Tag Archives: transgender kids

Review: Joy to the World by Kai Shappley and Lu Bunker

Joy, to the World by Kai Shappley and Lisa Bunker

Joy to the World
Kai Shappley and Lu Bunker (writing at the time as Lisa Bunker)
Publisher
Published May 9, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Joy to the World

A young Dumplin’ meets Melissa in this joyful and energetic middle grade novel about a twelve-year-old girl living her life to the fullest, celebrating her love for sports and fighting for her right to cheer.

Joy, a twelve-year-old trans girl, just moved to Texas with her mother and older brother. Her family has accepted Joy as the girl she is early in her transition, with little fuss, leaving Joy to explore her love of sports, competition, teamwork, school spirit, and worship. But when she is told she’s off the cheerleading team, Joy wants to fight for her right to cheer.

As her battle with the school board picks up momentum, Joy attracts support from kids all around the country . . . she even gets the attention of her hero, trans activist Kai Shappley. Inspired by Kai’s own life, Joy, to the World is a timely story of living life to the fullest, celebrating and centering trans joy, courage, and resilience. 

My Review

I picked up this book because I want to read more fiction by and about transgender characters, especially trans girls. What I found here, though, is such a beautiful story about a family and community coming together to celebrate cheerleading and validate a young girl’s existence.

I imagine there are still a lot of places in which people don’t meet transgender kids. It’s not a super common thing, and some, like Joy, choose to live in stealth and not advertise their identities, for very understandable reasons. Books like this one offer readers a chance to read about the experience that a trans girl and her family might have. Joy is a sweet, friendly girl who loves cheerleading and enjoys spending time with her friends.

I really enjoyed the portrayal of Joy’s family unit. Her mom takes time to think things through, but she remains supportive of Joy and cares about her feelings. Joy’s older brother, Will, doesn’t always see eye to eye with her, and sometimes takes the opportunity to tease her in the way older brothers do. But when push comes to shove, he supports her and offers helpful insights into how Joy can speak up for herself.

Though in the story, Joy experiences hate and ignorance, the narrative remains positive and often very gentle. Joy relates a positive experience with her faith. She also loves cheerleading. These things challenge the tendency that we have to reduce people to one part of their identity.

This book is an essential narrative about the experience of growing up transgender. I highly recommend it for readers looking for a positive, uplifting story about living authentically, celebrating your interests, and building community.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Joy is a Christian and attends a LGBTQIA+ affirming church. She references finding comfort in her faith and closes each of her journal entries with a brief prayer asking God to bless others around her.

Violent Content
The book contains some transphobic comments, though these are often summarized or referenced rather than outright stated. Joy is misgendered a few times. She experiences hateful comments from people online. One person uses emojis to suggest that they would shoot a transgender child.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity by Kristin Elizabeth Clark

Jess, Chunk and the Road Trip to Infinity
Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux Books for Young Readers
Published November 8, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity

The last time Jess saw her father, she was a boy named Jeremy. Now she’s a high school graduate, soon to be on her way to art school. But first, Jess has some unfinished business with her dad. So she’s driving halfway across the country to his wedding. He happens to be marrying her mom’s ex-best friend. It’s not like Jess wasn’t invited; she was. She just told them she wasn’t coming. Surprise!

Luckily, Jess isn’t making this trip alone. Her best friend, Christophe—nicknamed Chunk—is joining her. Chunk has always been there for Jess, and he’s been especially supportive of her transition, which has recently been jump-started with hormone therapy.

Along the way from California to Chicago, Jess and Chunk will visit roadside attractions, make a new friend or two, and learn a few things about themselves—and each other—that call their true feelings about their relationship into question.

My Review

My favorite part of the story was the relationship between Jess and Chunk. They had a lot of shared rituals and games—from the use of the term Black Hole to indicate a topic that must immediately be dropped, to a back-and-forth exchange of synonyms as a game.

I loved the way the author juxtaposed Jess’s insecurities about her body during her transition and Chunk’s insecurities about his weight. I felt like Jess’s experience was really easy to understand and empathize with, but she’s also a flawed character. Her self-focused thoughts and obsession over her feelings about her transition leave her blinded to the feelings of others. At first, this causes a lot of friction, but Jess does begin to recognize how cruel or thoughtless she’s been to others. There’s a lot of hope to be found here, and a lot of heart, too.

