Mijn broer heet Jessica

by John Boyne, Mechteld Jansen (Translator)

Broers Sam en Jason zijn altijd onafscheidelijk geweest. Tot Jason op een dag opbiecht dat hij zich al zijn hele leven een meisje voelt. Het is voor Sam en hun ouders een grote schok. Moeder is staatssecretaris met het doel premier te worden en een transseksueel kind is slechte publiciteit. Na een tijdje wordt de situatie voor Jason zo onleefbaar dat hij bij zijn tante gaat wonen, waar hij zichzelf kan zijn.

Kan de familie uiteindelijk toch begrip opbrengen voor Jasons gevoelens? En hoe lang houdt Jason het vol zonder de acceptatie van de mensen van wie hij het meest houdt?

In dit hartverscheurende verhaal weet John Boyne transseksualiteit met zorg te belichten en te normaliseren, zonder ook maar ergens belerend te worden. Een prachtig verhaal over liefde, twijfel, en de moed om jezelf te durven zijn.

Genres: LGBT, Young Adult, Queer, Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Family

183 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 18, 2019

About the author

I was born in Dublin, Ireland, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by UEA.

I’ve published 14 novels for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, and a short story collection. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas was a New York Times no.1 Bestseller and was adapted for a feature film, a play, a ballet and an opera, selling around 11 million copies worldwide.

Among my most popular books are The Heart’s Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky and My Brother’s Name is Jessica.

I’m also a regular book reviewer for The Irish Times.

In 2012, I was awarded the Hennessy Literary ‘Hall of Fame’ Award for my body of work. I’ve also won 4 Irish Book Awards, and many international literary awards, including the Que Leer Award for Novel of the Year in Spain and the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Germany. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia.

My novels are published in 58 languages.

My 14th adult novel, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES, a sequel and companion novel to THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, will be published in the UK on September 15th 2022, in the US and Canada on November 29th, and in many foreign language editions in late 2022 and 2023.

Reviews

[AJ]

(Note before we begin: Any comments calling me a bigot or reactionary, claiming cis is a slur, or telling me to write my own books [which I am already doing, thank you very much] will be blocked and deleted. I've already gotten rid of several and frankly I have better things to do.)

Edit: After a discussion, I have removed my rating of this book, leaving only my comment. However, it will remain a one-star in my heart, because I believe harmful books deserve negative reviews, but maybe that’s just me.

tl;dr: The title, synopsis, and *entire concept* of this book are so damaging (and revealing of the damage it will do) to me as a trans person that I refuse to read this and put myself through something I know will harm me. This is an overview of my thought process.

If I wanted a few thousand words of cis people talking about how confusing and difficult trans people are, I don't have to read this book. I just have to talk to my family.

Here's how I see this whole mess going:

-Cis man writes a book about a cis boy dealing with his trans sister coming out.
-Trans people get pissed because the book is transphobic (which it is).
-Cis people call us sensitive and "helpfully" reassure us the book is quite respectful (which it isn't).
-Cis people pat themselves on the back for being "good allies" because they haven't actively participated in murdering a trans person recently.

Okay, okay. Am I, a known trans, being overly sensitive? Cis people would sure say so. "Look!" they'll say. "It's about a boy who comes to love his transgender sister for who she is! It's sweet and charming and in no way offensive to trans people!" They'll say, "You have nothing to be offended by. You're just looking for something to be offended by."
They'll say, "You haven't even read it. How can you possibly know?"

I don't have to read it. Let's break down what we already have.

We'll start simple for the cis people who have no idea what I'm talking about. First off, we have the title. This is where I started getting wary. Our first red flag: a true ally, someone who actually cares about trans people, would know to choose Literally Any Other Title. It is painfully reminiscent of the things I've heard while coming out--"Her name is AJ now," or, "She goes by Andrew these days."

