Gender Queer

A Memoir

De: Maia Kobabe

Narrado por: Maia Kobabe, Trini Alvarado, Stephen Graybill, Phoebe Kobabe, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, full cast

2020 ALA Alex Award Winner

2020 Stonewall-Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award Honor Book

The ground-breaking, bestselling graphic novel is now available on audio.

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. Then e created Gender Queer. 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.

"It’s also a great resource for those who identify as nonbinary or asexual as well as for those who know someone who identifies that way and wish to better understand."—SLJ (starred review)

©2024 Maia Kobabe (P)2024 Listening Library

I cried

I cried because in the first few minutes of the story I saw myself. A small child sitting on a basketball court sobbing because I was shamed. Shamed because I was born female. Shamed because it was 95 degrees in Florida swamp heat so I took my shirt off to play sports with the boys. They all had their shirts off. I felt like the worst kid in the world. There was something wrong with me. Adults told me parts of my body kept me from being a part of something I enjoyed. This story spoke to my inner soul. I'm so grateful for it and also disappointed that this book is banned in so many important spaces. If I'd discovered this at a younger age I would have been spared some of the self hatred and felt less alone. It has helped me in my self discovery while healing old wounds and accepting the scars life has given me.

For the first time in 30 years, I heard things out loud that were said in my brain as a child.

I had the biggest panic attack. I finally felt seen, understood. Thank you for that; I NEEDED this book.

Poignant and beautiful

I read the book along with listening and I’m so glad I did. Listening to eir words and seeing eir emotions on the page let me get more out of this than if I had only had one or the other. The extra information, like the update about eir sibling, are things I would have missed had I only read the book.

The meaning was helpful.

I liked the purpose of the story but it honestly wasn’t something I’d reread . I read it for a class I’m taking .

Born this Way

The frankness and clarity the author brings to a complex and often misunderstood concept of gender

Required Reading

This book was so well written and I saw myself in the pages. Should be required reading for young adults.

Representation

Cliché, I know, but for real the representation in this is an amazing way to either feel seen or make your queer friend feel seen if you give them this book!

Beautiful memoir

Transporting. thought provoking, great narration from the author and cast. I’m a cisgender mom to a gender-nonconforming teen — and it can be a struggle to understand how they feel about gender. This story is deeply personal — it’s Maia’s story — but it also felt very relatable. I saw myself. I saw my kid. I feel hopeful for Maia and all of us as we figure things out.
I didn’t cry until the final sentences.

Good performance and perspective

Enjoyed hearing another non-binary person’s journey, somewhat similar to mine and yet different at points.

Really eye opening

I am a cisgender woman who mostly likes men. I’ve been learning for the last couple years that there are gender fluid people , and it was confusing at first - the different genders, pronouns, and general queer community. The author does an amazing job of explaining how gender non conformity manifests for em (em being the pronoun type they choose to use) and how navigating the world has been for em. The author also touches on how it feels to asset yourself and your pronouns in a world that is so cis focused, and how that was hard for em.

I preordered this book after I heard about the bans on it. I think all children (and adults!) should read this, and develop more empathy for the people around them. 10/10, I really recommend this. Come with an open mind, and compassion.