Gender Queer

posted on September 23, 2024 by Eve Panzer

106 Challenges

Gender Queer BUY NOW!

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
Oni Press, 2019
ISBN: 9781549304002 (Graphic Novel)
Grade Range: 9 and Up (Recommended by School Library Journal)
“BOOK SYNOPSIS
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be
the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable
with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography
charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes,
grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and
facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.
Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is
more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how
to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
REVIEWS AND PRAISE
★ “Vulnerable and honest, Gender Queer grapples with issues of identity and sexuality in ways that
highlight how messy and painful but ultimately vindicating the process of understanding and valuing
yourself can be. […] Highly recommended reading for those on their own journey of exploration or those
supporting the explorers in their own lives. Gender Queer exists so a new generation can see the words
and experiences to help them feel whole and seen.” – Booklist, starred review
★ “A book to be savored rather than devoured, this memoir will resonate with teens, especially fans of
Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Mason Deaver’s I Wish You All the Best. It’s also a great resource for
those who identify as nonbinary or asexual as well as for those who know someone who identifies that
way and wish to better understand.” – School Library Journal, starred review
“This heartfelt graphic memoir relates, with sometimes painful honesty, the experience of growing
up non-gender-conforming.From a very young age, Kobabe is unsure whether to claim a lesbian/gay,
bisexual, or even transgender identity: ‘I don’t want to be a girl. I don’t want to be a boy either. I just want
to be myself.’” – Publishers Weekly
“In the gorgeous and candid graphic memoir Gender Queer, e illustrates an aching journey toward
reconciliation with being nonbinary and asexual.” – Shelf Awareness
Updated 02/14/2024
Oni Press
UniteAgainstBookBans@ala.org
“Kobabe’s drawings, colored by sister Phoebe Kobabe, casts eir life and truths in splendorous, vivid light.
And the relationship between the siblings on the page is one of Gender Queer’s sweetest elements.
Often scared of what lies ahead, Maia confides in Phoebe, a lesbian, about eir queer hopes and fears,
and is met each time with the gracious enthusiasm of a sister who has eir back: “I lucked out so hard in
the sibling lottery.” A challenging yet heartwarming memoir, Gender Queer succeeds on all fronts.” –
Dave Wheeler
“More than simply a memoir, the book is designed to explain the very concept of being non-binary,
beginning with the author’s first memories of gender and ending with the discovery of Spivak pronouns
(e, em, eir) and eir first steps towards getting the people around em to accept and understand said
pronouns. […] Kobabe’s art is very readable and, above all, accommodating. E lays out eir personal
history with an enviable degree of candor. […] Part of the book details eir sexual history, as well as a
series of terrifying and painful trips to the OBGYN, and even in the most sensitive areas Kobabe’s art
and storytelling remains both personable and clear.” – The Comics Journal
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
• 2019 Howard County (MD) Public Schools Best of the Year – High School
• 2019 New York Public Library’s 50 Best Books for Teens, selection
• 2020 Alex Award
• 2020 Stonewall Award Nonfiction Honor Book
• 2020 ALA Rainbow Project Book List, selection
• 2020 YALSA Best Books List, selection
• 2020 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens, selection
• 2020 Texas Library Association: Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List, selection
• 2021 Garden State Teen Book Award, nominee
• 2021 Chicago Public Schools Great Graphic Novels, selection
• Denver Public Schools Top 100 High School Books, 2020-2021
• 2021 Jefferson County (KY) Public Schools Recommended Reading Grades 9-12, selection
• 2021 School Library Journal’s 17 Immersive Graphic Novels for Teens, selection

MEDIA AND RESOURCES
• “Opinion | Schools are banning my book. But queer kids need queer stories.” Maia Kobabe,
Washington Post, 0ctober 29, 2021
• “I Made the Most Banned Book in America” by Maia Kobabe, The Nib, September 1, 2023
• “Access to Library Resources and Services Regardless of Sex, Gender Identity, Gender
Expression, or Sexual Orientation: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights,” American
Library Association
• “Virginia Judge Rejects Obscenity Proceedings Against Gender Queer and A Court of Mist and
Fury,” ACLU of Virginia, August 30, 2022
• Final Order Dismissing Proceedings & Declaring Section 18.2-384 Unconstitutional in re: Gender
Queer, a Memoir, Case No. CL22-1985, August 30, 2022
RESPONSE TO CHALLENGES
• Review Committee Recommendation – Gender Queer: A Memoir, Fairfax County Public Schools
• Statement of Support for Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund,
October 17, 2021
Updated 02/14/2024
Oni Press
UniteAgainstBookBans@ala.org
AUTHOR STATEMENT
“Queer youth are often forced to look outside their own homes, and outside the education system, to find
information on who they are. Removing or restricting queer books in libraries and schools is like cutting a
lifeline for queer youth, who might not yet even know what terms to ask Google to find out more about
their own identities, bodies and health.” – Maia Kobabe
*A NOTE ON AGE RANGES
A publisher-suggested age range covers the gamut of readers that publishers envision using the book,
whether for independent reading, family sharing, group study, or in other ways. Educators have the best
sense of the appropriate age range for the diverse learners they work with and understand these ranges
vary depending on a book’s intended us

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