About the Book
“I never would have been able to tell!” I was finally able to put my finger on it, and it’s something that anyone who is meeting a transgender person for the first time should keep in mind. Saying you “never would have known” is actually very rude. Being surprised that a person looks like the gender they are just reinforces a stereotype that transgender people aren’t usually attractive or able to pass, and worse, the stereotype that physical appearances even matter. A person’s true essence comes from within!
Review
I have heard little bits of Jazz' story, so I was pretty excited to read this. I got the audiobook from the library when I saw she was narrating it.
It was pretty fascinating. You can tell it was written by a teenager, but one with a lot of life experience. She's had to deal with some pretty heavy situations because of the people around her not understanding her. The ignorance of people can sometimes create horrible situations. Malala said something like that in her book, I Am Malala. Paraphrased, it states that without the education people exposed to things will understand them wrong and not react in positive ways. Although she was talking about terrorists, I think that applies across the board with ignorance. The people creating the bullshit issues with transgendered people are all misinformed and ignorant on the subject.
What is most important from this book is it helped make Jazz into more of a person and not just some public figure. I appreciated that she told her story in an attempt to reach out to both trans and cisgendered people, and I look forward to hearing more from her.