"One of the most banned books in America, one of the most important for the Gender Queer community"
Review by Brayden (they/them)
Other Favourite Titles Include:
First things first, if you have picked up this book to look at it based on the title or the cover, chances are that you should DEFINITELY read this book. I read this at an incredibly important moment in my life where I was questioning my own gender identity and it felt so good to discover another person’s experiences and find that representation that sometimes you didn’t even know you needed.
This is one of my favorite graphic novels of all time and I highly recommend you read it too. Even if you think you aren’t into memoirs or biographies, hell I mainly read Marvel Comics, this journey is well worth taking. 5/5. 10/10. 5 Stars. A+. High Distinction.
Oh… you weren’t sold by me telling you it’s my favourite book of all time? Okay well let me rant about it more!
Maia Kobabe brings you into eir journey through the study of comics and eir hesitance to do a memoir piece, which yes is very funny to be reading at the start of such an incredible memoir. I absolutely love eir art and style, Maia manages to blend together a lovely minimal linework look with the occasional completely wild abstract visualisation of how it feels to be working through all the thoughts and emotions of the gender identity journey (see the above image of the “What am I?” shell). The color palette is delightful and whether you get the paperback graphic novel or the deluxe edition hardcover they are equally gorgeous books!
You may have even heard about how this along with many other novels were getting banned in American schools (classic Queer literature erasure). If you want to read up on this you should definitely check out Maia’s piece that e published on The Washington Post!
This is a wonderful book and you get everything from the innocence of a young child struggling against societal norms that don’t make any sense to the awkwardness of writing fan-fiction while also learning and growing with eir own sexuality.
Go follow Maia on Instagram or Tumblr and check out eir numerous work and collaborations with other artists and journalists across news articles, podcasts and public speaking events for writers and artists in the LGBTQIA+ community!