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nancyboy56 's review for:
Openly Straight
by Bill Konigsberg
As a queer and trans person, I think about labels a lot. Why we use labels, how we use them, what’s the purpose etc. Honestly, I could be here for the next ten hours giving my opinions on them. I’m known as the trans kid, and honestly, I’m fine with that. It’s who I am and I’m proud to be trans. So Rafe and I are in completely different stages in our lives.
As the title might suggest, Rafe doesn’t want to be known as the gay kid, so he goes to a new school pretends that he isn’t. Rafe doesn’t think it’s going back in the closest, but he kind of is and I really do understand where Rafe is coming from. I do feel like a lot of queer people have felt like Rafe at some stage in their life, they don’t want their queerness to define them, because they feel that they are so much more than just queer. When I first came out trans what I kept telling my parents that is wasn’t that “important”, what I really meant to say is that my transness doesn’t define me, but it is important to me. Rafe is going through a similar stage in his life, he is still figuring out how he feels about his queerness and how it doesn’t define him, but it can still be important to him.
Some part of me wishes that the novel went a lot more in depth on labels and was more on analysis on society and the power of the default. I suppose that’s just me wanting a different book, rather than an actual critique of the novel.
I’m glad I read Openly Straight, but it didn’t necessarily speak to me like it probably would have if I was 14 and trying to figure my shit out. If this book interests you, I do recommend it. I just think if you have been out for a while, this book doesn’t necessarily say anything new.
As the title might suggest, Rafe doesn’t want to be known as the gay kid, so he goes to a new school pretends that he isn’t. Rafe doesn’t think it’s going back in the closest, but he kind of is and I really do understand where Rafe is coming from. I do feel like a lot of queer people have felt like Rafe at some stage in their life, they don’t want their queerness to define them, because they feel that they are so much more than just queer. When I first came out trans what I kept telling my parents that is wasn’t that “important”, what I really meant to say is that my transness doesn’t define me, but it is important to me. Rafe is going through a similar stage in his life, he is still figuring out how he feels about his queerness and how it doesn’t define him, but it can still be important to him.
Some part of me wishes that the novel went a lot more in depth on labels and was more on analysis on society and the power of the default. I suppose that’s just me wanting a different book, rather than an actual critique of the novel.
I’m glad I read Openly Straight, but it didn’t necessarily speak to me like it probably would have if I was 14 and trying to figure my shit out. If this book interests you, I do recommend it. I just think if you have been out for a while, this book doesn’t necessarily say anything new.