Cover Image: A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities

A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities

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Member Reviews

Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press for this DRC.

"The world is home to such a vibrant rainbow of people, so why not genders."

This is filled with wonderful, informative and easy to digest information.
I did think it was geared more to teens/adults and younger people may need help reading and understanding all the details discussed. That's not necessarily a bad thing since it would hopefully spark conversation/questions.
They really touched on a bit of everything, including signs of toxic relationships. This is something I think all people should be made more aware of in order to spot and escape these kinds of harmful dependencies. This is especially true for anyone still coming to terms with their own identity who may not feel brave enough to speak up and/or draw attention to themselves.

"Let yourself grow and change and learn- that's what being alive is all about."

I think I would have preferred if the conversations had all been delivered by humans. I found the snails and sproutlings a bit weird. The human discussions around the fire were much easier to connect to and I would have favoured more of those with less of the other critters.
Overall I found this was a warm, respectful and loving delivery that could open up fantastic dialogue toward understanding one's own personal feelings or those of a loved ones.

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Everything I know about trans people is thanks to a friend who had an angelic level of patience to explain it all to me. I cringe to think of the ignorant things I asked her back then. For this, I hold her in very high regard, especially since learning of how unfair and emotionally exhausting it is to have to explain your existence to someone.

So I picked this book up wondering if it would have helped to educate me back then, instead of asking my friend all of those questions. The answer is: sort of.

This book is FOR queer kids/people. It is aimed at people who are already exploring or questioning their identities, rather than at the caring but confused friend/family member who would like to learn more, or the casual reader who is passingly curious on the subject.

For that purpose, it is lovely. I just imagine a queer kid in a library, feeling lost and not knowing who to go to for guidance or companionship, and finding exactly the warm embrace, acceptance, and confirmation they needed from this book.

The story is told through a pet snail, who is teaching the wild snails about humans. In between the snail teachings are tiny bits of this idyllic place populated by “Sproutlings”, forest creatures who will serve as examples to further explain what the snail says. The main topics are: gender identity, gender expression, dysphoria, asexuality, relationship advice, and coming out.

The art is very soothing. The lines are very round, soft, and squiggly. The art is very soothing. The lines are very round, soft, and squiggly. The dominant color is pink, accented with purples and yellows, with the Sproutling chapters in blue-greens to set them apart.

At points I sensed a bit of “the expert blindspot” (when someone is already an expert at their subject and they teach the material in a way that is obvious to them, while being unaware of the many questions that a novice will have). But that is why this book is aimed specifically at LGBTQ kids. They already know about some of these terms and don’t need the basics explained to them.

This subject is unfathomably broad and the book can only briefly touch on so many subjects, but it would be lovely to see sequels of this where they go more into depth for each respective topic they already introduced.

The book ends with a handful of self-reflection activities that may help kids practice what they’ve just read/learned.

I would recommend this to anyone who is exploring or questioning their identity, and to a mindful friend or family member who wants to learn more about what their loved ones may be experiencing (with the reservation that this won’t answer all of your questions).

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What I loved:
This is a quick and easy primer that would be perfect for teens and adults. I don't think any of the material is presented in an inappropriate way for younger audiences, but the vocabulary might be a little tough for younger readers, e.g. words like narcissism might not be readily understandable to middle grade readers. The drawings are delightful and don't distract. The book has a positive message of loving yourself and extra stars for discussing healthy relationships and signs of toxic relationships—things that apply to relationships and friendships across the board. I have never read a book like this that also incorporates breaking up, good communication, and loving yourself, I also liked the space at the end to write your own story. I think a book like this will generate a lot of ideas in the reader and having a place to joy them down makes the processing more fun and organic.


What's missing, in my opinion:
I was surprised that there wasn't anything about STIs or safe/safer sex but since the focus of the book was not physical sex/sex ed, I assume that is a topic covered elsewhere. I was hoping for a line in the unhealthy relationships section that said something about partners pressuring you about sex, but one book can't be everything to everyone.

I highly recommend this book to anyone 12-13 or above, but I wouldn't mind if my 10 year old wanted to read it. There's nothing in it that's out of bounds for younger readers in my opinion.

Thanks, Net Galley, for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This is such an amazing and adorable book. I love the snails so much. My heart, I just can't. The illustrations are wonderfully, psychedelically perfect for the content and I loved the array of topics that were covered. I wish so sincerely that this had existed for me when I was young, because there is so much incredible knowledge packed within these pages that I had to fight to learn over the last decade. I suspect the audience that would find the most enjoyment from this are folks trying to understand themselves within these pages, rather than giving it to a person who is uneducated on the subject based on the length.

