Becoming Who We Are: Real stories about growing up trans edited by Sammy Lisel and Hazel Newlevant
Reviewed By: Alice Mitchell, Youth Services Manager
Genre: Graphic novel biography
Suggested Age: Kids (8-14)
What is This Book About?
All kids face challenges while growing up, whether it’s as simple as picking the best bike or as complicated as having absent parents. In these nine stories of real people, we see them making friends and going through school, learning how happy and freeing it is to just be themselves. They love exploring, music, and rock climbing, and grow up to be fire fighters, inventors, and activists. Each one has a different path to understanding their trans identities, with some receiving lots of support and some facing really daunting challenges. But every one became a strong, confident adult looking forward to their future.
My Review:
I really enjoyed reading this book. It had a great message and I really loved the way it was written. Each person’s chapter had a different illustrator, which I thought was fun. I really loved at the beginning of every chapter that we got extra details about the person it is about, as well as the illustrators. They go to show that there is more that makes us similar than different. This book has a great message to stop comparing ourselves to other people and instead to just celebrate our own uniqueness. We are all precious and deserving of love.
Three Words that Describe this Book: engaging, optimistic, joyful
Give This A Try if You Like… Upstaged by Robin Easter, Lunar Boy by Jes and Cin Wibowo, A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns by Archie Bongiovanni, Lumberjanes by Mariko Tamaki
Rating: 4/5
