Recommendation by:
Kira Preneta (they/them)
What to read right now from the team at Elizabeth’s in Middlebury.
As part of Banned Books Week in 2023, Elizabeth’s Bookshop & Writing Centre in Akron’s Middlebury neighborhood celebrated by featuring banned books and authors through October. One of my tasks as a bookseller was to create bookmarks for each banned book, with a short description of why it has been banned in schools or libraries in the United States. “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, banned for LGBTQIA+ content, was one of the books on that disappointingly long list.
I recommend “Gender Queer” anytime someone is looking for a top-tier read, memoir or suggestion to get out of a reading slump. “I wish this work was available to me when I was 14!” I exclaim.
Author and illustrator Maia Kobabe’s nonbinary chosen pronouns are e, em, eir. In this book, Kobabe reveals eir gender in bits and spurts—from childhood through adulthood with expressive illustrations, dialogue and even graphs and charts. Readers can expect depth, clarity and tenacity of reflection throughout the book.
With and through eir family and friends, life events, school, dating and doctors’ appointments, and in intimate moments, Kobabe shows us how e think, feel and dream about eir gender and its difference or dissonance to what was assigned at birth. As readers, we are immersed in words and gentle illustrations about Kobabe’s comfort in revealing eir gender and the discomfort of holding it fast.
Since reading this short yet impactful graphic memoir, I have reflected on the beauty of growing with and shaping one’s life experience to reveal stories. Kobabe didn’t set out to write a memoir, yet has written one of the most revealing I have read. Kobabe takes us through interior spaces and widens the reader’s imagination of gender identity. Kobabe’s work has helped me see and discover a multidimensional template to support myself and others in having the tender and growing conversation of gender.
Relatives, healthcare settings prove to be vulnerable places
Some highlights include Kobabe conversing with an extended family member about preferred pronouns and a scene depicting eir first-time doctor’s appointment for a cervical exam. To me these are two incredibly difficult places to be vulnerable—with relatives and in a healthcare setting.
With eir reflections, Kobabe gives templates for care in real-world interactions. To be able to witness the struggle and resonance of eir own interactions helps me to better accept my own story. I believe this book is worthy of a re-read, for its depth of lived experience and empathetic contemplations and conversations.
Here’s the passage at the heart of the book:
The clearest metaphor I had for my own gender identity in college was the image of a scale. A huge weight had been placed on one side, without my permission. I was constantly trying to weigh down the other side. But the end goal wasn’t masculinity—the goal was balance. Dressing up as a male character let me play with the idea of how I would choose to present myself if the weight of the assigned sex had been placed on the other side of the scale.
Intimate, revealing, careful. A necessary book for those reflecting on the identities assigned to them and the person they actually are, growing into, shedding and at times hiding from the world, “Gender Queer” has earned its accolades.
A book for every person, including ‘Gender Queer’
As a book lover, seller and believer in the idea that there’s a person for every book and a book for every person, “Gender Queer” caught my attention when Kobabe illustrated a graph of 10 years of statistics on all the books e had read. It’s timely for me as I begin my work as a bookseller, tracking my reading patterns, discovering places, times and ideas outside of my comfort zone, so that I can be a resource to my community, recommending books to open up readers’ lives, their hearts and minds and, most importantly, their conversations.
Please stop by Elizabeth’s and say hi! I’m thrilled to talk about books, to hear what you are reading and how it’s shaping you.
“Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe is available at Elizabeth’s Bookshop & Writing Centre in store and online.
Elizabeth’s Bookshop & Writing Centre, 647 E. Market Street, is a queer, Black, woman-owned independent bookstore located in Akron, designed to amplify and celebrate marginalized voices. Our catalog highlights, promotes, amplifies, celebrates and honors the work of Queer, Transgender, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (QTBIPOC) writers who are often excluded from traditional cultural, social and academic canons. Through curated collections of personal narratives of people from underrepresented groups, Elizabeth’s seeks to educate and re-shape the lens of readers as they see themselves and how they view the world.