This potent memoir assuredly navigates the complicated intersections of identity.
A graphic memoir about the forming of one woman’s queer identity.
De La Cruz tells the story of growing into her queerness, illustrating moments of adolescent confusion and repression leading up to eventual confidence in her adult self. The author not only explores how her queer identity formed, but also how the intersection of her other identities—for example, race and gender—compounded the struggles she experienced. A Black woman from a Caribbean Latinx family, De La Cruz delves into her juggling of many forms of internalized oppression, from the shame caused by familial, community, and internalized racism to the discomfort and stress of strict gender binaries and their impact on her feelings about clothing. As De La Cruz contended with surviving stressful external realities while also deconstructing harmful ideologies, her journey to being out was a long but rewarding one. She also educates readers on queer and racial history, as in a section that illustrates the background to the Stonewall uprising. The book expects readers to already be somewhat familiar with terms like patriarchy and heteronormative to get the most out of the text’s more advanced concepts. A sketchy, zinelike art style combined with the interesting framing of panels and gutters effectively portrays both the fears and joys of discovering one’s marginalized identity and vividly and effectively conveys the author’s changing understanding.
This potent memoir assuredly navigates the complicated intersections of identity. (Graphic memoir. 16-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-951491-05-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Street Noise Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author.
Deaf, trans artist Man meditates on his journey and identity in this brief memoir.
Growing up in conservative central Pennsylvania was tough for the 21-year-old Deaf, genderqueer, pansexual, and biracial (Chinese/White Jewish) author. He describes his gender and sexual identity, his experiences of racism and ableism, and his desire to use his visibility as a YouTube personality, model, and actor to help other young people like him. He is open and vulnerable throughout, even choosing to reveal his birth name. Man shares his experiences of becoming deaf as a small child and at times feeling ostracized from the Deaf community but not how he arrived at his current Deaf identity. His description of his gender-identity development occasionally slips into a well-worn pink-and-blue binary. The text is accompanied and transcended by the author’s own intriguing, expressionistic line drawings. However, Man ultimately falls short of truly insightful reflection or analysis, offering a mostly surface-level account of his life that will likely not be compelling to readers who are not already fans. While his visibility and success as someone whose life represents multiple marginalized identities are valuable in themselves, this heartfelt personal chronicle would have benefited from deeper introspection.
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author. (Memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-22348-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
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