While Jess’s mom is extremely supportive of her transition, her dad withdraws and struggles much more overtly with Jess’s identity. Showing Jess’s dad’s reaction and also her feelings about his words added a much greater understanding and level of empathy to the story, because we saw not only her dad’s genuine struggle to understand why this was happening and the way his struggle made Jess feel rejected and unloved.

Overall, Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity is an emotional journey wrapped in a road trip and packed with all the stuff best friendships are made of and even a little romance. Fans of John Green and Emil Ostrovski will enjoy the quirky, deep friendships.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Jess is a transgender girl who has recently started hormone therapy as part of her transition. Another character comes out as pansexual, meaning he is attracted to others of any gender.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content
One kiss between Jess and a boy. Jess also talks about her journey realizing she’s transgender as opposed to previously believing she was gay. At one point she briefly mentions one key moment was in paying attention to what she fantasized about—touching rather than being touched. It’s brief and only about as explicit as I just was.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Jess worries about her safety as she and Chunk travel through from California to Chicago, through some areas known to be unfriendly toward transgender people. At one point she hears a story about someone who was attacked.

Drug Content
At one point Jess drinks beer with friends she makes on the road trip.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Melissa by Alex Gino

Melissa (previously published as George)
Alex Gino
Scholastic Press
Published August 25, 2015

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Melissa

BE WHO YOU ARE.

When people look at Melissa, they think they see a boy named George. But she knows she’s not a boy. She knows she’s a girl.

Melissa thinks she’ll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be CHARLOTTE’S WEB. Melissa really, really, really wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can’t even try out for the part… because she’s a boy.

With the help of her best friend, Kelly, Melissa comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte — but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.

My Review

One of the things that struck me about this book was how, from the very first moment of the story, Melissa’s identity wasn’t a question. She wasn’t gathering and analyzing her feelings to try to figure out what they were or what they meant. She’d already processed and concluded: the problem was she was a girl everyone saw as a boy.

I think I expected or wanted to see more of what her process looked like for arriving at that realization, but this story isn’t really about how she got there. It’s about her right to her identity and to be known as she truly is.

A story like this is important for a lot of reasons. First, obviously, young readers sharing the experience that the main character in this book has deserve to see themselves on the page as the hero of a story. They deserve the model of a supportive parent who doesn’t have all the answers, but loves her child no matter what, and is determined to be on her side, even if the journey is different than she might have expected.

Another reason is that many people, myself included, don’t know what this experience is like for someone. A story like this gives an opportunity to see what life looks like from inside this experience. To stand in a young transgender girl’s shoes for a bit.

MELISSA should inspire our empathy. It should inspire us to listen. To withhold judgment and hear what someone we love is saying to us. To remember the courage it takes to own who we are, and to speak up when someone else has it wrong, especially when it’s the people we love most.

Conclusion

One of the great things about this story is that it allows us to open a dialogue with our kids. How do we treat someone who is transgender? MELISSA invites readers into the discussion about how to talk to or about someone who is transgender. What does it look like to be a supportive friend? What does it look like to be a supportive teacher or administrator? A supportive parent?

I loved the writing in this book and the way the author used CHARLOTTE’S WEB in the novel. The way Melissa’s connection to Charlotte became such a powerful motivator was really cool. The character relationships felt very organic and really moved me. Honestly? I cried when the principal told Melissa that her door was always open. That message and that gentle support is something we all need as we wrestle with hard things. To have a trusted adult look into your face and say, in effect, “I see you, and it’s okay.” Wow. I tear up even now writing about it.

Content Notes

Representation
Melissa is a fourth grade student who struggles to tell her family that she is a transgender girl. She’s certain about her identity, but the news comes as a shock to some around her.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
This isn’t really sexual content in a romantic sense, but I wanted to specify some notes for clarity.

Melissa hides in the bathroom with magazines meant for preteen girls. Her brother comments that she must be in there with a dirty magazine. She’s grossed out by the idea.

At one point, Melissa borrows clothes from a friend and exchanges her boy clothes for panties, a skirt and a pretty tank top. Melissa visits public bathrooms, but hates using the boys’ bathroom at school. The day she wears her friend’s clothes, she uses the girls’ bathroom and feels much more comfortable.

As Melissa wrestles to help her family understand who she is, at one point her brother asks if she’s gay. Melissa responds that no, she isn’t gay, and that being transgender is a completely different thing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links which do not cost you anything to use but help to generate support for this blog.

Updated December 16, 2022 to reflect the current title of the book.