Gender Rebels: 30 Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender Expansive Heroes Past and Present

by Katherine Locke, Shanee Benjamin (Illustrator)

For young teens, this is a must-have book celebrating the history of 30 trans, gender-expansive, and nonbinary heroes throughout the world.

Explore the history of trans and nonbinary people throughout the world in this gorgeously illustrated nonfiction book for young teens. Readers will be educated and enlightened about gender-expansive people who have made a difference in our history and who continue to help raise awareness of diversity and inclusion in current society. Introductory materials give readers an insight into pronoun usage, the history of the word "transgender," and more before providing engaging and fascinating information about thirty trans, gender-expansive, and nonbinary people who have helped shape our world. From Callon of Epidaurus (the first intersex individual to receive surgery) to Elliot Page (a trans actor) to Tomoya Hosoda (the first trans politician in Japan), this book will open up dialogue and help educate young adults on the history, legacy, and future of trans, gender-expansive, and nonbinary people and their rights at a time when protecting those rights is needed more than ever. The book is complete with sidebars about trans topics, a reference guide, and a glossary of terminology.

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, History, Biography, Historical

120 pages, Hardcover

Published November 14, 2023

About the author

Katherine Locke lives and writes in a small town outside Philadelphia, where she’s ruled by her feline overlords and her addiction to chai lattes. She writes about that which she cannot do: ballet, magic, and time travel. She secretly believes all stories are fairytales in disguise. Her YA debut, THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON, arrives September 2017 from Albert Whitman & Comapny.

Reviews

[Heidi Goehmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and concise resource for learning about trans perspectives and terminology as well as a variety of individual stories of people’s experiences with gender. The highlight of this book is its attention to experiences across various cultures.

[Heaven Ashlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very decent book. especially for teen audiences. The fact that it is not entirely eurocentric is a highlight.

A few things of note:
-The deadnaming was very prevalent for most of the book which I feel like as a cis person I don't have a right to feel iffy about but it made me feel a little icky sometimes on behalf of the real life people on the pages. Maybe it's ok since the book is biographical but still. (Also do not listen to me as a cis person about this, I'm sure there are those who are transgender and gender non-conforming who have read this and reviewed it and maybe have their own opinions about this aspect.)
-Amaranta Gómez Regalado's chapter is introduced as "uses both she/her and they/them pronouns" and the author never uses she/her in the biographical text.
-Also given this book came out in 2023, Janelle Monae's pronouns were also not up to date (Janelle uses they/them and she/her starting publicly in April 2022).

Otherwise, this was a great book to read and learn about some amazing people.

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel as though this is a book more for people who are exploring their identity or a parent wanting to connect with their trans child.

I think this book highlighted wide range of trans and non-binary people throughout history, some of whom I knew about and some who I had never heard of. I appreciated how the author tried to put forth trans people of color, not just from the USA so that people from around the world could have their own role models.

There were two typos in the book which should have been fixed before publication. First, Ben Barres passed away in 2017, not 2007 like the book suggests. Secondly, this book came out in November 2023, 8 months after Georgina Beyer passed away, which I think would have been enough time to add her death date in, but maybe the publishing industry is stricter than that.

[Kent Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the book looked good the illustrator and author had good control of their respective crafts, and the bios were just right in length, but I believe this books impact would have been more effective if some room had been left for "Allies" of the LGBTQIA+ community. Maybe 5 of the 30 could have been set aside for that inclusivity, or maybe 35 stories? A good idea with lots of character that felt a little too niche for a book that promotes inclusion.

[Brandon Allers · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOOK INFO:
Publisher - Running Press Teens
Author - Katherine Locke
Illustrator - Shanee Benjamin
Page Count - 120
Type - Hardcover
Format - Perfect Binding
Cover - Flat Sheen, Portraiture
Title(s) - Gender Rebels
Audience - YA, NA 18+, A
Genre - Nonfiction, LGBT, Biography, History



Summary: Katherine Locke and Shanee Benjamin tag team in "Gender Rebels," a book geared towards teens and young adults (We older kids might learn a thing or two as well.) who might have or might be going through transitions or doubts about who they are in a world still very much built around the temple of MALE THIS & FEMALE THAT.

The 30 succinct biographies of the LGBTQIA+ community, both very much past and contemporary, all lend their brush strokes to the narrative of being different in a world where freedom of expression is what the prevailing culture says it is.

When the world is set in a particular mold, anyone who would change the contours, depths, or temperature at which to burn runs the risk of being ostracized from their homes and communities, in the most severe instances of challenging "The way things are," witch hunts would ensue.

A great many persons who never got to live their truth had to (and still do) pay the ultimate price for offending the established order, their beaten and bruised bodies placed upon alters of comfortable conformity and eternal continuity.


Encountering the DIFFERENT is time-consuming and sometimes hard, but it is not necessarily bad or broken. Maybe it just means growing, and the best spice gardens are overflowing with diverse tastes, textures, and tones.