While those things can be said with good intentions, they still hurt. It reminds me that you don't really see me as a man. This title lets us know that Jessica is NOT seen as a girl, not to mention it normalizes this kind of language. And sure, we can say it would incentivize sales, or help sanitize the book for cis readers, and my response is simple. DON'T sanitize things for cis people if it means using harmful language. We’ve given them enough already, don’t you think?

Then, we have the constant misgendering and deadnaming of Jessica throughout the synopsis. Let a trans person take a shot at writing a slightly-less awful version of it:

"Sam Waver has always idolised his big sister. Unlike Sam, Jessica seems to have life sorted - she's kind, popular, amazing at football, and girls are falling over themselves to date her.
The only problem? Nobody, not even Sam, knows that Jessica is actually a girl. Sam's parents don't want to know and Sam simply doesn't understand. Because what do you do when you discover you've had a sister all along?"

The truth is, deadnaming and misgendering are violent acts and should be treated like the weapons they are. Deadnaming and misgendering can break a trans person's spirit. It eats away at your heart. It makes you sick to your stomach or feels like a punch to the side of the head. In fiction, this power should be wielded carefully and only with the knowledge of the damage they will do. It is certainly not something to just absently throw into the synopsis.

However, when we read over my new synopsis, something still feels off.

Why?

Because this book centers a cis person's pain.

Poor little Sam. His world is falling apart because he suddenly realizes his sister is a girl! As a trans person, to be frank, I don’t really care. I’m too busy hoping my new doctor won’t refuse to treat me, or wondering if small-town law enforcement thinks giving my real name and not my legal one counts as obstruction, to coddle a cis boy’s feelings.

Transitioning is a scary, harrowing time for a trans person, no matter how accepting their surroundings are. We are terrified of cruelty, rejection and, in some situations, death. We realize that we are opening ourselves up to a lifetime of violence and discrimination.

Acting like a cis person's confusion over the right names and pronouns and "oh no, I have a sister, what do I do?" is more important is the most self-centered, ignorant thing I have ever encountered.

As a transgender author who is neck-deep in a community of other trans writers, seeing this book--that makes money off us, centers the cis experience, and does it WRONG all the while--get good ratings, bring in money for a cis writer, and be PUBLISHED by a substantial publisher, all while my trans siblings--writing about their trans experiences respectfully and honestly--struggle to be seen in traditional publishing spaces, is a knife through the heart.

Cis people won’t even give us a chance to speak before talking over us and profiting off their ignorance and “good allyship” because they weren’t a total dick for five seconds. If you really want to be a good ally, don't write stuff like this. Boost diverse trans voices--queer trans people, trans people of color, fat trans people, disabled trans people, ALL OF THEM. Introduce trans people to your children early. Let them know that transgender people exist. This way, little Sam won't be heartbroken or lost--he'll be excited to have a sister. What you do is help change the culture of confusion, ignorance, and otherness surrounding trans people. What you DON'T do is write a book like this, that exploits it.

Here's my honest opinion. I don't have to read this book to feel the heartbreak I know will go with it. Everything I've seen so far has just made me even more exhausted and disheartened than I already was. So unless the title and synopsis are completely and utterly wrong, unless they have literally nothing to do with this book, I don't even have to look at the first page.

[Rowan MacBean · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everything about the outside of this book is a huge red flag for trans readers. The title and the blurb scream that this is yet another story that uses our lives and struggles as the backdrop to talk about how ~hard~ it is for the cis people in our lives to deal with us.

I am sick and tired of stories about disabled people that are centered around the ableds around them, stories about POC that are centered around the white people around them, and stories about trans people that are centered around the cis people around them. Stop doing this. It’s been done a million times, we don’t need your hot take, too. Let marginalised people write their own damn stories and stop using us as grist for your mill.

[A]

John Boyne stop misrepresenting marginalized children through the perspectives of children he himself can relate to challenge

[Penni Russon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm cis. My son is trans. This review contains spoilers I guess, though its nothing you won't see coming a mile off.

