Riddled with inaccuracies; not recommended.
A compendium of LGBTQ+ definitions for younger readers adapted from the 2021 adult original.
Using a standard A-to-Z format interspersed with lessons, charts, and tables, this dictionary attempts to explain “over eight hundred terms used to describe our collective gay and queer experience.” A note on appropriation acknowledges the origin of many terms in ballroom, drag, working-class lesbian, and/or Black cultures, yet this book also introduces readers to what may otherwise be unfamiliar vocabulary words without sufficient context or advice on their use. Confusingly, tame entries, such as allosexual and closet case, are labeled “mature,” while explicitly sexual terms (for example, spaghetti, stone butch, and fish) are given desexualized—and often misleading—definitions. Some inaccurate claims (defining pup as a “slender… baby gay” man instead of as someone who’s into puppy play) are given without citation. Controversial descriptions (like the statement that AFAB and AMAB are preferable to FTM and MTF, because they acknowledge “the binding nature of being assigned a specific gender at birth”) are presented as facts. Most entries include additional information, but it’s frequently an unhelpful or tautological description (the “bear community” definition, which follows the entry for bear, is contextualized as “those who celebrate the bear necessities during P-Town Bear Week,” with no further explanation of “bear necessities” or “P-Town”), and painfully corny dialogue provides contextual usage. Additionally, the author deadnames Joey Soloway and mistakenly identifies Tom Phelan as a trans man.
Riddled with inaccuracies; not recommended. (author’s note, resources) (Nonfiction. 11-18)Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781665926867
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Potentially useful insights for youngsters encountering loss.
Advice on coping with loss, from the death of a family member or a close friend to a beloved pet’s demise to life-changing events such as divorce.
Imperi, a chaplain and thanatologist (“someone who knows about death, dying, grief and loss”), uses her own terminology to distinguish between “deathloss” (“when a person or an animal we love dies”) and “shadowloss” (“the death of something, not someone”). These categories make sense, but kids grieving the death of a loved one may find it difficult to wade through sections about other serious problems. Although the recent pandemic caused many actual deaths, this book describes Covid as a shadowloss, a disrupter of normal life. Imperi mentions a few religious traditions, but the book is primarily concerned with practical ideas and individual experiences. Specific thinking, writing, and creative exercises for moving through the grief process are included. She spotlights five diverse teens, along with their coping strategies for different types of loss; they appear to be composite portraits rather than real individuals. The black-and-white line illustrations and charts throughout will appeal to some, but the boxed affirmations on many pages may feel repetitive to others; the work overall feels a bit like an expanded magazine article. Still, patient readers will likely find guidance—and reassurance.
Potentially useful insights for youngsters encountering loss. (grief journal, glossary, note for caregivers, resources, references, index) (Nonfiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781525309656
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
Cathartic and uplifting.
The experiences of watching a mother succumb to cancer and grieving her death are explored with honesty and compassion.
Feder (illustrator: Unladylike, 2018), the oldest of three sisters in a close-knit Jewish family, grew up with an artistic, spirited, playful, and affectionate mother, someone whose high spirits were the perfect foil for her daughter’s anxious personality. The summer after Feder’s freshman year of college, her mother was diagnosed with cancer, dying in the spring of Feder’s sophomore year. This vulnerable memoir is a tribute to a beloved woman as well as a meditation on losing a parent when one is on the cusp of adulthood. Much like grief itself, the book careens from deep despair to humor to poignancy, fear, remorse, and anger, mirroring the emotional disorientation that comes with such a significant death. By sharing many particulars about her mother—the foods she loved and hated, the silly in-jokes, her endearing (and annoying) quirks—Feder personalizes her loss in a way that will resonate with members of the “Dead Moms Club,” with whom she describes having an immediate bond. Readers who have not experienced deep grief will learn from the missteps of well-intentioned friends and acquaintances. The pastel-toned illustrations effectively convey Feder’s youth and the intensity of her emotions while emphasizing the ultimate message of survival and resilience in the face of life-changing grief.
Cathartic and uplifting. (Graphic memoir. 12-adult)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-55302-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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