AND OF COURSE.......

Being brave is harder, and Gender Rebels gave 30 pairs of shoes to fill—no easy task. They understood all too clearly that you can't live, play, and love hard if you don't know what it is like to work even harder!


Pros: Straightforward language, colorful illustrations, quick read, variety of LGBTQIA+ characters, glossary, and additional resources.


Cons: There is no thought experiment or Q&A for readers' full engagement, polarized material (The British Empire = Bad & Native Cultures = Good), and the narrative could have been rounded out with a few non-LGBTQIA+ biographies.


RECOMMENDATION: Fans of biographies abridged or otherwise, and lovers of self-discovery.


MY FAVORITE QUOTE: "For everyone who lived their truth, whether history recorded them or not."


**** Anahata = "Unstruck Sound" - Serenity
(You insert yourself among the characters)

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is meant for younger teens, but I found it entertaining and educational as well. I plan to pass this on to a middle school teacher I know, to share with anyone she thinks might need it. This book is bright and colorful, filled with drawings of the people it describes. It presents a short biography of each subject, but plenty of information to pique one's interest to learn more. This is an excellent book for older children and young teens, but I think it's also a quick, worthwhile read for anyone who wants to learn a little about this topic


I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts with a great 2-page spread about pronouns and how to use them. At my work, more and more of our new hires have they/them pronouns and we have one staff member who is trans and her pronouns are different than they were when when she started. Employees are struggling with using the correct pronouns and I think this part of the book will do the trick. It's a succinct explanation.

Like other reviewers, I didn't like that this book deadnamed some of the highlighted individuals. I also thought it was strange that the author never used they/them pronouns for Janelle Monae. If they are a non-binary icon, you might want to demonstrate their non-binaryness in your writing. The author exclusively used she/her pronouns for Monae (Monae has said they use these pronouns as well but that is not the point).

Overall, I enjoyed the book and I think it is a great book for teens to learn more. It was a quick read.

[Jean Kowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the scope of the book, and the illustrations and bright colors keep you engaged, but I think that the author could have connected better with the teen youth readers this book is geared towards might have made a bigger impact if some of the bios contained persons who are the readers age right now, the cast of characters certainly had to face harsh realities of a hostile world when younger no doubt, but it read more like a history (which is good, so we don't repeat the bad parts), but seemed a little heavy in that regard.

[Sky K]

As a cis person, I can't say exactly that anything is wrong here, however, there is use of several people's dead names in this book, and there was never anything saying that dead naming was wrong. With how informative and careful this book was trying to be, I found that a bit off.

Otherwise, I think this is a great, very informative book for younger teens, especially those questioning their gender.

[Lynn Fritzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the bright colors, and brief character bios past and present. I would have possibly sectioned off the cast if characters into "themes". The activists, the quietly different, the devil may care ect... It might have helped younger audience steer themselves towards the people they most identified with.

[Kristen M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick biographical anthology of trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive heroes throughout history. I love that it is international in scope and includes obscure folks from antiquity to present day. This was published in late 2023 and does mention briefly that anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is on the rise - but does not reflect the current state of trans erasure that is rapidly taking place.

[Ives Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal book that teaches LGBTQIA+ history as succinctly and beautifully as a teens' book needs to. My sole issue, however, and something that I could be wrong about, is that Janelle Monae uses they/them pronouns whereas in the book, they're addressed with she/her.

[Deke Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super bright colors and illustrations give so much love to the short biographies- exceedingly fascinating and diverse (in so many ways, but so surprisingly the well researched ancient people!). Very accessible introductory book.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great way to present potentially difficult conversations to young adults. A great resource for anyone looking to see people like themselves or anyone wanting to learn more about people who identify differently than themselves.

[Cameryn Lovett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super quick, super easy introduction to gender and some of the people who got us the rights we have now. Great for kids or for someone that doesn't have the gender vocabulary down or just wants to know how to be more respectful

[Peter Z. · Rating 1 out of 5]

We're gonna need a bigger nope.

Oh. I don't know what "gender expansive" means, but if any eligible ladies out there do want to help with expanding my "gender", u know ...hmu 😂

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short bios of 30 famous/historical people who did not conform to gender norms.

[Krys · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

[Katta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice colorful primer for kids and young teens featuring some of the gender trailblazers throughout history. A quick easy read

[Héloïse]

As I'm not the targeted audience, I don't feel comfortable rating the book.
It's a solid book for a first overview about trans and non-binary people.

A few things made me uncomfortable however:
- how often people are dead named... I get that they are easily accessible and it's there as biographical element, but I don't feel like it's an aspect enough talked about in the book that dead naming is not okay.
- the drawings of the famous people. I like the overall style and the other pictures are great but for the famous people it doesn't highlight their beauty. I hate how I barely can recognise them even compared to a photo and it looks almost caricaturistic.

I think however this could be a good book for young teenagers, it's quick to read and colourful.