This book has the potential to save many young lives.
An updated and expanded version of Bornstein’s original 2006 guide for teenagers who may be considering suicide.
This book approaches suicide prevention from a perspective that’s rooted in the author’s experiences with suicidal ideation. Her personal struggles as a “diesel femme nonbinary transsexual” came from being bullied and excluded from an early age. This intimate connection with the subject enables Bornstein, who was born into a Jewish family in 1948, to write in a caring and nonjudgmental way that will resonate well with its target audience. The book offers over 100 alternatives to suicide—including 20 that are new to this edition—gently urging readers to “choose life over death.” They include calling a suicide hotline, paying attention to breathing, seeking inspiration from characters who surmount obstacles, staying hydrated, and rescuing stray animals. This new edition came about in response to societal and legislative hostility toward trans people as well as divisions and judgment within the LGBTQ+ community. The writing style is conversational and comforting, but some suggestions are controversial, such as using drugs and cutting oneself, both given with caveats and warnings (regarding drugs: “There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to stop. Ever,” and if “you’re cutting yourself out of anger or disgust, or you feel that it’s getting out of control, see a doctor”).
This book has the potential to save many young lives. (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781644214435
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today.
A beautifully heart-wrenching graphic-novel adaptation of actor and activist Takei’s (Lions and Tigers and Bears, 2013, etc.) childhood experience of incarceration in a World War II camp for Japanese Americans.
Takei had not yet started school when he, his parents, and his younger siblings were forced to leave their home and report to the Santa Anita Racetrack for “processing and removal” due to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. The creators smoothly and cleverly embed the historical context within which Takei’s family’s story takes place, allowing readers to simultaneously experience the daily humiliations that they suffered in the camps while providing readers with a broader understanding of the federal legislation, lawsuits, and actions which led to and maintained this injustice. The heroes who fought against this and provided support to and within the Japanese American community, such as Fred Korematsu, the 442nd Regiment, Herbert Nicholson, and the ACLU’s Wayne Collins, are also highlighted, but the focus always remains on the many sacrifices that Takei’s parents made to ensure the safety and survival of their family while shielding their children from knowing the depths of the hatred they faced and danger they were in. The creators also highlight the dangerous parallels between the hate speech, stereotyping, and legislation used against Japanese Americans and the trajectory of current events. Delicate grayscale illustrations effectively convey the intense emotions and the stark living conditions.
A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today. (Graphic memoir. 14-adult)Pub Date: July 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-60309-450-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Top Shelf Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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