Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out

by Susan Kuklin

Paperback, 2015

Status

Available

Genres

LGBTQ+

Nonfiction

All Topics

Publication

Candlewick (2015), Edition: 1, 192 pages

Description

"Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender preference. Portraits, family photographs, and candid images grace the pages, augmenting the emotional and physical journey each youth has taken. Each honest discussion and disclosure, whether joyful or heartbreaking, is completely different from the other because of family dynamics, living situations, gender, and the transition these teens make in recognition of their true selves."--Amazon.com, viewed February 12, 2014.

User reviews

LibraryThing member AngelaCinVA

I'm really torn about this book. On the one hand, the view into the lives of these teens, in their own words, is great. On the other hand, as a nonfiction book it has quite a few flaws. What questions were asked in the interviews? In the interview in the back with Dr. Manel Silva, the question

"What CAUSES a person to be transgender?" (emphasis mine) raises some flags about the author's approach. It feels like the last section about Luke was hastily put together and added in order to give a token teen outside the NYC area. The focus on teens in New York gives a distorted view. What about teens in Los Angeles or Dallas or Chicago? Finally, the resources list is short and outdated. There are so many excellent, newer books available. It is a disservice to readers to not provide the most up-to-date list possible.

In short, this is an important book with an important message. I just wish it had been done better.

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LibraryThing member ewyatt

This book includes in depth interviews with six teens who talk about what it is for them to be part of the transgender community. Photos accompany some of the sections. Each teen has a different experience to share and has come to understand their identity in different ways.
I found the stories of

the teens (largely in their own words) compelling and informative. While there are sections that are rough with language and content that made me wonder if the book has a place in my middle school collection, when I was done with the work as a whole I think that it does have a place and covers unique ground that might prove a real service to students who choose to read it.

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LibraryThing member Debra_Armbruster

An excellent piece of nonfiction for a school library or public library youth collection!

To craft _Beyond Magenta_, Kuklin interviewed several young adults who identify as transgender, and then culled their conversations into a narrative format that allowed readers easy access. Some participants

were game to be photographed, while others were not, but all shared candidly about their feelings, experiences and goals. In some places, Kuklin's editing choices (or possibly those of the participants, who were involved in the editing process) made for jarring textual transitions, but that is honestly my one complaint.

The common threads, ones that were repeated by nearly every one of the teens interviewed, were the memory of thinking that they were "the only one" who felt trapped in the wrong skin, and that they did not know that it was possible to transition. For that reason alone, selecting this book for your collection could make the difference in the life of a young adult who is questioning, or, the resources, term definitions/pronoun usage and stories that normalize feelings expressed by a sibling or friend.

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LibraryThing member EllsbethB

I am reading the top 10 most challenged/banned books from 2015, and this is #4. It is better to think of this book as a collection of interviews or oral histories. It has a lot of information about personal experiences and transitions of teens. It could be a good read for people who want a basic

primer on the associated issues.

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LibraryThing member ErlangerFactionless

"Beyond Magenta" is an incredible look into the minds, lives, and struggles of LGBTQ teens.

Each chapter profiles a person who has struggled with gender identity, and ultimately is transgender. They were born as one "sex", but identified with the other, and so the gender they were expected to

express was not the gender they were comfortable presenting. The chapters are about very different people.

When I picked up the book I wasn't expecting just what I got. I was expecting the author's narrative on the lives of these people. I was expecting to hear from an outside observer what these kids' lives had been like.

I was not expecting to hear their stories from the teens themselves.

It was really powerful hearing their stories firsthand. I could really get a sense for who they were, what they had gone through, how they dealt with problems and what they might sound like if I had the chance to talk to them in person. The photographs were an extra glimpse into the teens' minds - the images so clearly showed us how the teens saw themselves. This was incredible.

While there are still some things I don't quite understand about gender fluidity, overall I feel like my world has exploded. I know so much more about growing up transgender, becoming transsexual, discovering your gender identity, questioning it. I know so much about the difficulties these teens faced, the prejudices they overcame, the judgments they challenged.

When you don't understand yourself, how will you help other people understand you? It is so very hard, but so worth the effort once you come out on the other side as simply "yourself."

Those wanting to understand gender identity, or those who are struggling with their own gender and sexuality would greatly benefit from reading this book.

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LibraryThing member lmrayvon

4Q, 3P

The way this book was written was wonderful. I love that it is in first person narrative and that Kuklin chose to focus on the interviews of the teens rather than her own commentary and opinions. However, I gave it a 3P because this book doesn't seem like the type of book that would be

immediately appealing to most patrons. However, with a little book talking and such, I think it could be a popular read in some libraries. It does worry me though that some patrons and interest groups might steal or vandalize this book as they have done so to similar selections in the past.

The book is based on the interviews of six transgender/gender neutral teens. The book does a wonderful job of staying objective while also helping to explain just exactly what gender fluidity is and where these teens are coming from.

This truly was an amazing book!

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LibraryThing member bogreader

I would likely enjoy this book better in print rather than audio format because the interjections of the author were sometimes distracting.

LibraryThing member edspicer

This book was simply fantastic. It includes f-t-m, m-t-f, (female-to-male and male-to-female), intersex, and non-binary teens. Camoron's story was my favorite because I like the way it describes non-binary genders. In every story the person it's about just wants to be themself and to be accepted.

It's encouraging to those who are afraid to come out because it shows how happy they were once they did. 5Q3P (sadly I don't think this would be widely popular). The cover art is awesome and I'd recommend this to high school students and adults. I chose to read this book because it was recommended to me by a teacher and I still have a great interest in this topic and ones similar to it. MadelynnS

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LibraryThing member Brainannex

An important addition to any queer library.

LibraryThing member Sullywriter

Exceptional and immensely important.

LibraryThing member Salsabrarian

The author interviews a variety of transgender teens and young adults whose experiences coming out as trans range from positive to struggling. This is an affirming work for teens trying to figure out their gender identity. It can also be an introduction to what transexualism is and involves (proper

use of pronouns, orientation vs identity, social reaction, etc.), although I have to admit I still am trying to understand it.

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LibraryThing member mamzel

Very enlightening book giving a glimpse of the stuff non-straight teens go through. We meet boys who change to girls and girls who transform into men, and even a teen who is intersex, not completely a boy or a girl. It is such a tragedy that they have to deal with so much harassment at a time when

they are trying to figure things out.

A real eye-opener!

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LibraryThing member readingbeader

While this is an important book, I agree with my students who have tried to read this, it's just not interesting enough to keep our attention.

LibraryThing member LVStrongPuff

This really was a great book. Reading about Transgender teens and how things went in their own words really helps to understand the community more.

LibraryThing member reader1009

audiosync free title 2023 (various narrators, 4h35m)

nonfiction, queer pride - personal interviews with several teens/young adults (and sometimes their loved ones or acquaintances) representing different backgrounds and different identities on the gender spectrum (trans-male, trans-female, and

nonbinary, including an intersex/nonbinary person). Helpful as a sort of starting place for people who may already be questioning their own gender identities, as well as the people who want to support them, with information about transition processes and other experiences. It's relatively short and not the most comprehensive resource in terms of representation of the (much vaster) spectrum of people and experiences, but I think it can still help uninformed people (esp. cis-people) become better informed.

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