Title: Freakboy
Author: Kristin Elizabeth Clark
ISBN: 9780374324728
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Copyright Date: 2013
Genre: LGBTQ; Realistic Fiction
About the Author:
Her young adult debut, Freakboy, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) in 2013. It received three starred reviews, and was named to several best-of lists, including the Top 10 Rainbow List by the American Library Association, and the Bank Street Best Books for Children.
Bio. http://kristinelizabethclark.com/about/.
Curriculum Ties:
- Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
- Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
Plot Summary:
Freakboy is a story that examines the life of Brendan, a high school wrestler, as he struggles understanding his sexuality. Brendan at times feels like he should be a woman, which leads him to have a hard time understanding what he should be. In this, he struggles to understand how he feels and what he should do about it. He does have a girlfriend, Vanessa, who has difficulty accepting Brendan’s difficulties, and she struggles to keep him with her. Brendan also has to deal with his wrestling coach, who regular mocks him, calling him Brenda. Fortunately, he comes across a transgender girl named Angel, who was born a boy and understands what Brendan is going through. She also went through her share of troubles, dealing with abuse from her family in making her choice. With the support of Angel, and his mother, Brendan works to navigate this change in his life and figure out what to do with it.
Critical Evaluation:
The composition of Freakboy is in a free verse poem, told from the perspective of three people; Brendan, Angel, and Vanessa. Brendan is the main character of these, with the focus being on his development from a boy with transgender attitudes. Over the course of the story, he comes to grips with what he wants to do and becomes more comfortable with himself. Helping make this transition is Angel, who has had her own struggles, being beaten by her own father and mocked by the larger community. She has a strong attitude and will, going through these experiences with the desire to help others. Vanessa is Brendan’s girlfriend, a wrestler who struggles to understand what Brendan is going through and determined not to lose him. As the story evolves through these characters’ perspectives, it become more involved and changes into an in depth look at what transgender teens go through, making it an eye opening read.
Readers Annotation:
Brendan is your normal popular high school student on the outside. On the inside he struggles to understand why his body feels wrong. Read along as Brendan comes to understand his transgender feelings and come to accept them.
Book Talking Ideas:
- Discuss some of the issues that transgender teens have. Look for some examples of problems in the book.
- Discuss Brendan's life up to the story. Look for how his feelings change over the course of the book and how those around him react.
Reading Level/Interest Age: 12-18
Challenge Issues:
- Consistent sexual themes including questions of sexuality and gender.
- Physical and Verbal Abuse from characters in the story.
Defense Collection:
- Debut novelist Clark uses free verse to write a gripping story about a complex topic: the challenges of growing up transgender or genderqueer. Brendan struggles with his occasional desires to be a girl; in her own series of poems, Brendan’s devoted girlfriend, Vanessa, worries about why he is suddenly avoiding her. Meanwhile, transgendered Angel—whom Brendan meets near the teen center where Angel works—reveals her own painful journey; her intense story includes physical abuse and a hospital stay after being beaten up while working as a prostitute. Clark doesn’t stray far from central theme (the back matter includes resources and further reading) as she empathically explores what it can be like to be a transgendered teen (for example, not every transitioning character considers sex-reassignment surgery to be important). The author emphasizes that there are no simple answers for her characters, especially Brendan, who wonders if the transgendered label even fits. At the same time, through Angel, she gives her story a current of hope: “Everyone feels like a freak/ until they make up their mind/ they’re not.” Ages 12–up. Agent: Tracey Adams, Adams Literary. (Oct.) --Staff (Reviewed September 16, 2013) (Publishers Weekly, vol 260, issue 37, p)
- A must-buy that showcases three teen voices in free verse as they experience just a few of the myriad ways people experience gender nonconformity. Brendan is a reluctant wrestler and a dutiful boyfriend. His social life is a minefield, his athlete friends casual with their homophobia. One dreadful day, the wrestling team all dresses as cheerleaders, just a joke--for everyone else. Vanessa is Brendan's girlfriend, a wrestler herself. The only girl on the boys' team, Vanessa defends herself against homophobia at school and a family who tell her, "No boy wants a rough girl." Her love for Brendan is a signpost that she's normal. Angel is an indomitable community college student who's seen her share of the crap life throws at queer kids: beaten and rejected by her father, almost killed by a john. She works at the Willows Teen LGBTQ Center, helping other teens, says she's "blessed to like me / the way I am," and is unbent even by the vandalism Brendan commits in a fit of internalized transphobia. In alternating and distinct sections, these three young adults navigate love, family and society. Angel's position at the LGBTQ center provides narrative justification for the occasional infodump. There are no simple answers, readers learn, but there will always be victories and good people. Though the verse doesn't always shine, it's varied, with concrete poems and duets keeping the voices lively. This gutsy, tripartite poem explores a wider variety of identities--cis-, trans-, genderqueer--than a simple transgender storyline, making it stand out. (Fiction. 12-17)(Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2013)
- Awards:
- Rainbow List: 2014
- YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2014
- Reconsideration Policy
- Freedom to Read Statement
- ALA Library Bill of Rights
- Springville Public Library Collection Development Policy
- The Library Director and designated staff actively evaluate and select materials. The Springville Public Library Board, acting under the authority given to it by Title 4, Chapter 6 of the Springville Municipal Code and Title 09 of the Utah State Code, has the ultimate responsibility for the determination of the policies for selection and acquisition of materials.
- Library materials are selected based on the following (not necessarily in order of priority):
- Local public demand and usage potential
- Popularity
- Subject coverage
- Relevance
- Accuracy and currency
- Presentation, readability and format
- Point of view (all sides)
- Cost
- Local connection
- Social values
- Collection balance
- To assess the item based on the above criteria, staff utilize:
- Nationally recognized and relevant pre-publication reviews
- Staff expertise
- Bestseller lists
Collection:
This book is a very positive resource for teens struggling to understand their transgender feelings. It not only depicts these characters in a positive light, it also features resources that can be helpful. These make it a valuable addition to the collection.
This book is a very positive resource for teens struggling to understand their transgender feelings. It not only depicts these characters in a positive light, it also features resources that can be helpful. These make it a valuable addition to the collection.
No comments:
Post a Comment