Month: July 2024

Another graphic novel memoir about gender non-conforming. Not about someone going through transition, it’s the perspective of a parent struggling to accept that their child is trans. Which I found really refreshing, it’s a viewpoint I hadn’t seen presented in a book before. Personally I didn’t have the same anger, refusal to listen, demanding answers of doctors and therapists, but I did have many of the same questions and uncertainties. This mother in the book had no inkling that her child would at some point feel they didn’t fit the gender they were born with, it came as a shock when Alex was a teen. Had been wearing their hairstyle very short for a while and then suddenly announced they were using a new name, identified as a boy, and had been seeing a therapist. She (the mother) had to catch up quick. Lots of quotes in here from other studies and literature about trans people and their journey. About gender identities all round. Some ways of looking at things that I personally had not considered before, I found myself more educated than I expected to be! In particular because this book is translated from the French, so many of the quotes and examples (including ones about different ways that animals behave) were different from the specific ones I’d been familiar with.

Apologies that this review isn’t very in-depth or well written. I’m having difficulty thinking clearly this day.

Borrowed from the public library. Completed on 7//24.

The author of this memoir never liked “girly” stuff, ever since she was little. Threw fits at being made to wear dresses, preferred boyish pants and baseball caps. She just found them more comfortable, more her. She liked video games, superhero comics and action figures, wanted to play spots with the boys in school. Frustrated at how acceptable behaviors were segregated by gender, and that she didn’t fit that binary mold. She makes it very clear that just because she was a tomboy doesn’t mean she was lesbian or trans- she felt that her gender fit her, she just didn’t express it in the same ways that society deemed “normal.” And got teased and bullied a lot in school because of it, but refused to change to please other people. Struggled with friendships (especially with judgemental girls) and relationships, until finally upon growing older and going to (what sounds like) an alternative high school, found her people, found places to fit in and just be herself and accepted for it. This was an easy read with a good message- people are just people, let them be themselves. Whatever that looks like. And it doesn’t always look like what you might expect.

Borrowed from the public library. Completed on 7/9/24.

The childhood and young adult life of Ellen Cohen, who took the name Cass Elliot and launched herself into music fame. Opposite experience of the previous graphic novel I just tried. I’m not a huge Mamas and the Papas fan, I do like a lot of their hits, but some of the other songs just sound a bit- discordant to me. But every song noted in the back, I knew and now I have all their music stuck in my head on repeat. I even opened a playlist afterwards to listen to more. So, Cass as a young girl adored her father who was really into opera, while working as owner of a deli (they were rather poor). She had emotional issues in childhood that turned into overeating, and struggled with her weight the rest of her life. She didn’t let the judgement others put on her for appearances stop anything. Ran at her dreams full throttle, hitting everything with enthusiasm and flair. She had an amazing voice, wanted to sing and be a hit on the stage, and she made it- even if her group was only together for three years. The book chronicles all the ins and outs of her attempts to get into the music business, early groups she played with that broke apart or rearranged themselves, arguments with her bandmates, a wild trip to the Virgin Islands, her love triangle with two co-musicians (basically her infatuation with Danny was never returned), and their eventual falling out. I found this story very engaging, with lively and vivid illustrations- all black-and-white line drawings but the faces are so expressive. You get an instant sense of the characters’ personality and emotions in the moment. Anybody interested in music history or this group, individual in particular would appreciate this book I think. I certainly came away from it with a great admiration for Mama Cass, who did her darndest to achieve her goal, in spite of all the difficulties. She was funny, vivacious and larger than life.

By the same author as Layers.

Borrowed from the public library. Completed on 7/8/24.