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An excellent job portraying a boy who wants to be a "real boy." They should make a Disney cartoon out of it. Seriously though, it was very genuine and will help others understand what it is like to be trans.
Probably closer to 2.5 stars. I don't know. I have very mixed feelings about this one.
An excellent story for the questioning/trans teen. Realistic, sensitive, funny in parts, tragic in parts. 5 stars
This was a far more straight forward book than I was expecting, I really liked how the book almost fully focused on J, his friends and family being his foils rather than telling their own story. I also truly appreciated how the author made it clear right from the start of the book that being transgender is not a choice. J was born a girl but has always felt like a boy. I didn't like a lot about J for the first half of the book and I think that is the point. J says some awful things and behaves poorly but I think the point is that when you are so clear about who you are but you can't tell anyone, the conflict is immense and to survive, all you do is focus on yourself. J doesn't trust his best friend, Melissa or his parents with his feelings and he ends up in all kinds of situations that at 17 he should have known how to handle better. It is easy to underestimate how much maturity comes from a place of safety and J doesn't feel that so reverts to less mature decision making. The book isn't preachy, it is quite clear that just because you define yourself as LGBT (confusingly GLBT in this book, not sure why), it doesn't mean you are all the same and therefore tolerant of each other. I like that J discovers Ru Paul's belief that you can choose your family, which, by the time J gets his first testosterone injection, he realises he is surrounded by them. Yep, 4 stars from me.
This books gives the reader a good example of what it might be like to be a transgender teenager.
I first gave this 3 stars to be 3.5 then I realized I really liked it so I went to 4. I don't think I have ever read a fiction novel, young adult or otherwise, that has a main character that is transgender. J is very angry but he sort of has a right to be angry. He feels lost and doesn't fit with his cursed female body. Hates that he lives in the town where everyone knew he was a girl. Hates that people think he is a lesbian. The book can be a little whinny but then again this is a book about teenagers who are pretty whinny. But I learned a lot and that is what is important! And now I want to read more !!
08/10/2015: Finished reread. Rounding up my 3.5 to a 4 (instead of down to a 3), because I liked it better than the last time I read it. I understand J more and, for some reason, I found that the story rang more true to me than the first time I read it.
21/07/2015: Starting to reread because I didn't mark down quotes as I went last time.
05/07/2013: More like a 3.5.
J has always felt like a boy mistakenly born as a girl. Yet, as he grew up, his body began to betray him and J started covering up his body, keeping himself invisible. But after being deserted by the best friend he thought would always be by his side, J decides that he's done hiding - it's time to be who he really is.
LGBTQ novels tend to be either 'coming out' novels or 'realisation' novels. Either the protagonist comes out to family, friends and the wider world, or they learn something about themselves - their sexual identity (whether gay/lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, etc) or their gender identity. I Am J is no exception. It is a coming out novel and, during the course of the novel, J comes out as transgender (specifically FtM) to the important people in his life. There's nothing wrong with these types of plots, of course; I just wish sometimes that the coming out/realisation could take a back seat to a different kind of plot, so that LGBTQ individuals could become more prominent in mainstream fiction. Like, imagine The Hunger Games if Katniss was attracted to girls. Or Harry Potter if Harry was gay. Imagine.
That aside, this book handled a difficult issue well. J felt like a real teenager, albeit not wholly likeable. He made mistakes, he was an insensitive asshole, he internalised all his pain and then lashed out. These things all contributed to make him a believable character, even though it meant that it took until the latter half of the book for me to actually like him. To be honest, not many of the characters were likeable. Melissa most of all, I think. I didn't like her much at all (which is a shame, because she is the most prominent cisgender character and I felt a little like cisgender characters were portrayed in a bad light). Blue, also, wasn't that likeable, in the end.
I suppose Zak and Chanelle are the closest things to likeable this book gets (but both of them are trans*).
I really did enjoy the stylistic choices in this novel, however. Beam tackles third person, which could have been very confusing, but she launches straight into using male pronouns, even when J hadn't entirely figured out he was transgendered yet. I felt that this worked very well.
The only thing I didn't like, stylistically, was that, a couple of times, Beam head-hopped into J's mother's head. This might not have been so bad, but then J was referred to as 'her daughter' in the course of the third person narration. I didn't like the fact that the narration was misgendering him - it is one thing when characters do it, but another when it is done in narration. I felt that the head-hopping was unnecessary.
Also, I found it unbelievable that J did not know anything about chest-binding and testosterone (T) injections at his age, although Beam does attempt to explain it. I guess the reason it was done that way was to allow readers to learn along with him, but it just didn't ring true.
What did ring true, however, was the fact that J believed T would be a cure all for all his problems, even though it is just the start of the process. He fixated on something to keep him going, and that's human nature. That's one of the things that made him so believable as a character.
All in all, this was a good read and gave a real insight into how a transgender teen might feel through the coming out process. Due to some flaws and unlikeable characters (that grow on you somewhat), it wasn't the best book I've ever read, but I did enjoy it. I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about transgenderism, though this is a work of fiction and should be taken with a pinch of salt. :)
21/07/2015: Starting to reread because I didn't mark down quotes as I went last time.
