A solid and useful introduction to a vast topic.
A concise overview of transgender history presented in graphic novel format.
Combs and Eakett begin with a preface that notes that they’re introducing historical figures who, while they may not have identified as trans, are “relevant to trans history.” Next, they cover terminology, the ancient world, Europe and colonization, sexology, trans rights in the U.S., and profiles of notable contemporary trans people. Given the broad scope, this work will serve as a solid jumping-off point for those interested in learning more. Throughout, the authors provide frameworks for interpreting information. For example, when describing ancient Rome, they caution readers that most historical accounts of Elagabalus’ possibly being trans are “unverifiable and seem exaggerated,” that “untangling fact from fiction may be impossible,” and that most reports came from someone who “had motivation to paint the former emperor negatively.” The segment closes with prompts encouraging teens to consider questions such as, “What does the story reveal about the point of view of whoever recorded it?” Cameos featuring a diverse array of scientists, historians, and other experts appear throughout, offering valuable insights, although at times their remarks would have benefited from being paraphrased into more accessible language (Dr. Howard Ching, an expert on eunuchs in Chinese imperial courts, is quoted on the “Western biomedical lexicon and its cognate understandings of the human body”). Nevertheless, the attractive illustrations and broadly diverse array of individual subjects and communities are real strengths.
A solid and useful introduction to a vast topic. (source notes, index) (Graphic nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781536219234
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
Though not the most balanced, an enlightening look back for the queer future.
An adaptation for teens of the adult title A Queer History of the United States (2011).
Divided into thematic sections, the text filters LGBTQIA+ history through key figures in each era from the 1500s to the present. Alongside watershed moments like the 1969 Stonewall uprising and the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, the text brings to light less well-known people, places, and events: the 1625 free love colony of Merrymount, transgender Civil War hero Albert D.J. Cashier, and the 1951 founding of the Mattachine Society, to name a few. Throughout, the author and adapter take care to use accurate pronouns and avoid imposing contemporary terminology onto historical figures. In some cases, they quote primary sources to speculate about same-sex relationships while also reminding readers of past cultural differences in expressing strong affection between friends. Black-and-white illustrations or photos augment each chapter. Though it lacks the teen appeal and personable, conversational style of Sarah Prager’s Queer, There, and Everywhere (2017), this textbook-level survey contains a surprising amount of depth. However, the mention of transgender movements and activism—in particular, contemporary issues—runs on the slim side. Whereas chapters are devoted to over 30 ethnically diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual, or queer figures, some trans pioneers such as Christine Jorgensen and Holly Woodlawn are reduced to short sidebars.
Though not the most balanced, an enlightening look back for the queer future. (glossary, photo credits, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8070-5612-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Conversational, sometimes playful—not the sort of book that would survive vetting by school-system censors these days, but a...
A lovely, lively historical survey that takes in Neanderthals, Hohenzollerns and just about everything in between.
In 1935, Viennese publisher Walter Neurath approached Gombrich, who would go on to write the canonical, bestselling Story of Art, to translate a history textbook for young readers. Gombrich volunteered that he could do better than the authors, and Neurath accepted the challenge, provided that a completed manuscript was on his desk in six weeks. This book, available in English for the first time, is the happy result. Gombrich is an engaging narrator whose explanations are charming if sometimes vague. (Take the kid-friendly definition of truffles: “Truffles,” he says, “are a very rare and special sort of mushroom.” End of lesson.) Among the subjects covered are Julius Caesar (who, Gombrich exults, was able to dictate two letters simultaneously without getting confused), Charlemagne, the American Civil War, Karl Marx, the Paris Commune and Kaiser Wilhelm. As he does, he offers mostly gentle but pointed moralizing about the past, observing, for instance, that the Spanish conquest of Mexico required courage and cunning but was “so appalling, and so shaming to us Europeans that I would rather not say anything more about it,” and urging his young readers to consider that perhaps not all factory owners were as vile as Marx portrayed them to be, even though the good owners “against their conscience and their natural instincts, often found themselves treating their workers in the same way”—which is to say, badly.
Conversational, sometimes playful—not the sort of book that would survive vetting by school-system censors these days, but a fine conception and summarizing of the world’s checkered past for young and old.Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2005
ISBN: 0-300-10883-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2005
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