I started out without much knowledge of this book other than the fact it was banned all over the country. While there are some bits in the book I’d want to talk to a potential young reader about, I hate to see it banned as it is very informative and talks about subjects most schools don’t cover but a good majority of students might experince.
The book is a memoir by Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns. These are also known as neopronouns which contain a large variety of different pronouns used by not only genderqueer people but people for a variety of reasons such as being a system.
Maia retells the story of eir childhood, how they knew from a young age that there was something different about them, from rejecting the hetronormative feminine activities to wondering if they were trans, Kobabe makes great insights that show how they found themselves a space in society that is somewhere outside the masculine and feminine.
Some of my favorite parts include the way they explain how they came to accept eir visions of love, sex, and dating. Kobabe is asexual and aromantic, and that is shown in the book as being almost as difficult to find out as their gender journey. Being someone who is on the ace spectrum myself that certainly mirrors my own experience with our sex-obsessed culture.
I really enjoyed how em discovered that they didn’t need to have children, have sex, or be in a relationship. While this is not true for all asexual or aromantic people, seeing representation for such a model of living is important, especially for young people.
Overall I’d rate this book about 4.5 stars, it did a good job of showing its subject matter and kept me engaged throughout what could be some tough topics. I’d read more by this author.
Rose's Book Garden 