I am J
question
what are your thought on this book?
Booksbrainsandanime
Dec 29, 2014 12:24PM
I think this book is something that everyone should read. It really does something that not a lot of books do. It takes you by the hand and pulls you, headfirst, into a world that you never though existed. The main character, J, is someone you might see on the street and think absolutely nothing of. But, upon closer inspection, you realize that J is not who you originally thought he was. J is a boy in a girls body. This was the very first book that I read about trans teens, and it opened up my eyes and broadened my mind to include a whole new spectrum of diversity. Before reading this book, I had often heard about trans people on tumblr but I didn't have any idea what that meant. Reading this book caused me to realize that people like this actually exist. The book itself is beautifully written and full of unique and interesting characters that you love and hate. J himself is struggling, not to identify himself, but to get others to understand him and accept him for who he is. He faces many obstacles along the way, and makes lots of new friends because of it. I recommend this book to everybody, not just people struggling to find who they are, because everybody needs to get a look inside the life of a person trying to be accepted in todays society. Not all books have to be about girls finding guys who love who they are, and not all books have to be about discovering yourself, it's nice to know who you are but hard to get others to realize it. Love this book! 10/10
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I'm glad you liked the book. I read it a few months back myself since I'd heard it was getting some hype. I thought it was great that the author chose a person of color as the main character and also that it shed light on the very real issue of LGBT homelessness and poverty that teens face. I'm transgender myself, and feel very grateful that I didn't realize it or start transitioning until my late 20s. I'm not sure I would have survived high school if I'd come out sooner.
The more stories like this get told, the hopefully more likely it will be that fewer LGBT youth have to experience the fear of rejection by friends and family in the future. And once we're more widely accepted by society as a whole, I hope we can start seeing trans characters cropping up in YA stories that aren't specifically about their transitions. Transitioning is a big topic, but we also have other aspects of our lives that are worth writing about, and there's no reason why a trans person shouldn't be able to be cast as a main character in, say, a scifi or dystopian story that has nothing to do with the character's gender identity as a defining part of the plot.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
The more stories like this get told, the hopefully more likely it will be that fewer LGBT youth have to experience the fear of rejection by friends and family in the future. And once we're more widely accepted by society as a whole, I hope we can start seeing trans characters cropping up in YA stories that aren't specifically about their transitions. Transitioning is a big topic, but we also have other aspects of our lives that are worth writing about, and there's no reason why a trans person shouldn't be able to be cast as a main character in, say, a scifi or dystopian story that has nothing to do with the character's gender identity as a defining part of the plot.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
