Jessica Herthel

I Am Jazz tells the true story of Jazz Jennings, a transgender girl. This book explains the story of how Jazz and her family came to realize she was transgender, and how the affected her growing up. This book is extremely well written and child friendly especially for being one the concerns a very new, and oftentimes controversial topic. From the very beginning of the book, the author tackled the topic with such simplicity, using words and descriptions that normalizes and provides basic show more understanding, such as describing Jazz as a girl, but a girl with a boy's body. The illustrations are also extremely well thought out and help contribute to the normalcy of both the topic and Jazz, herself. They include pictures of Jazz, and her family and friends doing things and looking like any other family would. Overall, this is a very progressive book that introduces a very relevant topic that is not always easy to effectively and respectfully explain to children. show less

This book is based off of a true story about Jazz Jennings. Jazz always knew she was a girl in a boy's body. She loved dressing as a girl and loved the color pink even more. Everyone around her is very confused by her actions, so her parents decide to bring her to the doctor to see "what's wrong". The doctor informs her parents that Jazz is transgender, and that she was born that way. This book is really cool because it's based off of Jazz's real-life so it's very genuine. The story is told show more in a simple, and clear, way so that young readers can understand what is going on. I think this book is very informative and should be introduced to children because this isn't a topic we should be hiding anymore. Transgender people are just as relevant and should have a voice that is heard in the classroom! show less

I decided to celebrate Banned Book Week by reading a small pile of frequently challenged books. I can see how intolerant people would have a problem that this book even exists. It succeeds with nice art and a story that educates and gets its point across quite simply. This is a good introduction to a complex issue for kids or even adults like me who live pretty sheltered lives.

Estava procurando literatura queer infantil e me deparei com esse livrinho que mostra a transição de Jazz Jennings ainda na infância. Confesso que não tinha ouvido falar dela até agora, mas ela já tem 22 anos, transicionou na infância e é considerada a pessoa mais jovem a o fazer documentadamente ainda em 2005 na idade de cinco anos, para isso ela contou com profissionais e pais compreensivos. Soube também que ela tem uma série reality desde 2015 e mostrou todo seu processo de show more adolescência e entrada na fase adulta, sua cirurgia de afirmação de gênero e a compulsão alimentar.
Recentemente esse livrinho foi banido na Flórida (always) como sendo infantil, mas não podendo ser lido por crianças nas escolas, o que não quer dizer que não podemos achá-lo facilmente na Internet, hehehe
Talvez o livrinho deixe parecer que a transição seja mais fácil do que de fato é, é bem otimista, mas sem dúvida é um deleite para outras crianças trans que se enxergam na protagonista.
Happy #pride! show less