Ivan E. Coyote

In this book, Coyote recounts some of their most memorable experiences as a youngster, teenager, young adult. The focus is on their trans-experience, but they also talk about moments common to all of us: growing up in a family with all its ups and downs. This is what makes Coyote's book so endearing: while there are scenes that a cis-gendered person could never understand (notably bathrooms and pronouns), there are others that are all too familiar. Coyote also alternates between pain, joy and moments of pure grace: it is sometimes disheartening to read about prejudice but also so uplifting to come across kindness, consideration and respect.
My favourite scene: the gender reveal party which is Coyote displaying their humour at its best.
A heartwarming, heartbreaking, instructive read.… (meer)

Sooooo damnnnnnn gooooood! Very grateful to have picked this up at the library tent at Pride, otherwise it would have languished on my to-read list for a lot longer.

As with any book of essays, some are better than others. A few random favorites (and these are mindblowingly good!): Amy Fox, Amber Dawn, Chandra Mayor. Jeanne Cordova's was probably the most disappointing and frustrating: for some reason, she thought it would be a good idea to make a linear scale on which to organize all the gender terms she knew.

That's basically the end of the review. I have really intense, personal feelings about a lot of these essays, which is not really review-fodder. But damn I appreciated finding this book. You might, too.… (meer)