Some Assembly Required
The Not-so-secret Life of A Transgender Teen
Book - 2014 | First edition
"Seventeen-year-old Arin Andrews shares all the hilarious, painful, and poignant details of undergoing gender reassignment as a high school student in this winning teen memoir"-- Provided by publisher.
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Publisher:
New York : Simon & Schuster BFYR, [2014]
Edition:
First edition
Branch Call Number:
306.7680835 A
Characteristics:
248 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Additional Contributors:
ISBN:
9781481416757
1481416758
9781481416764
1481416766
1481416758
9781481416764
1481416766
Opinion
From Library Staff
From Library Staff
For young adults: Arin Andrews recounts what it was like to go through high school while undergoing gender reassignment in this memoir.
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Madison G. Sponagle
Aug 20, 2019
Madison G. Sponagle thinks this title is suitable for 13 years and over
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This book was so great! :)
This was written by the trans lover of Luke/Katie from Rethinking Normal. Like that book, this one also isn't told in chronological order. The first chapter is closer to present times, and then the second chapter starts his childhood. The rest is told chronologically.
I think a better title for the book would've been "Miss Broken Arrow," the title she was given when she won a beauty pageant in her hometown; it's the name of her city and also symbolic of how she felt inside. But I guess Arin wouldn't like that title for the book since it suggests his original female sex.
I think it's a good book to read in addition to Rethinking Normal, but I still liked Rethinking Normal more; I feel that Katie was more genuinely trans, while Arin was just acting because being a girl is "oozing weakness and frailty" (p. 22). As a child, Arin was forced into ultra girly clothing and activities (like beauty pageants). She wasn't even allowed to have her hair cut short, even though plenty of females in the world have short hair that is acceptable by sexist society. Because her female sex made her mother force her into feminine activities, Arin probably felt like the only way out was to claim to be a boy. Because in our sexist society, it is just apparently too abnormal to have feminine males or masculine females. Society teaches you: "If you're masculine, you must be a male. If you're feminine, you must be a female." Gender roles are sexist. The trans movement wouldn't exist if our society let people express their femininity and masculinity without criticism. Femininity and masculinity is a spectrum, on which all of us fall somewhere. But that has nothing to do with our sex, which is factual and unchangeable.
This book was a good read to better understand one person's journey as a transgender teen.
One sees the struggles, physical and emotional, while understanding what was going on for Emerald/Arin.
A great companion piece to Re-Thinking Normal.
An honest, authentic and wonderful memoir. Arin Andrews writes a very candid and personal memoir about his journey to become who he was always meant to be. He does not speak for all trans people, only from his own unique experience.
Glad this book exists for all the beautiful young people like Arin!
Helped me understand some things I was confused about. Kudos to Arin Andrews for telling his story very openly, and to his family for accepting and helping. Arin surely has helped MANY teenagers and their families and friends!
As the Uncle of a transgender step-niece, I found this book very helpful in understanding the development of trans self-awareness and the steps (and alternatives) in the process of transition. This autobiography concludes with a well organized and up-to-date list of books, movies, and web sites on transgender being.
This was an interesting read. I will say though that once the gender transformation got started, I was a little confused with the pronoun use. Most of Arin's friends are also transgender, but when we (as the reader) are introduced to them, they are male, but when we "meet" them again, they are beginning their transition and would like to be referred to as she/her. If you are able to keep up, you will enjoy the book.
This book takes you through the transition not only from the person transitioning but their community as well. It's written in reality not through rose colored glasses. This book will help the general public gain understanding into a very controversial topic.