom and insight garnered from lived experiences and decades of research and practice in language that is mature but still accessible to young people. Divided into four major sections, the book touches on significant topics, including race, sexuality, disability, body image, friendship and family dynamics, and more. Intersectional feminism is a throughline, with inclusive stories and comprehensive counsel that provide knowledge, solidarity, comfort, and hope for its audience. Along with analyses of politics that address existence and survival across marginalized identities, the work discusses systems and structures that affect individual and societal outcomes. The authors offer specific, relevant anecdotes from their own lives as well as the media and popular culture that reflect the complex issues that girls and nonbinary youth face, accompanied by thoughtful, compassionate, honest, and realistic advice. Text boxes provide valuable background and context as well as recommendations of movies, TV shows, and books to check out. All these elements come together to create a work that reads like far more than just a handbook for a young feminist’s journey but rather presents as a guide to life as a whole.
A necessary life companion for readers of all backgrounds. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-324-00505-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Though not the most balanced, an enlightening look back for the queer future.
An adaptation for teens of the adult title A Queer History of the United States (2011).
Divided into thematic sections, the text filters LGBTQIA+ history through key figures in each era from the 1500s to the present. Alongside watershed moments like the 1969 Stonewall uprising and the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, the text brings to light less well-known people, places, and events: the 1625 free love colony of Merrymount, transgender Civil War hero Albert D.J. Cashier, and the 1951 founding of the Mattachine Society, to name a few. Throughout, the author and adapter take care to use accurate pronouns and avoid imposing contemporary terminology onto historical figures. In some cases, they quote primary sources to speculate about same-sex relationships while also reminding readers of past cultural differences in expressing strong affection between friends. Black-and-white illustrations or photos augment each chapter. Though it lacks the teen appeal and personable, conversational style of Sarah Prager’s Queer, There, and Everywhere (2017), this textbook-level survey contains a surprising amount of depth. However, the mention of transgender movements and activism—in particular, contemporary issues—runs on the slim side. Whereas chapters are devoted to over 30 ethnically diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual, or queer figures, some trans pioneers such as Christine Jorgensen and Holly Woodlawn are reduced to short sidebars.
Though not the most balanced, an enlightening look back for the queer future. (glossary, photo credits, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8070-5612-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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