Not only is the title a trash-fire, it's also the line used in the emotional climax of the novel, the moment in which the brother, on behalf of his family, publicly accepts his sister's identity in front of the media (the mother is running for PM, it's at a press conference). So yeah, at no point does the book outgrow its title. There's no self awareness or meta layers here.

There's a scene with a psychologist in the middle of the book, in which the psych stands in for the 'voice of reason'. I thought it was very telling that Boyne has the psychologist do the heavy lifting here.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been heavily criticised by transgender community for its allegedly insensitive title and there are numerous one star reviews on GR from people who admit to have never even read the book! 

Well, I read it and despite the book being aimed at a younger audience, this is a wonderful and enlightening read with an important timely topic made accessible to a wide range of readers. 

The book includes an Afterword from John Boyne explaining why he decided to write a book with a transgender character:

"The worst piece of advice anyone can give a writer is to write about what they know. Who wants to do something so limiting? One of the reasons I write is because I want to explore the lives of other people. I find it both interesting and challenging to write about what I don't know and to use my writing to learn about a subject, to understand it and to represent it as authentically as possible in order to help others make sense of it too."

I cannot agree more! There aren't enough books on this topic and I believe that books like this are educational if nothing else.

So please go read the book and give it the rating it deserves.

[Tilly Latimer · Rating 1 out of 5]

CW: transphobia

I acquired an advance copy of this book, and I’m here to tell you to pass it by. Before I go further, let’s be clear: I am a straight cis woman. If trans people say that my review is wrong, please listen to them.

There are so many issues with this book, and I’m going to start with the least harmful ones: if you don’t want to run into transphobic content then don’t read past this paragraph (this is a content warning for those who would appreciate it). Firstly, the main character read to me as very much younger than he was supposed to be. I’d have pegged him as 10/11. Certainly not well into secondary school age. Secondly, the parents were awful. Not just in terms of how they behaved, which was certainly awful, but the way they were written was so 2 dimensional that they came across as almost parodies of ‘parents who don’t accept their trans child’. It was painful to read, frankly. There was no nuance to them at all, they were like cartoon characters of ‘bad parents’.

Ok, below here is the stuff about trans representation in the book.

As the title suggests, the trans girl in the book is consistently misgendered throughout by her family. Now let’s be clear - misgendering by family is something which happens to trans people. The problem isn’t the what, it’s the who (which is something other people have also pointed out). The book isn’t about how the trans character deals with the misgendering, it’s about how awful it is for her brother to have a trans sister. It sidelines the trans character and also reinforces the idea that its terribly difficult to have a trans child/sibling, and it will be a universally awful experience. Because Boyne is looking at this from the point of view of Jessica’s brother, it simply reinforces the stereotype that trans people are something to be feared and othered.

The trans character is expected to be endlessly patient and explain things to her family even when they are treating her appallingly, which is not a positive message to send young people who are trans. Again, it reinforces a harmful stereotype - that in the face of transphobia you must remain polite and civil and try and see things from the point of view of people who actively wish you harm. Jessica’s parents do eventually start treating her with respect, but again, harmful stereotype alert - she’s their learning moment. She teaches them tolerance at her own expense.

This is not good trans representation, and it’s not a good book to give to a young adult who might be in a similar situation to the main character. It’s not a book to recommend to anyone.

[Jessica (Spooky KidLit & We Who Walk Here, Walk Alone)]

Trans readers and writers shouldn't have to do the work for you - this title and synopsis are obviously violently transphobic in their misgendering and deadnaming of Jessica and their centering of cis characters' feelings - but since trans people are telling you how painful and harmful this book is, please listen to them.

[Colleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't actually read this book, but as the spouse of a trans-person I can say that the title is both ignorant and hurtful. Jessica is the main character's sister.

