Gender Queer

 I recently finished my second read-through of the "super controversial" (meaning in this case "demonized by whole populations that haven't read it, and most have not even been within 10 feet of") memoir, Gender Queer. My take as a human being that was an adolescent at one point in time, and a father of two daughters who were also adolescents at one point, is that the book is not only not something that should be banned or vilified, but something that should be made available for anyone that needs it, to find it in their Middle School, High School, or local libraries.

GENDER QUEER

A Memoir by Maia Kobabe with colors by Phoebe Kobabe.

Gender Queer (to me) is in a place somewhere between Raina Telgemeier's Smile, and Alison Bechdel's Fun Home. It is a straight forward memoir of Kobabe's journey, and struggle to understand eir place in the world, and how to relate to eir own body. It starts with Maia going off to Grad School, and then goes back to the beginning, and shows eir childhood with an awesomely unconventional family. This story is special in it really shining a light on the fact that there are people who are less sexual than we usually see in our society, and acknowledging the fact that not everyone feels comfortable in their own skin. This is a point of view that I think young teens could benefit from seeing. It may help kids in similar situations a lot.