Beyond Magenta

Transgender Teens Speak Out

By: Susan Kuklin

Narrated by: Tanya Eby, Nick Podehl, Todd Haberkorn, Roxanne Hernandez, Janina Edwards, Nancy Wu, Marisol Ramirez

A 2015 Stonewall Honor Book

A groundbreaking work of LGBT literature takes an honest look at the life, love, and struggles of transgender teens.

Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender preference. Each honest discussion and disclosure, whether joyful or heartbreaking, is completely different from the other because of family dynamics, living situations, gender, and the transition these teens make in recognition of their true selves.

©2014 Susan Kuklin (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“An ensemble of voices delivers this candid collection of interviews with gender-nonconforming teens who struggle to be accepted.… Tanya Eby voices author Susan Kuklin, narrating in a neutral yet respectful tone that allows the more emotional content conveyed by the other narrators to stand out. Most chapters feature a back-and-forth between the interviewer and a teen, and two stories feature family members, who add another narrator to the mix while still clearly distinguishing each perspective. Performed conversationally, each teen's narrative is imbued with authenticity that recounts honest, sometimes brutal, circumstances sincerely. These powerful, revelatory stories speak volumes.”—AudioFile Magazine

“[A] sorely needed resource for teens and, frankly, many adults... Downright revelatory.... Kuklin captures these teenagers not as idealized exemplars of what it “means” to be transgender but as full, complex, and imperfect human beings. As Kuklin writes, ‘My subjects’ willingness to brave bullying and condemnation in order to reveal their individual selves makes it impossible to be nothing less than awestruck.’ She isn’t wrong.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Kuklin brings her intimate, compassionate and respectful lens to the stories of six transgender young people.... The collective portrait that emerges from these narratives…is diverse, complex and occasionally self-contradictory—as any true story should be. Informative, revealing, powerful and necessary.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Beautiful book

Loved all the stories. It really hits home for me. I almost burst into tears a couple of time...

Open & Frank Teens Share Their Stories.

I am grateful to the teens who shared their stories in this book. They bared themselves in such a beautiful way. They allowed themselves to be vulnerable and real which allowed me to feel and think. Unfortunately the narration isn't write. The male voice is too mature. He doesn't sound like a teen. It removed me from the story and sometimes confused me.

I did hope for more depth -- more analysis of what they feel and think, and what they need from those around them. I was hoping for an outline of what transgender teens need from their mothers, aunts, grandmothers. My expectations were probably too high, but if your expectations are similar you may feel the same.

Quite informative!

I have a grandchild who recently came out as non-binary. This can be difficult for even the most caring, progressive, and understanding person to fully comprehend if they are cis-gender and heterosexual. Hearing what was going on inside with these young people made some of it more understandable, even though their stories were quite different from one another; both in their life history, experience of themselves, AND the responses from friends/family. I would recommend this book to anyone who is transphobic so that they may understand that trans kids (and adults) are really not much different from anyone else…we all just want to be valued and accepted for who we are. I would DEFINITELY recommend it to anyone who is generally attempting to understand the thoughts and perceptions of (at least these) trans people.

Mesmerizing

This was beautiful. I thank these people for telling their stories. Letting me know that I'm not alone.

Heartfelt

I'm gay and I learned a ton of stuff I never knew before! I respect everyone, no matter the color of their skin or their sensuality. I've never understood how a gay person could be prejudice.

Excellent learning about transgender experiences

This is such an excellent read for anyone looking to listen and learn more about trans experiences. Highly recommend.

informative book, unfortunate narration

it was an informative book. It gives a look at the transgender experience without dramatizing it. I disliked the choice of voice actors and that detracted from the believability of the narrative for me. I especially disliked the voice used for the narrator. I would have preferred to have read the book instead of listening because of this.

Great book

It was great to hear the perspective of all of the teens and there experience of being transgender.

Great Book for Transmen and Transwomen

The narration varies on the stories. For me, it brought up a lot of feelings so it was a slow finish. The content of the stories was great! I just wish they labeled them with the FTM, or MTF on some of them. There's even an Intersex story. But you can't tell which by the chapter headings.

worthwhile

A book on a very important topic; we hear directly from transgender teens with interpretive comments by the author. It's not deep, but will help you understand transgender teens.