FREAKBOY BY: KRISTIN ELIZABETH CLARK
Bibliographic Information:
Author: Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Title: Freak Boy
Copyright: 2013
Publisher: Macmillian Publishing Group
ISBN: 9780374324735
Summary: Brenden is your average American teenager: on the wrestling team, has a girlfriend, and is doing alright in high school. However Brenden’s world is turned upside down with his inner thoughts of wishing to be in a girl’s body haunting him. His world is changed again once he meets Angel, a transgender girl. With Angel’s help, Brenden begins to sort out his true identity.
Critical Evaluation: Almost impossible to ignore is the fact that the book was written in free verse poetry. Immediately it made it hard for me as a reader to follow what was going on in the story. There were different narrating perspectives, specifically Brenden’s girlfriend Vanessa, Angel and how she struggles with her own past, and Brenden, who is struggling with his identity. With three different perspectives to keep track of, it was easy to get lost in the characters. They were definitely well developed though sometimes I found myself rereading the pages over and over again trying to understand the messages that were trying to be conveyed. It was a little exhausting having three main characters to keep track of on top of having to struggle through the free verse poetry. Although I didn’t care for the way the book was written, I do think that the author covered the subject of being transgender as well as gender fluidity very well.
Reader’s Annotation: Will Brenden ever figure out his true identity?
Author Information: A fun fact about Kristin Elizabeth Clark is that she tried to stay off of social media. In addition to being a writer, Kristin also teaches workshops and speaks on important social issues about writing for children and young adults, social justice, and diversity. She lives and does her writing in San Francisco California.
Kristin’s oldest child came out to her and told her that she was born a boy but knew that she was/is a girl. She is extremely supportive of her daughter Lucy. Lucy actually was an inspiration of the book “Freak Boy”. “Freak Boy” was listed in the Top Ten Rainbow List by the American Library Association and the Bank Street Best Books for Children. Besides the awards many trans and cis fans have reached out to her to let her know that the book saved their lives.
http://kristinelizabethclark.com/about/
Genre- Fiction
Curriculum Ties- English
Book Talk Ideas- Gender Identity
Reading Level/Interest Age– Grades 9-12
Challenge Issues/ Defense Preparation:
Challenge Issue: Gender Identity
Selection Policy: http://ccclib.org/policies/CollectionDevelopmentAccess-1999-11-16.pdf
Library Bill of Rights: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/intfreedom/librarybill/lbor.pdf
Rationale:
Bibliographic Information:
Author: Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Title: Freak Boy
Copyright: 2013
Publisher: Macmillian Publishing Group
ISBN: 9780374324735
Intended Audience: The intended audience is young adults specifically the upper grades of 9-12. This particular book would be beneficial for an English or social studies class. Primarily the book will be used for individual study in which every member of the class should read the book, and then afterwards there can be a group discussion of what transpired in the book as well as observations and thoughts concerning the book. “Freak Boy” can be utilized to start a discussion about gender identity as well as transgender individuals.
Summary: Brenden is your average American teenager: on the wrestling team, has a girlfriend, and is doing alright in high school. However Brenden’s world is turned upside down with his inner thoughts of wishing to be in a girl’s body haunting him. His world is changed again once he meets Angel, a transgender girl. With Angel’s help, Brenden begins to sort out his true identity.
Relationship to Program: The relationship of the book to school objectives would be helping 9th graders develop their literal and inferential understanding skills and comprehension skills. Through reading this book they would learn and develop the following skills: SLE #R. 9.9.2. Identify specific ways an author accomplishes purpose, including organization, narrative and persuasive techniques, style, literary forms or genre, portrayal of themes, tone and intended audiences; R.9.9.4 Recognize how works of a given period reflect author’s background, historical events, and cultural influences; and R.9.9.5 Draw inferences from a sentence or a paragraph (including conclusions, generalizations and predictions) and support them with text evidence. Concerning summary and generalization students will utilize R.9.9.8 Summarize and paraphrase structures in informational and literary texts, including relationships among concepts and details and R. 9.9.13 Identify and discuss a position using concepts gained from reading (e.g. debate, discussion, position paper, etc.). Concerning analysis and evaluation students will utilize R. 9.9.11 Recognize and define various points of view (e.g., omniscient narrator, third person limited).
http://www.fayar.net/edvision/language/09_reading_0405.pdf
Impact: I think this book will have a great positive impact on the teen readers. First, I’m sure there are so many other teens who may be going through similar struggles with their identity. This book gives those teens a voice to tell their truth. Also through this book students will be able to gain a better understanding of what transgender as well as those who have concerns about their gender identity go through. If nothing else this book will reconfirm that all the teens who may be perceived as “freaks” are not alone.
Why Included: Freak Boy deals with serious issues concerning the LGBTQ community. Gender identity and being transgender are topics that are sometimes wrongfully silenced or ignored. This book raises awareness concerning those two subjects. Also, the fact that many trans and cist fans have said that the book either changed or saved their lives is proof that the book is amazing.
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