[Nemo ☠️ (pagesandprozac)]

so writers still aren't over the whole misgendering clickbait titles yet in the year of our lord 2019 i see

anyways if you want a YA book about trans people that is written by an actual trans woman so she acc knows what she's talking about, i highly recommend If I Was Your Girl, an utterly superlative book that made me cry (mostly in a good way) approx 9 squillion times and helps cis people understand the trans experience without all this deadnaming, misgendering garbage fire

seriously, tho - go read If I Was Your Girl!!!

[Heatherblakely]

Trans people can tell their own stories and we as cis people need to stop centering ourselves in their narratives. Full stop.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

EDIT: HE'S COME OUT AS A STRAIGHT UP TERF FUCK HIM AND THE BIH HE ROWLED UP WITH BOYCOTT THIS BOOK AND DON'T BUY ANYTHING HE WRITES.

Spoilers which I absolutely hate giving but if people aren't going to read the book.

I absolutely hate it when people review something they haven't read. I find it incredibly ironic that trans people and their supporters are the ones hating something of which they are ignorant simply because it exists.

A few points.

- This is not a book by a cis person pretending to be a trans person. This is a book by a cis person pretending to be a younger cis person. The reason being, I assume, the author's not trans and knows he's not and while he's probably able to empathise because he seems in general like a pretty empathetic guy, doesn't feel that he would be able to accurately portray someone trans in first person.

- Just because this is not a book by a trans person about a trans person in first person does not mean it is worthless.

- Yes, Sam did not accept the transition of Jason to Jessica at first. Other children may have had an easier time accepting it. Sam did not. This does not mean that Sam is a poorly written character. A novel is not a collection of averages distilled down into a narrative, or it wouldn't be called a novel.

- The title is the result of the main character, Sam, the 13-14 year old brother of Jason-Jessica, having a hard time accepting that his brother is now his sister but making a conscious choice to accept it, and at the same time marking his sister's transition to people who would still call her his brother. Just because he was having a hard time in his situation does not mean that Jessica wasn't having a worse one. Also it's not a competition about whose pain is worse. That's not healthy or helpful in my experience. Also it's fiction.

I am not looking for a debate, I am simply expressing my opinion.

If you feel I have misunderstood something feel free to point it out to me, as long as you have read the book.

I'm not particularly sorry if I have offended someone. If you get offended by people having opinions then you're in for a bad life. I'm not trans; I can't understand what trans people go through. That seems rather the point of this book, which is good, made by the author, who as far as I know is a good person, and doesn't deserve to be called transphobic and hated upon because he wrote something fictional which you didn't bother to read.

[Silvia]

Yikes

[Skye Kilaen]

There are PLENTY of trans folks talking about how bad this whole idea is, please read their concerns before choosing to read/review this book.

[halfirishgrin]

A transphobic book by a transphobic author.

[Bobo The Bard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whoo boy. Where do I even begin. Straight off, seeing the title and blurb, I can see issues.

The title deadnames the trans character. What is the problem, you ask? Because it makes it seem like the story is about a boy realizing he is a girl. This perpetuates the usage of incorrect language that does real harm. Would you like it if people called you by the wrong name and gender because "it's catchy?" Cringe. No. That is wrong. Even if no one knows yet because they are not out, trans girls ARE girls because girls are girls. Sam's SISTER is neither a he, nor Jason. She never was. His sister's name is Jessica. She was always a girl. The deadnaming AND the reference to the character as his brother fails to respect that Jessica IS a woman. Literally any other title would have been more respectful.

In addition, this story is all about the anguish suffered by the cis MC who JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND, and his pain is set over the ACTUAL PAIN OF THE TRANS CHARACTER. This perpetuates the myth that being trans is something mysterious and incomprehensible, and that cis hurt matters above all else. While hurt is often valid, this setup overshadows the fact that society is NOT fair to trans people, who face struggles that cis people don't. Lack of acceptance. Bureaucracy. Lack of access to adequate healthcare, mental and physical. Prejudice.

