Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

I accidentally checked off this task this week with the graphic novel The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act, towards the end you discover that one of the characters is transgender. I didn't exactly love this comic, but, task complete!

Kate Bornstein's A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today. I love love love Kate Bornstein. Will forewarn of self-harm triggers.

Cindy wrote: "After listening to the latest Book Riot podcast, I am considering, The Argonauts."

I just finished The Argonauts, actually for Emma Watson's Feminist Book Club, but it works for this category as well. I have to think more about it before I really know how I felt about it, but it definitely held my attention.

The library had George available for download and my sister recommended it to me, so I went with that one. So far, I'm really enjoying it, but one thing I'm struggling with is that these kids know about being gay and transgender.

My daughter is almost 10 (same as the kids in the book) and she has no idea about any of that. She was asking me the other day what transgender meant after seeing it on my challenge sheet.

Brooklyn wrote: "The library had George available for download and my sister recommended it to me, so I went with that one. So far, I'm really enjoying it, but one thing I'm struggling with is that ..."

My son knew that Gay people loved people of the same gender in preschool. He had 3 friends with same sex parents in his class. He didn't know what sex was until several years later, but he understood love. I am not sure how old he was when he knew about transgender people, but definitely not more than 5 or 6. I don't think it is surprising at all that 10 year olds would have a basic understanding of gender identification. My friend has a transgender 8 year old who started identifying male 2 years ago, and his friends never had a big problem with that.

Bonnie wrote: "Brooklyn wrote: "The library had George available for download and my sister recommended it to me, so I went with that one. So far, I'm really enjoying it, but one thing I'm struggl..."

Well, she knows now because I explained it to her, but I don't know how well she understands the concept. She probably gets the concepts, but I'm not sure how well she associates the terminology. Attending a small private Catholic school, she probably doesn't get exposed to that too much. So I try not to shy away from it at home. I guess it also depends on where you live. We live deep in the south, where many folks are slow to embrace change.

Brooklyn wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Brooklyn wrote: "The library had George available for download and my sister recommended it to me, so I went with that one. So far, I'm really enjoying it, but one th..."

Yes, I live in the south too, but in Atlanta so its a bit different from the surrounding area. Location definitely makes a difference. I was (very pleasantly) surprised when my friend's son said he was a boy, and he was no longer pretending to be a girl, and it barely had any impact at school or with friends/family. I know it would not have been so easy if we lived outside of a metropolitan area.

I read Beautiful Music for Ugly Children and I really enjoyed it.

I read George. I didn't care for it.

I'll be mining this thread for more recommendations.

Has anyone here read Gracefully Grayson? I was torn between that one and George, but I've only heard lukewarm reviews for George.

If I was your girl by Meredith Russo was a great selection for this task. Thanks!

Just finished If I Was Your Girl, and enjoyed it. A very quick read, and a gentle-hearted take on a trans teen's coming into her own after transitioning. Clearly written with love for the characters, and with an excellent afterword by the author noting that there is no one, universal trans experience, that this is the story of one girl designed to be meaningful to cis and trans readers alike.

I started reading (listening) to the Danish Girl. I got through a few chapters and gave up. I thought it was awful. I'm going to give the Argonauts or the Unintended Time Traveler a read for this one.

I was keen to try The Argonauts for this one but it was hard to get my hands on so I selected George for a quick read, obviously it's a tough one to judge but here is my review

I listened to Redefining Realness by Janet Mock. It was excellent! I highly recommend it!

I also read George, and loved it. Originally I had rented the ebook from my public library, and the minute I finished it I had to go purchase it.
Reading this made me feel like I was reading something so vital to today, to now, and I really recommend this book!

Like many others, I read Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky for this task. I had been planning on reading it anyway and was excited to find out it fit this category! The book was great - a nice blend of genres with a fun sense of weirdness. I hope she writes more books.

Just checked out Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family from the libe...really looking forward to this one. It's been on my wish list for a long time (e-book) and just finally became available.

I read George for this category and really enjoyed it. I'm so glad more children can find the stories that reflect the realities they know, whatever that reality may be. I imagine a decade ago, this story might have been pigeon-holed into YA as an "Issues" book and to dodge the threat of censorship, but I'm glad it's out and marketed as a middle-grade book. I think that allows the author to imbue it with a sense of optimism that YA might not have.

