Searing, tender, and beautifully written.
An LGBTQ+ activist chronicles her experiences growing up in Jamaica, where same-sex activity is criminalized.
The summer Jackson got her period, she wondered, “why couldn’t I like girls and also love God?” From her spiritual and sexual awakenings as a Christian schoolgirl to being recognized for her courage and global activism by President Barack Obama during a state visit to Jamaica, Jackson traces the painful path of her fight against homophobia and rape culture in her native country. Despite being forced into conversion therapy by her conservative parents, a teenage Jackson came to embrace both her sexuality and her faith, though her relationship to the church as an institution remained complicated. After enduring “corrective rape” (a crime in which the perpetrators claim to “fix” the gay person through assault), Jackson navigated a less-than-sympathetic legal system to pursue justice. Her story is one of tragedy and heartbreak but also of curiosity, first love, and longing. She emerges from these traumatic experiences as a fierce advocate for queer youth and a riveting, deeply reflective storyteller. Readers with similar struggles will find encouragement and comfort in these pages. Of concern, however, is Jackson’s uncritical recounting of a sexual relationship she describes as an “affair” with her 32-year-old tutor, Miss Campbell, when she was 17.
Searing, tender, and beautifully written. (note by Jackson) (Memoir. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4597-4919-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Dundurn
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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