Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
An autobiographical comic that reflects on what it means to be nonbinary and asexual.
THEMES:
LGBTQ+,
OVERVIEW
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.
Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity--what it means and how to think about it--for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere (Bookshop)
Publication Date: May 28, 2019
Audiobook? No
Languages? English
Age Range: 15+
Read Time: 5 hours (at 250 WPM)
ISBN-13: 9781549304002
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maia Kobabe is a nonbinary, queer author and illustrator from the Bay Area, California. Eir first full length book, GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR, was published in May 2019. Maia's short comics have been published by The Nib and in many anthologies including THE SECRET LOVES OF GEEKS, FASTER THAN LIGHT Y'ALL, GOTHIC TALES OF HAUNTED LOVE, SHOUT OUT, ADVANCED DEATH SAVES and BE GAY, DO COMICS. Before setting out to work freelance full-time, e worked for over ten years in libraries. Eir work is heavily influenced by fairy tales, homesickness, and the search for identity (Bookshop).
Maia Kobabe discusses the physical and emotional process of creating eir groundbreaking graphic memoir, Gender Queer (April 2021, Charis Circle)
Maia shares eir process creating “Gender Queer” and how it uncovered parts of eir identity, new dialogue between family members, successful publication, as well as advice for young writers (April 2021, Queer Link)
IN THE NEWS
Author of 'Gender Queer,' one of most-banned books in U.S., addresses controversy (NBC News)
Book bans have reached levels not seen in decades — but nationwide activism to oppose them is growing, too (PBS)
Fear-Based “Parental Bills of Rights” Are a Right-Wing Siege on Public Education, Advocates Say (TruthOut)