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Kisses for Jet by Joris Bas Backer
3.75
emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Set in 1999, this book focuses on gender-questioning teen Jet. They cultivate a long-haired, Kurt Cobain-esque grunge look that is still read as female by most of society. Jet attempts to explore various aspects of their gender in the cramped environment of a Danish boarding school for international students; they try binding and steal boys' underwear from the laundry room but have to hide their experiments from nosy teen neighbors. Luckily, Jet has a friend, Sasha, who shares their love of music and mild rebellion. Sasha seems able to see Jet for who they are when no one else can. Drawn in a scratchy, lively art style, this book really pushes into questioning aspect of queer and trans identities; nothing here is clear cut, and even at the end of the story Jet doesn't know where transition will fully take them. I had the pleasure of reading an advanced reader copy of this book; look forward to it's release in May!