Embedded Files
(Goodreads, n.d.)
Gender Queer: A Memoir (2020)
Gender Queer: A Memoir (2020)
Kobabe, M. (2020). Gender queer: A memoir. Oni Press.
Title: Gender Queer: A Memoir
Author/Illustrator: Maia Kobabe
ISBN: 978-1549304002
Publisher: Oni Press
Copyright Date: 2020
Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir, LGBTQ+
Format: Graphic Novel
Reading Level/Interest Level: Grade 9-12
Awards or Honors
Stonewall Honor Book (2020)
Alex Award from the American Library Association (2020)
(Goodreads, n.d.).
Plot Summary
Maia never felt comfortable being called a "lady." As a child e longed for male genitalia and a look that screamed masculine. While Maia is trying to understand em gender e struggles with em sexuality. Does Maia like boys, girls, both, or neither? As an asexual with gender confusion Maia's young adult years are uncomfortable and awkward. In the darkest moments Maia is traumatized by the female traits of em body that cannot be ignored in a doctor's office. Fortunately Maia comes from a family with an open mind and an open heart. Even if they struggle to get to know Maia and what trans means to em, no one in Maia's family walks in this story. Younger sister Phoebe even educates Maia on trans living with help from her trans boyfriend.
Critical Evaluation
I enjoyed Gender Queer and I felt like it did a great job at explaining a life experience that I am unfamiliar with. The narrative focuses on Maia and eir life story surrounding gender and sexual identity and the confusion surrounding both for em. At first I thought it was messy to keep jumping between childhood and adulthood, but if I look at the narrative as a whole, it makes sense to explore topics thematically rather than chronologically. I have trouble following comics that are drawn with detailed characters throughout so I was glad to see that the subjects were drawn cartoonish. Occasionally characters were spotlighted with more photorealistic detail when they were introduced or attention was being drawn to a body feature such as leg hair, but I felt like this complemented the narrative (Kobabe, 2020).
In the background, there were blank walls in school classrooms but also incredibly detailed nature scenes from Maia’s childhood. The scenes were detailed when it added to the narrative. The color palette was overall warm, except in scenes depicting depression or anxiety. Multiple and single panels had both hard lines and open borders. There were also illustrated pages with no panels. I did not see the storyline playing out in the gutters of the panel but I did notice panels being used to switch to new stories. Speech bubbles were clearly defined from narration text and occasionally swarmed Maia when e was feeling attacked by other people (Kobabe, 2020).
(Alter, 2022)
(Wernick & Pratt Agency, n.d.).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
(e/em/eir)
Maia Kobabe is a nonbinary and queer cartoonist and author. E did not learn to read before the age of 11 due to her dsylexia but went on to earn a MFA in Comics from California College of the Arts. Gender Queer is Maia's first full length novel as e previously made short stories and comic strips. As a heavily banned novel Kobabe has been critical of free spaces removing the work from teens that may have similar questions around identity and lack of resources to purchase it ("Maia Kobabe," 2024).
Creative Use for a Library Program
Comic Book Creation Program: Maia's memoir follows em journey of self-discovery and peeks into em career as an author and illustrator. Inspired by this career, encourage your teens to draw their own cartoons in a series of meetings related to comic creation. Invite local artists to teach concepts such as time and motion along with drawing techniques. Ask teens to make comic strips focused around a theme.
Book Talk
You should know the Maia in nonbinary and asexual but e did not always know the terms that fit em identity. Follow a free range childhood with loving parents that never conformed to gender norms. Experience the discomfort and joy as Maia finds who e is and who will support em.
Reason for Inclusion
A transgender memoir is important for teens questioning their gender identity. It also serves as an educational resource for those who identify as supportive of trans rights without understanding what it means to be trans. Family and friends of trans youth will empathize and note the importance of pronouns and correctly gendering trans individuals after reading about the difficulties Maia faced in em transition. Even the author reflects on misgendering a trans professor in the past. It is a mistake to learn from.
Potential Challenges and Defense Preparation
Gender Queer was the most challenged book of 2021. It was pulled from dozens of school districts and libraries in Alaska, Iowa, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Critics cited sexual content as a reason behind the ban, but Kobabe and many others believe it to be a reaction to LGBTQ+ content. Banning Gender Queer harms LGBQ+ youth by removing a lifeline to gender exploration in what may be an unsupportive home environment (Alter, 2022). Gender Queer has been one of the top ten challenged books for the last three years (ALA, n.d.). The best defense for any challenge to a book is a strong reconsideration policy.
(Avina, 2022)
References
ALA. (n.d.). Top 10 and frequently challenged books archive. https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10/archive
Alter, A. (2022, May 1). How a debut graphic memoir became the most banned book in the country. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/01/books/maia-kobabe-gender-queer-book-ban.html?smid=url-share
Avina, K. (2022, October 14). About ‘Gender Queer.’ https://www.independent.com/2022/10/14/about-gender-queer/
Goodreads. (n.d.). Gender Queer: A Memoir. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42837514-gender-queer
Kobabe, M. (2020). Gender queer: A memoir. Oni Press.
Maia Kobabe. (2024, November 27). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maia_Kobabe
Wernick & Pratt Agency. (n.d.). Maia Kobabe. https://wernickpratt.com/client/maia-kobabe/
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