A better angle? Make the story about Jessica. Normalize the acceptance and existence of trans people. Teach your kids young so it never gets to the point of bigotry.

Which brings me to my next point. This story is not ownvoices.

There are no big name trans books by trans authors. Until then, it is not acceptable for cis people to keep exploiting transgender experiences for profit.

There are plenty of other ownvoices stories written by trans authors told from a place of honesty and respect. If you want to support trans people and trans stories, please go read those.

[hithereimleah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I firmly believe that if everyone were to read this book, the world would become a kinder and far more understanding place. Such an honest, heartbreaking, and enlightening story discussing some of the most important issues that are dealt with daily - gender, relationships, family, politics and freedom.

An already volatile family is thrown into chaos when Sam's older brother, Jason, gains the confidence to tell her family that she is actually Jessica. Their parents are convinced that 'Jason' is just unwell, and Sam refuses to accept that his big brother is actually his big sister. With multiple problems along the way and the help of a wonderfully open-minded Aunt, this story is ultimately about the freedom that acceptance and inclusivity can bring.

[jazmin ✿]

transphobic, i think the title tells you more than enough

[Brooke Banks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review from a trans* person: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

TW misgendering, deadnaming, ciscentric narrative about trans person’s coming out/transition

well this is horrifying. and the whole blurb is somehow even even worse. https://t.co/ksofgZyapY

— nicky tyler (he/they) (@nickyoflaherty) March 30, 2019

[Marianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Please don't get this book if you think you are trying to be an ally, or trying to develop a diverse collection.

It's focused on Sam, the younger brother and his emotional reactions and difficulties, when his sister Jessica is going through so much stuff. Even at the end, page 230 of 240, he is still calling his sister 'my brother Jason'. Poor Jessica!

But what really got this book 1 star, less if I could was the line:

when I read [articles about transgender people] it seemed like things had worked out fine for them in the long run (p. 216)

Sorry, but 41% of the transgender community attempting to commit suicide is NOT 'working out fine in the long run.'

[Mizu]

Mister 'I support trans rights but reject the word cis'. Yeah, thanks but no thanks.

[ReadAlongWithSue recovering from a stroke★⋆. ࿐࿔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio. Very quick read and some interesting thought provoking things spring to mind.

It’s not the best if books I’ve read in this subject matter but it does hit home some important factors when parents are confronted with the fact that their son is indeed their daughter from now on.

I fully take on board (although this is fiction) that some parents would be hard pushed to accept being told that the son they gave birth to is indeed a girl inside a boys body and how the entire family would mourn the transition. It has got to be difficult in all sides although in different ways.

Maybe I dug too deep into this book but I saw some negative comments and I hope I can see both sides of the equation.

It’s for YA so I would say it’s written very well.

[Rach · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just say you’re a transphobe and go, Boyne. No one needs another book about cis people “struggling” to deal with having a trans family member. We get it, you think your imagined struggles are more important than those of the person who you’re purposefully misgendering.

[Alana Saunders · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book annoyed me. People were incredibly prejudiced then suddenly just not? It makes no sense.

[AJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I haven’t actually read this book, but the title is offensive and transphobic, the description is offensive and transphobic, so I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the rest of the book will probably be offensive and transphobic too. Cis people, if you want to be an ally, skip this book and read something written by a trans person.

