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Conundrum by Jan Morris
Real Queer America by Samantha Allen
Amateur by Thomas Page McBee
Transgender History by Susan Stryker
Sissy by Jacob Tobia
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

At lunch one day when he was four years old, my nephew asked when he would turn into a girl. After a microsecond of silence, his father replied that unless he thought that he should be a girl, he would stay a boy. “Oh,” said my nephew, clearly surprised. “But I thought everyone becomes a girl for a while, even if you start as a boy. Are you sure?” His father was sure. My nephew considered for a moment, then through a bite of his grilled cheese sandwich, announced, “Oh well then, if it doesn’t just happen, I guess I’ll stay a boy.”

I love that a little boy could believe that the natural order of life was that everyone spends time as a girl. And I cherish his freedom to ask the question; to talk about variation and difference. What a fine thing it is to be able to be our true selves. How life-affirming to be able to embrace our sexuality, and the gender identities for ourselves that we know are right. Today’s Audio Adventures celebrate that opportunity.

 

 

 

 

 

Conundrum by Jan Morris

Conundrum by Jan Morris

Before Jan Morris transitioned and became known as the celebrated British travel writer and essayist that she is today, she was a soldier, historian, and adventurer who climbed Everest. As she describes in her famous memoir, Conundrum (Ukemi Audiobooks), “man’s man” or not, she’d known since the age of three that she was born into the wrong body. So in 1973, with wife Elizabeth’s blessing (they had five children together), Morris went abroad for surgery and returned as her true self into the arms of the same remarkable family. Her memoir is a finely written wonderment, full of clear facts and poetic description, which Roy McMillan enhances with excellent pacing and skill with accents.


Real Queer America by Samantha Allen

Real Queer America by Samantha Allen

Journalist Samantha Allen’s warm voice and serious tone are just right for her engaging and informative book, Real Queer America (Hachette Audio), which takes us on the road with her to meet lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and other queer-identified people who live openly in conservative “red” states. Allen, a trans woman who was formerly a Mormon missionary and knows whereof she speaks, makes a sympathetic and probing tour guide to a changing America—one in which, despite many challenges, LGTBQ+ people are increasingly accepted and welcomed by their straight and cisgendered neighbors.


Amateur by Thomas Page McBee

Amateur by Thomas Page McBee

I also delighted in Amateur (Simon & Schuster Audio) by author and columnist Thomas Page McBee. McBee, who wrote about transitioning to male in his award-winning book, Man Alive (Audible Studios), wrote this memoir about training for a charity boxing match. It’s not that he’d always wanted to box, but after almost duking it out with an aggressive jerk on the street one day, McBee wondered, “What really makes a man?” McBee’s light, growly voice is pleasant and his pacing excellent. I found myself gripping my chair as I rooted for this nice guy to survive throwing punches and being punched.


Transgender History by Susan Stryker

Transgender History by Susan Stryker

So for folks like my neighbor, who wonders where trans people came from, as “there weren’t any” when he was growing up—heck, for any interested person—the second edition of Susan Stryker’s Transgender History  (Hachette Audio) is a terrific listen. Read by Emily Caldwell with an exemplary tempo and audible interest, Stryker’s work examines American transgender history since WWII. This is a science primer, language lesson, and history audiobook that educated me in an accessible and friendly way.


Sissy by Jacob Tobia

Sissy by Jacob Tobia

LGBTQ+ activist Jacob Tobia has a standout skill as the narrator of their memoir, Sissy (Penguin Audio), which examines their life from childhood through college. Pushed into traditional male pursuits as a child, Tobia came out as a gay man in high school, but it wasn’t until college that they understood and embraced their nonbinary gender identity. Understandably, the book is serious, yet it’s also full of witty observations and laugh-out-loud humor. Combined with Tobia’s engaging delivery, it makes for a delightful listen.


If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

 

Let’s finish with fiction. Samia Mounts’s gentle southern accent and talent for performing conversations add to the many pleasures of Meredith Russo’s award-winning young adult novel If I Was Your Girl (Macmillan Audio). (I don’t know about you, but I appreciate the way young adult fiction highlights character and gets the action moving right away.) In this book, we meet Amanda, a trans teenage girl who survived bullying and a suicide attempt. Now she’s starting a new life post-surgery in a small Tennessee town with her father. When she falls in love with a terrific guy, she yearns to share her whole truth—but will she lose him if she does? No, I won’t tell you how it works out. You’ll just have to listen.


AudioFile

AudioFile (www.audiofilemagazine.com) is the magazine for discovering more about audiobooks. It reviews and recommends the best listening, most interesting performances, and what audiobooks are worth your listening time. AudioFile reviews about 50 audiobooks per week, features narrator profiles, and awards exceptional performances with AudioFile’s Earphones Awards. AudioFile publishes in print, newsletters and a blog, and podcasts daily recommendations on "Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine."

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