Some bigots on a Montana library board think this book is Bad. A community member claimed

I’m in favor of removing this book from the library not because it is a book about a gender queer person, but because it is a poorly written childishly illustrated jumble of nightmarish recollections that blithely dispenses medically questionable advice to a vulnerable teen audience.

Ugh, people.

I found GQ (giggle) to be a well-written and illustrated narrative of nightmarish recollections of growing up not having language for one's identity, or the courage to self-advocate. There is no medical advise dispensed blithely or otherwise, and appropriately or not, the book was shelved in the adult section.

But now, onto my real review: Kobabe generously shares eir struggles with coming to understand eir identity even with accepting hippie parents and a queer sibling because "bisexual" doesn't explain the totality of who ey are. It's not just hating their boobs or fantasizing about having a penis. Kobabe's innocence and vulnerability as they share eir story make transphobes' reaction to it all the more frustrating.

Eir story begins with a grad school prompt from [a:MariNaomi|4078358|MariNaomi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1574547661p2/4078358.jpg]



Closer to the end, with help from an old friend, ey reckon with their hesitation to ask people to use the correct pronouns. The friend asks

So instead of asking people to do something to make you feel more comfortable, you'd rather just feel a little uncomfortable all the time? You'd rather internalize and carry that discomfort every time someone who loves you misgenders you?

I appreciate how they frame the need for ey/em/eir pronouns as a "small spike of solvable discomfort" like removing a pebble from a shoe or ripping an itchy tag out of a garment, but I also get that it's a bigger deal than a pebble or a tag. Regardless, it's an easy accommodation. Doesn't cost the speaker anything!

Ey also addresses a lesbian aunt's concern that the gender nonbinary "trend" is a misogynist rejection of womanhood. The aunt doesn't mean harm, just wants to understand, but helping her get there is still an act of kindness and generosity on Kobabe's part.