[Jutta Swietlinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit that I’m a bit conflicted about this book. Some people have criticized the misgendering in the novel’s title, but I didn’t have any issues with that because it’s essentially the crucial point of the story. 
Sam, the first-person narrator, is thirteen when his elder brother Jason, a very good-looking and popular guy who has always been idolized by Sam, finally tells his younger brother and parents a well-kept secret: He’s actually not a “he” at all, but transgender: a girl. The trouble is that the whole family refuses to accept this truth about their child and sibling. Consequently, Sam stubbornly keeps calling his new sister “my brother Jason” and referring to her as “he/him” all the time, whereas their parents alternate between ignoring their daughter’s coming-out and considering her to be mentally disordered.
And that’s the point where my criticism starts: I think that the parents are really exaggerated, sometimes almost grotesque in their willful ignorance. In fact, it’s really annoying to see them terribly offend and discriminate against their supposedly beloved child – and, notably, the fact that I had the feeling the author means it in a humorous way!
And that’s the main problem, in my opinion: Writing this story, John Boyne seemed to be of two minds too often, being indecisive about whether to take his topic seriously or not, about the genre (children’s book, book for young people or for adults) and other things.
Well, I guess the main thing is that not only Sam, but also their parents accept Jessica (who is by far the most likeable character in the whole book, by the way) as their sister and daughter in the end so that she ultimately gets the chance to be happy.
But there are more aspects I liked a lot about this novel, especially the author’s play with gender roles, for example the fact that Sam and Jessica’s mother is building a career as a high-profile politician and their father is her private secretary. I also loved it when Jessica explains to her little brother that she can still like (that is, be sexually attracted to) girls even though she’s not (perceived as) a boy (anymore). And more …
All in all, the book is an honorable and mostly successful, albeit not very in-depth, attempt to deal with the topic of being transgender in an interesting and open-minded way. I’d recommend it, with some small reservations.
3.5 stars.

[McCutsinger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ah, transphobic garbage! Burn it.

[Sarah Churchill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have never been so angry while listening to a book in my life.

I've never really included Content Warnings in my reviews (perhaps I should?) but I actually kept a physical list during this book because I was so worried someone would come into it expecting some kind of empowering and/or educational story on Transexuality and actually be damaged by it.

The main theme of this book is Transphobia, pure and simple, but in addition to that we also have Racism, Xenophobia, Ableism, Misogyny, Sexism, Bullying, Child Neglect and Child Sexualisation. Sam and Jessica's parents are English politicians, and without being explicitly stated it's very clear throughout that they're Conservatives with a capital C. Everyone from immigrants and the EU to 'models with one leg would have to hop down the runway' gets a derogatory dig.

Fitting all of that hate in a 256 Middlegrade novel is no small feat.

Not only do Jessica's parents send her to a therapist and actually ask about electric shock therapy to 'cure' her, but the media apparently portrays her as a fr*ak with no shame. This book was published in 2019. TWENTY NINETEEN! I'm not suggesting by any means that the UK media isn't a bunch of d*cks, BUT to have literally nobody advocate for this poor young adult trying to find their way in the world apart from the cooky vegan aunt who rides a horse to the train station and invites homeless people into her home (the poor woman with THIS CLOSE to having 'raving leftie' tattooed on her head as far as characterisation goes), seems a bit heavy handed. Oh, wait, also the Football coach was supportive, just to point out how - of all people! - the manliest of men thought Jessica could 'dress as an alien for all he cares'... STOP. IT.

The complete 180 turn of the parents comes with no apparent trigger or warning, and so I can't say what made them 'see the light' and actually put their child first for a second. And that's the big problem I really have with this book - there is no lesson. The POV is Jessica's little brother Sam, 13 years old, not understanding what being Trans really means while being soaked in gross rhetoric by his parents and grieving the loss of the brother he idolises. There's potential there to make this a conversation starter with young people, and I feel that's what this book was *trying* to be, but there's no hand-holding through the confusion, anger and grief that this CHILD is feeling. Just a barrage of hate for everything and everyone, shoehorned into a story that is focused more on how selfish their parents are than anything really meaningful.