If anyone needs a recommendation, I loved Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam. I read it in April, before joining this challenge, so I'm going to read something else too, but it was so good. Set in Brooklyn, it's about family, immigration, loss, love, growing up, growing old. Really good.

I'm thinking of reading "Invisible Monsters - Remix" by Chuck Pahliniuk for this challenge.

I really want to read Monique. I haven't yet found it in my local libraries, so I'm waiting.
Here are a couple websites with children's and YA transgender book lists http://www.yalsa.ala.org/yals/trans-t... and https://www.theguardian.com/childrens...

There is only a few boks by transgendered danes, but I'm going with Ubehagets Soundtrack (The soundtrack of discomfort - roughly translated)

So, I read Monique by Tanya Allan. It's published online, free. In my opinion, the story is horrible, ridiculous, a total waste of time that I would not have finished but for this challenge task.
Synopsis, with spoilers: A 17 y.o. boy in England is framed for murder, so goes into hiding dressed as a girl, realized he always secretly wanted to be a girl. Shaved her legs for the first time in a bathroom stall at an airport, and it went fine, no mess, no slip and fall, no cuts or nicks. Right there my BS alarm went off. Then she happens to find the right people to trust with her secrets. She has money, buys a new wardrobe, gets fake ID, and bs somehow great at applying her makeup and walking in heels. Suddenly she's a confident woman. She foils an intentional terrorist plot in Europe, gets recruited by the CIA, commissioned a lieutenant in the US Air Force. She goes to college for less than a year (as an undercover agent) and is awarded a bachelor's degree because she's so smart. Oh, and she finds true love.
Peppered throughout this 'story' was misogynistic crap, like she had to pretend to not know computers so's not to damage some boy's ego.
Probably the worst book I've had the misfortune to read this year.

It took me a while to find a audio book I thought I'd enjoy for this one. I don't know a lot about transgender authors, so this is a very good challenge for me. I decided on "Being Jazz" by Jazz Jennings. I was specifically looking for audio books because I spend so much time in my car. I like for my car time to be productive, not just time spent on I-95 in traffic.

I read an unusual book that I am going to use for this challenge. It is Touch by Claire North. It is about a character who was murdered and at the time of the murder jumped into the killer's body. I think the main character was female at the time of death, but has become and spent long periods of time living as all types of people (male/female, straight/gay, etc). We are only given insights into a few of the lives, but the character has transcended gender. Very interesting read and made me think about gender and what makes us human.

I was thinking of Geek Out: A Collection of Trans and Genderqueer Romance for this task. Has anybody here read it? The "geek" part is very appealing but the "romance" has me a little worried. Straight up romance is usually not my thing. Then again the point of the challenge is to diversify.

I'm just starting If I Was Your Girl. I chose it because I'd heard so much about it.

I think I'm going to read Parrotfish, but I would be interested in any suggestions that talk about the history of transgender people (non-fic) and how different societies viewed/s them if anyone has suggestions.

I recommend "Transgender History " by Susan Stryker. It only covers 20th and 21st century events, but it does that very well.

Thanks, I'll look into that.

I just finished Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family for this category and thought it was excellent.

Bekah asked: "I would be interested in any suggestions that talk about the history of transgender people (non-fic) and how different societies viewed/s them if anyone has suggestions."

Here's one, maybe: The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan.

The girls and women in the book don't have the word or concept transgender, but clearly, to us, some of them are.

Here's one,..."

Thank you for the recommendation.

Struggling to finish my last books. I did Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serrano for this task. (I reviewed it here.)

I'm just going through my year's reading checking off the list - I read Man on top of the world - which is by an author who identifies as "intersex, transgender (agender, gender non-conforming), androgynous, pansexual," per their goodreads biography - so that would count yes? (and blimey charlie that book made me blush. Couldn't read it in public...

Verity wrote: "I'm just going through my year's reading checking off the list - I read Man on top of the world - which is by an author who identifies as "intersex, transgender (agender, gender non-conforming), an..."

According to past posts from the Moderators, that definitely sounds like it fits the bill!

Thanks @ashley :-)

Just finished "Beautiful Music for Ugly Children". Contemporary story with a transmale protagonist. Pretty cute story, would recommend as an easy read for this task if you haven't finished yet!