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A review by lasunflower
Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
If it was not for the Storygraph Genre challenge (read a transgender memoir), I would not have picked up this book. I did not know much about Jennings or her show, but thought a book targeted for a younger audience would be a good place for me to start.
I enjoyed the first half of the book - I found it fascinating and informative to learn about a very young person's gender journey, their transition and the discrimination she faced in playing sports. However, as the memoir moves into her tween years about halfway through, I found myself loosing interest and began to skim read it. Some of it may be my age and interests - as a lot of the second half of the book is about ordinary school friendship drama and all the famous people she has met and award events. The book could have done with being a bit shorter in that regard... though since Jennings is so young, she would not have a whole book. I would be interested to read Jennings' memoir a few years/decades later!
I think this book is mainly aimed at Jennings' cisgender peers (tweens and teens) - who want to learn about what it is like to be transgender, particularly those who know a transgender person. It seems that the Jennings family are the ideal - how a family should accept a transgender member - though one should be aware that they are relatively privileged when it comes to finances and access to doctors and medication - to afford hormonal therapy for example.
I think the biggest take away from the book is that transgender people are real men/women/boys/girls and this book does a good job of normalising it. The book is not very heavy when it comes to the discrimination transgender people face nor the internal struggles of the family as they come to terms, but (arguably) it is not meant to do that.
I enjoyed the first half of the book - I found it fascinating and informative to learn about a very young person's gender journey, their transition and the discrimination she faced in playing sports. However, as the memoir moves into her tween years about halfway through, I found myself loosing interest and began to skim read it. Some of it may be my age and interests - as a lot of the second half of the book is about ordinary school friendship drama and all the famous people she has met and award events. The book could have done with being a bit shorter in that regard... though since Jennings is so young, she would not have a whole book. I would be interested to read Jennings' memoir a few years/decades later!
I think this book is mainly aimed at Jennings' cisgender peers (tweens and teens) - who want to learn about what it is like to be transgender, particularly those who know a transgender person. It seems that the Jennings family are the ideal - how a family should accept a transgender member - though one should be aware that they are relatively privileged when it comes to finances and access to doctors and medication - to afford hormonal therapy for example.
I think the biggest take away from the book is that transgender people are real men/women/boys/girls and this book does a good job of normalising it. The book is not very heavy when it comes to the discrimination transgender people face nor the internal struggles of the family as they come to terms, but (arguably) it is not meant to do that.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide