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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
This was 3.5 stars for me. I really would have liked more of the country to be represented, not just East Coast or West Coast. That being said it was really interesting to read stories in the first person.
Collection of interviews with trans youth in various stages of transition. People afraid to read the stories or afraid to have their children read them, are missing an opportunity to at least receive some direct information about the challenges these students face. Missing are interviews with LBGTQ students who were killed by the bigots in their families and society.
it was so interesting to read the different perspectives of each person. most of them were from New York but it was clear that they all had different understandings of being trans, and their experiences even differed from my own. for example, one of them seemed to still have very binary ideals about gender (like stating that despite being a woman, her tendency to get into fights and her confrontational attitude was "pretty masculine",) but no two people are going to think the same, and their cultures and environments will play a role in how they conceive of themselves.
this is definitely a good, interesting book for parents of trans children, and questioning youth who will get to see a lot of different perspectives on being trans.
this is definitely a good, interesting book for parents of trans children, and questioning youth who will get to see a lot of different perspectives on being trans.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Transphobia, Suicide attempt
There are books that make you smile, books that make you weep, and then those that leave you incredibly uncomfortable because you are forced with a paradigm shift that you were not aware of. This is one of those books - and if it made you feel uncomfortable, then good. It should have.
"Beyond Magenta" narrates the experiences of six young adults coming to terms with their gender identities, while navigating the complex politics of family, friends, school and work. The identities addressed are trans female, trans male and non-binary. This book is, for all readers, an exercise in empathy. These are individuals who experienced a spectrum of abuse, from psychological, to emotional, and to physical - as a result of wanting to express their true selves. What was most heartbreaking was when the harassment derived from those we hold closest or expect to defend us : family, friends, and teachers.
So why did I give the book 3 stars and not 5? As I was reading, I had issues with the approach by Susan Kuklin. It is important to note that this book feels that it was written for cis- readers, in what I assume is an attempt to engage them in the conversation (which is GOOD, but can be problematic). "Cis-", in this case, is defined as identifying as the gender you were assigned at birth. The focus of each experience is very heavy on the transition, which is what Kuklin, I suppose, assumed cis- individuals would be most interested in. The "before" and "after". Yet there is more to an individual than what they choose to do to their body, and I would have been interested in learning about their emotional growth, which was unfortunately never really explored.
Also, the formatting initially discouraged me from continuing. The first two accounts shared are by individuals who subscribed heavily to gender stereotypes as part of coming to terms with their identity. Phrases such as "I knew I was a boy because I liked sports" followed by "I knew I was a girl because I liked girly things" were very off-putting, and perhaps would have benefitted by not being the first two stories in the book. This beginning only seemed to then inform the underlying reinforcing of the male/female gender binary through the rest of the book. Yes, the writing improved hereafter, but it may deter less-persistent readers. Something to note.
"Beyond Magenta" is a good introduction to the concept of trans and non-binary identities, but I would recommend supplementing it with other LGBT+ literature for a more holistic understanding.
"Beyond Magenta" narrates the experiences of six young adults coming to terms with their gender identities, while navigating the complex politics of family, friends, school and work. The identities addressed are trans female, trans male and non-binary. This book is, for all readers, an exercise in empathy. These are individuals who experienced a spectrum of abuse, from psychological, to emotional, and to physical - as a result of wanting to express their true selves. What was most heartbreaking was when the harassment derived from those we hold closest or expect to defend us : family, friends, and teachers.
So why did I give the book 3 stars and not 5? As I was reading, I had issues with the approach by Susan Kuklin. It is important to note that this book feels that it was written for cis- readers, in what I assume is an attempt to engage them in the conversation (which is GOOD, but can be problematic). "Cis-", in this case, is defined as identifying as the gender you were assigned at birth. The focus of each experience is very heavy on the transition, which is what Kuklin, I suppose, assumed cis- individuals would be most interested in. The "before" and "after". Yet there is more to an individual than what they choose to do to their body, and I would have been interested in learning about their emotional growth, which was unfortunately never really explored.
Also, the formatting initially discouraged me from continuing. The first two accounts shared are by individuals who subscribed heavily to gender stereotypes as part of coming to terms with their identity. Phrases such as "I knew I was a boy because I liked sports" followed by "I knew I was a girl because I liked girly things" were very off-putting, and perhaps would have benefitted by not being the first two stories in the book. This beginning only seemed to then inform the underlying reinforcing of the male/female gender binary through the rest of the book. Yes, the writing improved hereafter, but it may deter less-persistent readers. Something to note.
"Beyond Magenta" is a good introduction to the concept of trans and non-binary identities, but I would recommend supplementing it with other LGBT+ literature for a more holistic understanding.
Had this on the reading list for a long time. Always worthwhile to read about individual stories.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This was published in 2014, and it does show it's age, which is good since it means progress has been made. It wasn't what I was expecting. While it's great and so important to let teens tell their own stories, there was almost zero input from the cisauthor to give any context to the stories. I felt really deeply for several of them, especially when it was obvious to this adult reader that these teens hadn't worked through some of their traumas. There was also a strong fatphobia overtone from more than one interviewee that was hard to read.
It was noteworthy in 2014, but I'd love to see something like this with more depth and brevity and collected by an trans editor.
It was noteworthy in 2014, but I'd love to see something like this with more depth and brevity and collected by an trans editor.
I've seen several documentaries that feature transgender individuals, but I don't think I've really read or seen anything by and for teens specifically. This is a great book to give any teen that is confused and looking for answers. It's a great resource for parents of those teens as well. For everyone else it's a great insight into the thoughts and lives of teens who identify as trans, queer, intersex, etc.
Pretty good set of interviews with trans young people, including kids from diverse backgrounds. The unfiltered interviews made me feel a little queasy personally -- sometimes like reading these kids' therapy sessions. Hard to witness the holes in their logic or the experiences they are trying to underplay. But this belongs in every public and school library, just as a lifesaving measure, until these kids achieve their dreams of becoming sympathetic adults to trans teens and write a Better Book from the Inside.