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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
This book was a great resource that I found because of my YA classes. It offers the stories of multiple people who identify as transgender, and it really illustrates how different every person's experiences with being trans is. I'd highly recommend reading it!
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Read Amantha's review for my opinion.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/850761237?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1
This is exactly how I felt. I wondered if it was just my views on gender stereotypes or if I was just being too sensitive about the idea that what made Christina feel like a girl was that she liked shopping... I'm sure that was a start to her realizing who she really is, but for me it made me feel like if I like beer and sports then maybe I'm a guy... which is obviously a myopic view both on gender stereotypes and on gender identity. But basically that's what Jessy said.
It reminded me of a friend I have who for years believed he was born in the wrong body and was taking hormone therapy. After about two years he realized that the reasons he thought he was a she were superficial gender stereotypes. He thought because he liked to knit and wanted to be a hairdresser that he was a girl. But then he realized he was just a feminine guy. Now obviously this is not always the case. But reading the first two narratives of this book made it feel like the reasons these people realized they were a different gender were based on superficial things rather than deeply felt personal truths. I think it might give people, especially the people who know nothing about the transgender community, the wrong idea.
I suppose I had different expectations. I also didn't make it past the first two narratives, because I didn't feel I was learning anything new. I think this is a wonderful idea that could have been edited better.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/850761237?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1
This is exactly how I felt. I wondered if it was just my views on gender stereotypes or if I was just being too sensitive about the idea that what made Christina feel like a girl was that she liked shopping... I'm sure that was a start to her realizing who she really is, but for me it made me feel like if I like beer and sports then maybe I'm a guy... which is obviously a myopic view both on gender stereotypes and on gender identity. But basically that's what Jessy said.
It reminded me of a friend I have who for years believed he was born in the wrong body and was taking hormone therapy. After about two years he realized that the reasons he thought he was a she were superficial gender stereotypes. He thought because he liked to knit and wanted to be a hairdresser that he was a girl. But then he realized he was just a feminine guy. Now obviously this is not always the case. But reading the first two narratives of this book made it feel like the reasons these people realized they were a different gender were based on superficial things rather than deeply felt personal truths. I think it might give people, especially the people who know nothing about the transgender community, the wrong idea.
I suppose I had different expectations. I also didn't make it past the first two narratives, because I didn't feel I was learning anything new. I think this is a wonderful idea that could have been edited better.
Loved reading about each of the different experiences here. There was a lot of informative information that made me think this would be helpful for people who don't know a lot about Trans people, intersex, gender fluid, and many other things on the spectrum. I'd definitely recommend this.
Out dated and does not truly represent or show the difficulties and diversity of Trans issues. There are MUCH better books than this. I'm not saying the stories within aren't valid; but this book has no discussion of Trans issues/topics that MANY Trans people experience. Their experiences, although valid, don't have the severity that many Trans people have. If I was reading something to further understand Trans experiences/stories/issues/etc. This book would make it seem like being Trans is easy. (Had to read this for a Teaching course.)
I love this book so much. The audiobook is so beautifully performed, with all the people in the book being voiced by different people (I'm unsure whether it's the actual voices of the people or not) I loved it! Some of the parts almost made me cry because of how happy I was. Christina's story was definitely my favorite!
Great in theory but really lacking in execution. Still, I'm happy this book exists!
The other reviews are not wrong about this book. While the title of transgender teens "speaking out" is not wrong per se, it's misleading: this is much more an introduction to transgender youth experiences and issues than about transgender youth social justice, activism, or other political message through story. While Kuklin tries to keep herself out of the narrative, she steps in often to explain various terms, experiences, and ask pointed questions. There's an obvious focus on discovery, transition, and geography (all of the participants have a connection to/live in the New York area). I did enjoy the teens' diversity though: we have PoC folk, socioeconomic variety, & even a Thai citizen. That was very awesome.
The downside of Kuklin's focus is that it doesn't make for what I like to call "advanced queer reading." It's like, when you first start reading queer stories, they all center on coming out. Once that narrative becomes familiar enough, you start looking for other narratives. Like, stories about relationships and finding partners, or navigating therapy and mental health, or finding work. And this book is...not that. It's the basic basics. It's about coming out. It circles around the interviewees figuring out their identities and making their bodies match their hearts and heads. Which was a little disappointing to me, since I thought the book was more about trans teen social justice, activism etc etc.
However, the plus side of all Kuklin's work is that BEYOND MAGENTA is a perfect book for anyone (teen or otherwise) who knows nothing about transgender as an identity and wants to know more. This book is a great, if not the perfect, starting place.
The downside of Kuklin's focus is that it doesn't make for what I like to call "advanced queer reading." It's like, when you first start reading queer stories, they all center on coming out. Once that narrative becomes familiar enough, you start looking for other narratives. Like, stories about relationships and finding partners, or navigating therapy and mental health, or finding work. And this book is...not that. It's the basic basics. It's about coming out. It circles around the interviewees figuring out their identities and making their bodies match their hearts and heads. Which was a little disappointing to me, since I thought the book was more about trans teen social justice, activism etc etc.
However, the plus side of all Kuklin's work is that BEYOND MAGENTA is a perfect book for anyone (teen or otherwise) who knows nothing about transgender as an identity and wants to know more. This book is a great, if not the perfect, starting place.
This is not a transcendental book in the sense that it might not be earth-shattering, yet it is very moving. It gives a voice to six transgender people, to tell their stories in their own words, and shows the reader that just like there is no single way to be a boy or a girl, a man or a woman, there is no single way to be transgender! An important read.