This book was written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe.
I have never read this book before.
Ratings: Amazon: 4.5 out of 5 stars. Goodreads: 4.29 out of 5 stars.
Summary: (copied from Amazon) In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
Here’s the information about e/em/eir pronouns: My pronouns are: e/em/eir • Pronouns.page
This book is a 2020 ALA Alex Award Winner, and a 2020 Stonewell – Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award Honor Book.
I do not have a lot of experience with trans or non-binary people, except when I helped a few trans soldiers complete their administrative transition. What this book really helped me with was to understand what it feels like to be a nonbinary and asexual, which can be a very sensitive and confusing experience for many that go through that alone. Kobabe stated in an interview with The Washington Post, “I originally wrote it for my parents and then for older teens who were already asking these questions about themselves. I don’t recommend this book for kids!” Sen. Kennedy’s sexually explicit reading of ‘Gender Queer’ left some things out – The Washington Post
As hinted in the title of the above link, many objectors cited certain parts of the book includes sexually explicit content. So, I will describe them in as much detail as I possibly can while still trying to remain safe for work.
The first instance of what people may view as sexually explicit content is when Maia starts to experiment with masturbation, a subject that is highly gender identity subject. Maia struggles with it because e prefers to imagine male genitals instead of the female genitals that e was born with. Another instance was when Maia had to undergo the excruciating practice of a pap smear, something that many men don’t know much about. The next instance is when Maia was dealing with the realization that e may be asexual, which is an interesting subject in this culture. There is a graphic picture with this conversation with eirself, of two unclothed men not touching each other with erect genitalia. It was supposed to be inspired by Plato’s symposium, so it is in the style of ancient Greek art.
The next instance has to do when Maia started to date, mostly out of the need to research for eir fiction projects. So, the complication of gender identity comes into play again and with a new partner, Maia tries a strap-on and the sexual explicit image is when e’s partner try to perform oral sex on it to see if that arouses Maia’s feelings. For context, Maia is in eir early 20s, and e stated that this book was not intended for minors for this reason.
One of the most important parts of this book is the discussion of Maia’s self-exploration in gender identity. Maia also introduces another book that can help more people understand this complicated journey, it’s called Touching a Nerve: Self as Brain, by Dr. Patricia Churchland. Touching a Nerve: The Self as Brain by Churchland, Patricia (amazon.com)
Here’s a few other written works about this graphic novel. Please keep an open mind and read.
Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer” is targeted by conservative Texas politicians | The Texas Tribune
The Banned Book Reviewer 
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