05/07/2013: More like a 3.5.
J has always felt like a boy mistakenly born as a girl. Yet, as he grew up, his body began to betray him and J started covering up his body, keeping himself invisible. But after being deserted by the best friend he thought would always be by his side, J decides that he's done hiding - it's time to be who he really is.
LGBTQ novels tend to be either 'coming out' novels or 'realisation' novels. Either the protagonist comes out to family, friends and the wider world, or they learn something about themselves - their sexual identity (whether gay/lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, etc) or their gender identity. I Am J is no exception. It is a coming out novel and, during the course of the novel, J comes out as transgender (specifically FtM) to the important people in his life. There's nothing wrong with these types of plots, of course; I just wish sometimes that the coming out/realisation could take a back seat to a different kind of plot, so that LGBTQ individuals could become more prominent in mainstream fiction. Like, imagine The Hunger Games if Katniss was attracted to girls. Or Harry Potter if Harry was gay. Imagine.
That aside, this book handled a difficult issue well. J felt like a real teenager, albeit not wholly likeable. He made mistakes, he was an insensitive asshole, he internalised all his pain and then lashed out. These things all contributed to make him a believable character, even though it meant that it took until the latter half of the book for me to actually like him. To be honest, not many of the characters were likeable. Melissa most of all, I think. I didn't like her much at all (which is a shame, because she is the most prominent cisgender character and I felt a little like cisgender characters were portrayed in a bad light). Blue, also, wasn't that likeable, in the end.
I suppose Zak and Chanelle are the closest things to likeable this book gets (but both of them are trans*).
I really did enjoy the stylistic choices in this novel, however. Beam tackles third person, which could have been very confusing, but she launches straight into using male pronouns, even when J hadn't entirely figured out he was transgendered yet. I felt that this worked very well.
The only thing I didn't like, stylistically, was that, a couple of times, Beam head-hopped into J's mother's head. This might not have been so bad, but then J was referred to as 'her daughter' in the course of the third person narration. I didn't like the fact that the narration was misgendering him - it is one thing when characters do it, but another when it is done in narration. I felt that the head-hopping was unnecessary.
Also, I found it unbelievable that J did not know anything about chest-binding and testosterone (T) injections at his age, although Beam does attempt to explain it. I guess the reason it was done that way was to allow readers to learn along with him, but it just didn't ring true.
What did ring true, however, was the fact that J believed T would be a cure all for all his problems, even though it is just the start of the process. He fixated on something to keep him going, and that's human nature. That's one of the things that made him so believable as a character.
All in all, this was a good read and gave a real insight into how a transgender teen might feel through the coming out process. Due to some flaws and unlikeable characters (that grow on you somewhat), it wasn't the best book I've ever read, but I did enjoy it. I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about transgenderism, though this is a work of fiction and should be taken with a pinch of salt. :)
"I Am J" is the coming out story of a seventeen-year-old trans guy. I think that the author did a really good job of giving a voice to an experience that isn't well-represented in YA (or any) literature. The book came from a place of respect, the characters felt like they could be real, and the book also provided a lot of info that seems like it would be helpful to young people as they come out. I didn't love the fact that it took place in New York, because I thought J had access to a lot of resources that many young people wouldn't. I guess, though, that one book can't be all things to all people.
Important to remember that it was written in 2010, before trans issues with in the media. It explains some of the characters ignorance. My main issue was with how cutting was discussed. It was so casual and not taken seriously. Still, multiple queer and trans characters! And it discussed homelessness! That was so important. They also included violence against trans men before and during the start of transitioning, which is a sad reality. It felt very realistic, especially for NYC, where there are more resources.
From the book flap: "J always felt different. He was certain that eventually everyone would understand who he really was; a boy mistakenly born as a girl. Yet as he grew up, his body began to betray him; eventually J stopped praying to wake up a "real boy" and started covering up his body, keeping himself invisible - from his family, from his friends...from the world. But after being deserted by the best friend he thought would always be by his side, J decides that he's done hiding - it's time to be who he really is. And this time he is determined not to give up, no matter the cost."
This is a rather sweet and moving story of a young trans man claiming the right to be himself. J is an interesting character faced with a difficult reality. He is who he is, but the world doesn't see him that way. Declaring his existence, even at the risk of losing all the people in his life whom he loves, is vital to his survival. Besides any thing else, for J, would be a lie.
People are complicated, and this books respects that fact. Family and friends surprise, and strangers alike (some of whom are also trans), all end up surprising (in both good and bad ways) J at various points. Sometimes funny and often touching, this story brought me to tears several times. It's a great book, which I encourage many, many people to read.
This is a rather sweet and moving story of a young trans man claiming the right to be himself. J is an interesting character faced with a difficult reality. He is who he is, but the world doesn't see him that way. Declaring his existence, even at the risk of losing all the people in his life whom he loves, is vital to his survival. Besides any thing else, for J, would be a lie.
People are complicated, and this books respects that fact. Family and friends surprise, and strangers alike (some of whom are also trans), all end up surprising (in both good and bad ways) J at various points. Sometimes funny and often touching, this story brought me to tears several times. It's a great book, which I encourage many, many people to read.