1 Star
I was going to not post anything in my review space and make some sort of disclaimer instead stating “sometimes you just probably shouldn’t write anything at all,” but then I saw my friend Rachel had already done that and I didn’t really want to get sued for plagiarism, so here I am. Instead of leaving nothing, I’m going to use the author’s own words . . . . .
“I have, in some ways, cleaved to stereotypes and even bent rules to make Amanda’s trans-ness as unchallenging to normative assumptions as possible. She knew from a very young age. She is exclusively attracted to boys. She is entirely feminine. She passes as a woman with little to no effort. She had a surgery that her family should not have been able to afford, and she started hormones through legitimate channels before she probably could have in the real world.”
I can’t endorse a book that claims to tackle a controversial subject and doesn’t have the guts to confront anything at all. Well, anything except the importance of having a boyfriend rather than figuring out how to be comfortable with yourself and stereotypical male/cisgender/hetero/whatever-you-want-to-label-them bullies, of course, because those people are so likely to (1) ever read this book to begin with and (2) willing to change their bigoted ways after finishing it.
Want a book about a child questioning their gender identity? Skip this one and go for Gracefully Grayson if you’re looking for a YA choice or This Is How It Always Is for a “grown-up” selection.
I was going to not post anything in my review space and make some sort of disclaimer instead stating “sometimes you just probably shouldn’t write anything at all,” but then I saw my friend Rachel had already done that and I didn’t really want to get sued for plagiarism, so here I am. Instead of leaving nothing, I’m going to use the author’s own words . . . . .
“I have, in some ways, cleaved to stereotypes and even bent rules to make Amanda’s trans-ness as unchallenging to normative assumptions as possible. She knew from a very young age. She is exclusively attracted to boys. She is entirely feminine. She passes as a woman with little to no effort. She had a surgery that her family should not have been able to afford, and she started hormones through legitimate channels before she probably could have in the real world.”
I can’t endorse a book that claims to tackle a controversial subject and doesn’t have the guts to confront anything at all. Well, anything except the importance of having a boyfriend rather than figuring out how to be comfortable with yourself and stereotypical male/cisgender/hetero/whatever-you-want-to-label-them bullies, of course, because those people are so likely to (1) ever read this book to begin with and (2) willing to change their bigoted ways after finishing it.
Want a book about a child questioning their gender identity? Skip this one and go for Gracefully Grayson if you’re looking for a YA choice or This Is How It Always Is for a “grown-up” selection.
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