My Life as a Diamond

I knew as soon as I saw this that I would love it. No, I do not love baseball. I remember being thrown into game without a clue of what goes on in this. I am very nearsighted and the ball always managed to elude my outstretched hands and smack me right on the nose, over and over again. My gym teacher actually stopped and gave me pointers on how to stand, how to hold the bat and enough confidence to hit a home run with the bases loaded. I was very confused that day, it never happened again. Reading all the play by play stuff about baseball was a chore for me but reading about Caz Cadman was a wonderful experience.

Here is a fellow, originally named Cassie and designated as a female on his birth certificate who loved everything about show more baseball and always felt he was a boy. One day in Toronto, he decides that his name should match his gender identity. He renamed himself and had his long braided hair cut off. While reading this book, I felt great empathy for this boy whose gender identity was the opposite of what his body was. It is very easy for me to understand. When I was five year old, my pediatrician pulled a stupid prank on me. He told me that he had to tell me that I was not a girl but a boy instead. My mother said that I screamed very loud, cried and could not be consoled. He laughed! I have never felt that it was funny. We never returned to him. A person's gender identity is very personal and should never be fodder for jokes. If you read this book, you can imagine how I felt about a character in this book named Kyle.

I highly recommend this book for all children. show less

My Life as a Diamond
By: Jenny Manzer

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fantastic, well-written book with an important topic.

I love watching baseball (Houston Astros!!!) but don’t love reading play-by-play accounts of games (any sport really). So normally, I would steer clear of a book that is clearly baseball-centric. However, I very much wanted to read this book because of its interesting premise - a boy (who was born a girl - Cassandra, Cassie to Caspar, Caz) moves to a new city and wants to make new friends all while guarding his secret. As a society, we have moved into a period of adjustment where we are transitioning from one set of ideas into a greater understanding of people as show more individuals. Change is not easy but books like this help.

I also was very keen to read another book by Jenny Manzer who wrote, Save Me, Kurt Cobain.

Pros:
1. The writing is whip smart. The author has a dry wit and finds the funny in life even in the face of drama and heartache. For instance, mom placing a “shoes for sale” sign over a pile of shoes left lying around. Why didn’t I think of that?
2. The “diamond” in the title does not refer to a baseball field but rather to the process of making diamonds. Diamonds are created when carbon is put under enormous pressure. The result is an immensely hard, crystal clear rock. Wow, what a concept for a young person to think about. As parents, we are eager to protect our children from “the world”. The idea of a “diamond” though is that living through these hard times can help create our best selves. I love this thought as it can help kids (people) hold their heads up high in the face of embarrassment or failure.
3. Caz is super brave (core of steel) to make this change. His decision and follow through felt real. However, the author does not shy away from showing the difficulties that follow such a decision. How will people react when they know? How and who will I tell? Which bathroom should i use? How do I respond when people I love and/or respect react badly or even slowly (like grandma and grandpa)?
4. So, number three (above) talks about how all of this affects Caz but I appreciated that the author also reflects on how this affects others. Mom and Dad are fully supportive of Caz but have to process a little grief at loosing their daughter. They also are scared for Caz. Every parent wants life to be kind to their child but Caz is on a difficult path and this is so hard for his parents. Why can’t the world see my wonderful child?
5. Near the end, Caz is outed by someone (I’m not giving anything away as this is in the description). I loved that entire scene because it just showed a myriad of reactions by different characters. Not everyone is understanding but some are. The author manages to capture these feelings just perfectly.
6. In the “Acknowledgment” section in the back, there are a ton of resources for people. I really appreciate this sort of well-researched thoughtfulness as it is so supportive.

Con:
My only criticism is that the book doesn’t talk much about puberty and the many problems this will provide for a trans teen. This book is aimed at kids age 9 and above and so perhaps this is appropriate. Perhaps the author really is just shining a spotlight on this one moment in time - the start of this whole process. Perhaps, like the main character, it is enough.

Conclusion:
No, the world isn’t perfect. Not everyone will love me. However, there are moments and people who will fill your world with glory so appreciate them show less

I received a free copy of this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. I don't read a lot of middle reader fiction but I am a huge baseball fan and this book hit all the right notes for me. As other reviewers mention, the plot lacks serious conflict of any kind (Caz is confident about his identity and his family and friends are mostly accepting) and the baseball plot is superficial (*spoiler* his baseball team practices and improves). Nonetheless, the dialogue is not forced, the narrator has some genuinely funny lines, and I kept turning the pages to see what would happen next. I hope others find this book as entertaining and joyful as I did. Normalizing characters like Caz in fiction is so important.

I applaud this book's message, especially given the pushback against rights for transgender folks in some quarters. I do wish there was more depth and complexity to the writing, both on the baseball end (the critical game lurches from being totally awful to being totally awesome, which can happen but feels a little forced here) and on the interpersonal end (same). It'd be interesting to see if transgender readers felt this was true to their experiences; the author herself is cis, and while she has done research it's not clear if she had talked to transgender kids during that process, or had more than one transgender kid review the story before publication.

I really enjoyed this book. It started off a bit slow and I was surprised that it jumped so quickly into announcing Caz's gender situation, but I think overall the book was tender and kind and exciting! Caz is a 10yr old boy who just wants to play baseball, and forget about the fact that he spent the first 9 years of his life as a girl. He has the chance at a fresh start in a new town with a new team, but how can he enjoy the game without feeling like an outsider? While this book is about a transgender character, it didn't feel like it was ONLY about that. The dynamic between the players, the family dynamic, and the thrill of the game all shone through. I will certainly be buying a copy of this book for my elementary school library show more collection.

*** I received this book through the Early Review program *** show less

Review by my 12 year-old son:

In my opinion, the book, "My Life as a Diamond" was a wonderful title. I thoroughly enjoyed this selection, and I would gladly recommend this book to another person. I really enjoyed how the author balanced the fine line between a story of passion, and sadness, with a story of sport, and valor. This is no small feat, finding this so called 'happy medium' in which the reader can delve into. The plot in this story was very simple, so simple that you could summarize the book by saying, " someone played sports". But the complex backstory, the amazing theme of friendship, and just the idea that you could be whatever you wanted to be turned a book with a normal, simple plot into so much more. The amazing writing show more of this book is something to be proud of. I would gladly read this book again, it is just so wonderful. I will share this book with my associates, with the hope that they will read it, and have similar feelings about this book. This book is just perfect. show less

My Life as a Diamond is a nice little book. I think it would be a really nice story for young people. Personally I do believe this topic, along with many others, should be introduced to
young people, it helps them understand how we're all different and might help them feel better about themselves or friends of theirs. I really like the way it's framed around
baseball. Most stories like this I'm aware of deal with MTF, very few comparatively deal with FTM. For you people, this is a really nice little intro to the other side of things.
Recommended.