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This book was incredibly cute while also being very informative. It was a quick read due to being both short and primarily graphics, but that didn't take away from the numerous messages throughout.

I'm a cisgender female, and bisexual. While a lot of the book was targeted toward transgender, the messages could be applied toward anyone - especially those in the relationships and self care sections. I understood sexuality and gender fairly well before reading the book, but how the concepts were laid out in such an easy and matter of fact way can really help those with little to no experience regarding the subject matter. Books like these are extremely important nowadays when people are coming out as things a lot of older generations can't comprehend. I enjoyed it a lot.

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This little comic was really educational and I loved the character designs of the sproutlings. It didn't teach me much more than I already know but I would definitely put this book in the hands of someone ignorant about the subject of sexual and gender identities. This was written with such good intentions it warms my little genderqueer bisexual heart.

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This is a story, told by a snail, to explain, in simple terms, queerness and transexuality.

But, I think the most important part of this whole story is this statement the snail makes.

<blockquote>Every person is worthwhile and valuable in their own way and if you are able to make some sort of peace with yourself while on your transitional journey that will definitely ease the burden.</blockquote>

<img class="alignnone wp-image-4651 size-full" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-11.21.27-PM.png" alt="aevery person is wrothwhiel and avaluable in their own way and if youa re able to make some sort of peace with yourself while on your transitional journey that will defently ease the burden." />

Because, that is what it is all about. Really. We are all worthwhile, in our own ways, and we just are trying to make peace with ourselves.

The rest of the book, yes, is important, as it explains the various aspects of sexuality and gender, but really, we are all on a journey, trying to find ourselves, with others along the way.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4652" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-11.14.31-PM.png" alt="" />

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4653" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-11.13.09-PM.png" alt="" />

I am so glad all these books are be coming available, and to have it in cartoon form, the more the better, the easier it is for everyone to understand the struggles that trans and queer folk are going through.

I would recommend this for schools and libraries.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Love the concept of this. I am all for LGBTQ+ representation and this book does its best to teach you that. However, while I found the concept great, I didn't like the artwork.

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This is a great introduction to queer and trans identities that covers a lot of important subjects. I loved that it dedicated a whole section to asexuality since this identity is rarely talked about. The art style was cute and interesting and I liked that it didn't come across as preachy.

The only thing I didn't like were the blue/green sections. They felt somewhat disconnected from the rest and the book would have done just as well without them.

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I thought the concept was great and I would much prefer two or three shorter books than this one. It's very, very wordy and I get that. It's a complicated discussion. 30 pages in I was overwhelmed with information and I doubt patrons would continue through it considering how dense it is.

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We need so many more books like this one. It was so important, at the same time simple and educative, everyone can learn so much just by reading it. It can be for people who don't know a thing about queer stuff, or people who want to know more because it concerns them. I think every single person should read this book, everything is explained clearly with nice graphics to go along.

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An easy-to-follow, inclusive guide into a wide range of LGBTQ+ topics. I particularly enjoyed the adorable art and colouring that helped support the different concepts and ideas explored. I would definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone wanting to learn more about the topic, and/or want to appreciate some cute art.

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A very informative and easy to understand graphic novel on a number of LGBTQ subjects. It would make a good addition to the high school library that I work at once it's published.

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<i>A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities</i> by Mady G is a rather clever way to educate those who may be unsure about where they fit themselves in terms of how they feel as well as to educate those around the people of the LGBTQ community. Using snails and a varying array of illustrations from people to a fun little creature called a sproutling to take readers along on a journey to discover more about the people with these identities, this book is chalk full of fun and informative scenes that I think this world really needs..

I would definitely gear this book more toward older kids and adults simply because I don’t see very young children fully understanding everything that this book discusses. Even I still find some of it confusing at times, particularly that which discusses what it means to be asexual, a topic with a wide variety of identifications that can sometimes vary greatly from person to person. Even so, I truly believe that this topic is one that everyone should be exposed to no matter how old.

This book was clever, informative, and easy to read. It broached a variety of subjects regarding the LGBTQ community and offered not only information, but support to those who may relate to some of the situations and feelings expressed throughout the course of the book. I was really pleased with how the entire thing was presented and handled and I even learned a few new things along the way, which is always a great thing to experience. All in all, this book is definitely one to be pleased with and I’m really glad I had the opportunity to read it.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

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