The afterword from John Boyne tells me that he meant well and for this to be educational, and how 'write what you know' doesn't leave room for growth and exploration. Ok, I get that to a degree. He does say he chatted with trans kids during the writing, but adds ‘I don’t understand what it’s like to be transgender’ before describing his experience of realising he was gay at around Sam's age, and hiding his sexuality until he was around Jessica's age. I can see the parallels, and as a cis white female I fully acknowledge that it is not my place to be offended, and I'm not trying to be a white knight here. I just know that as an adult I would be very concerned about handing this book to a child to read under the guise of 'education and discussion'.

I don't know how it missed the mark so spectacularly and still managed to get published by Puffin of all people. In my 8 years reviewing books I've always managed to find some redeeming feature to balance a review, and provide enough info for YOU to decide if it's something you want to try for yourself regardless of my own tastes. But Mr. Boyne, mate, this ain't it.

[Leigh Kramer]

CW: transphobia

After reading John Boyne's transphobic article promoting this forthcoming book, it's apparent how ever much research he did, it wasn't nearly enough. I can only imagine how the trans community feels right now. I'm very disappointed in Boyne. I loved The Heart's Invisible Furies (which is ownvoices for gay rep) but will be adding a caveat about his offensive behavior to my review. And while I was actually planning on reading A Ladder To The Sky during my trip this weekend, I'm not planning to do so anymore. I don't want to lend him any credit.

If you're unclear as to why this book is so problematic and offensive to the trans community, I suggest reading this #ownvoices perspective .

[Hannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek heeft zoveel negatieve reacties van mensen die het boek niet eens gelezen hebben, dat ik het boek juist daarom wel wil lezen. Ik wil mijn eigen mening vormen, in plaats van klakkeloos anderen te volgen.

Inmiddels heb ik het boek gelezen en ik vind het een goed boek. Ik snap niet waarom mensen zo negatief zijn. Het zou goed zijn als ze het boek eens lazen in plaats van het te beoordelen op de titel en de beschrijving.

Ik snap dat ze de manier waarop Jasons broertje en ouders reageren op het nieuws van Jason niet leuk is. Toch denk ik dat het wel geloofwaardig is. Natuurlijk kun je zeggen dat de familie hem moet steunen bij zijn transformatie naar een meisje. Maar ik denk niet dat dat de werkelijkheid is voor veel transgenders. Vandaar dat ik vind dat John Boyne het onderwerp goed heeft neergezet.

Natuurlijk zou het mooi zijn als de samenleving open zou staan voor transgenders. We leven echter in een maatschappij waarin mensen vooroordelen hebben. Dat is op allerlei gebieden; sekse, geloof, ziekte, ras, huidskleur. Het is goed om vooroordelen te bestrijden, maar het is een utopie om te denken dat alles perfect is en geen enkele transgender weerstand ervaart van de omgeving. Overigens vind ik dat de mensen die zo negatief zijn niet erg open minded zijn, want ze veroordelen een boek zonder de inhoud te kennen.

Mijn review zal wellicht negatieve reacties uitlokken van mensen die zeggen dat ik het niet snap. Nu weet ik inderdaad niet hoe het is om transgender te zijn, want ik ben vrouw en ik voel me vrouw. Toch denk ik dat dit boek een goed beeld geeft van hoe de situatie nu is. John Boyne heeft zich goed in het onderwerp verdiept door met jonge transgenders te praten. Er zijn mensen die zeggen je kunt alleen over het onderwerp schrijven als je zelf transgender bent. Dat is onzin. Er zijn genoeg boeken over de Tweede Wereldoorlog geschreven door schrijvers die de oorlog niet hebben meegemaakt.

Aan de schrijfstijl en het einde kun je merken dat het jeugdboek is. Toch heeft me dat niet echt gestoord. Wel had ik soms wat moeite om me met de hoofdpersoon te identificeren. Ik vind het boek een aanrader - ook voor volwassenen - die meer over het onderwerp willen weten, zodat ze niet dezelfde fouten maken als de personages.

[nitya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ewwwwww @ the title

Double ewwwww at the cis author. Y’all read books by trans/nonbinary writers and avoid this transphobic mess.