Gender Queer

A Memoir

By: Maia Kobabe

Narrated by: 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)

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.

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.

Important perspective

I do not suffer from gender dysphoria, but hearing this honest, authentic account has given me an understanding I did not previously possess and has heightened my empathy for people who do. This was a valuable listen and I appreciate the author for ers words.

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 confusion of the main character

I listened to an audio book. Easy listening. I have never thought about being confused of my gender or identity. The story gave me food for thought regarding what many people go through around gender identity. I feel more compassion and empathy toward people who experience gender issues.