I really like requesting books from NetGalley about people with marginalised identities because I love learning new things, and want to make sure I don't accidentally spout harmful information.

I agree with other reviewers that this book is well-intended and does have some good information, but that it sometimes misses the mark. Bisexual is the attraction to two *or more* genders, not just two (and this is a pretty serious error to make). I think this is part of a bigger issue with this book that while it is aimed to kids 10+, it reads like it is trying to explain things to an audience much younger than that. Things are simplified when they should not be, and if I were reading this as a tween I would be pretty put off by the tone of the book. I'm glad it discusses how important racism is, but felt overall the book had a lot of potential it didn't quite meet.

Being a Super Trans Ally! by Phoenix Schneider and Sherry Paris is an interactive workbook on trans, nonbinary and gender non-conforming identities.

This is targeted towards those in primary school and beyond and encourages you to read or talk through the book with a friend of loved one. However, it’s poorly structured for the audience and presents itself in a very juvenile manner (one example being that key concepts were framed as ‘bubble gum’ ideas so that you can ‘chew’ on them), yet the text itself leans more towards a young adult audience with prior knowledge of trans identities. If you were to bring this to a friend or loved one, there is no reference section for them so that they can support a discussion.

Another display of poor choices is in the chosen acronym which is LGBTQIAPNBGD+. This is quite clunky and a little overwhelming when it's just stated as the acronym to be used and not explained. A few problematic terms such as ‘sapiosexual’ were also discussed. An acrostic explaining what each letter stands for would have made a great focal point, and then LGBT+ or LGBTQIA+ could have been used throughout. This not only helps to streamline the reading experience but also makes it easier to discuss the term to normalise its use. Whilst definitions were eventually a part of the book, many were borderline transphobic which is outrageous given the aims of the workbook. For example, there’s the implication that nonbinary people cannot identify as lesbian or gay, and the definition of bisexuality was straight up transphobic indicating an attraction to the two binary genders. Bisexuality is the attraction to two or more genders, or even regardless of gender.

Whilst I believe that this book is well-intentioned, it only further plays into negative stereotypes and could put many young people at risk.

This is a good idea, poorly executed. What could have been an interesting exercise for people of all ages instead came off as a juvenile, naive, and in places even possibly harmful glossing over of the issues that trans people actually face in the world, which is especially surprising since the authors of the text are a trans man and a queer woman. While there were several worthwhile thought experiments in the book, a lot of this revolved around a really surface-level examination of trans rights and allyship, and seemed more focused on giving allies "gold stars" (a term repeatedly used within the text) than with actually creating change in the world.

I was especially put off by the second about non-gendered/all-gender restrooms, which the authors seemed to think could be fixed by something as simple as a strongly-worded letter and a pat on one's back. Having been on a committee to create all-gender restrooms for the institution for which I am employed, this completely fails to recognize that it's not as simple as placing a placard outside a door but can often go into state and local ordinances and even the definitions of terms in legal text. I feel like that's a really good example of how this entire book is written: based on experiences and hopes and dreams and with little to no research into the actual realities of allyship and change - and I say that as a trans person.

Furthermore, this book contained several problematic definitions, including an ironically trans/non-binary phobic definition of bisexual, and an inclusion of the words "sapiosexual" and "skoliosexual," which may have valid definitions but are pretty consistently used by allocishet people either as thinly-veiled hatespeech or straight-up fetishizing terms. I get that this book might not exactly be the place to discuss that as, again, it's an incredibly surface-level examination of these topics, but then it might have been better to not include them at all. It also left out any discussion of the terms "masc" and "femme" which seem, in my experience, to be much preferred over more rigid terms like "transman," which is repeatedly used. It also includes a completely wrong-headed reasoning about why not to use "transgendered," which it then extols the reader to go out and share.

Lastly, this book seems really focused on gender expression in repetitive and unhelpful ways. Again, this is used to mild helpful effect early in the book when it's mentioned that a person who now identifies as a transman might still want to wear makeup since they're not completely changing the person that they are, but then seemed to fixate on this idea of "the boy in the dress," or taking your trans loved one shopping to buy new clothes, which implies a lot of unhelpful things, from the fact that clothes are expensive, to the fact that your trans loved one might not feel comfortable in a public shopping experience, to the fact that, again, this is a very "patting oneself on the back" definition of allyship. Again, if this had been a one-off, I'd be like, sure. Some trans people want to go out and buy new clothes and make a big event of it. But this is mentioned no fewer than three times in the text.

If this book were someone's first investigation into non-cisheteronormative gender and sexuality, and they themself were focused on not making a huge gaff when talking to or about trans folks, and that same person were absolutely intending to do a lot of further research, then great. This might be a good foray. Otherwise, I have the sneaking suspicion that this well-intentioned book is just another paving stone on the road to hell.

Thank you netgalley for this arc. This is going to be a VERY popular book. I love the format and the content. Our store has been actively looking to increase our inclusive inventory and this book is going to be an amazing addition.

This book is such a great idea! A guide for children and young people who want to know how to support a friend or family member who is trans and/or non-binary, or who want to make their school more accepting of trans people. It has lots of activities with thought provoking questions. There are worksheets, role plays and quizzes, as well as suggestions of practical things to do.

It felt like it could have done with a bit more editing at times as it could be quite long and rambling. But overall, it's a really useful and unique book and hopefully a second edition will have the benefit of a bit more editing.

Being a Super Trans Ally is superb! This is more than a book, this is a guide for people who care. Every page of this is filled with information on how to be the best ally possible to trans friends and family. The voice throughout is friendly and yet informative, raising issues from everyday life through the form of quizzes, role play and with loads of space to fill in your own thoughts. This is definitely aimed at junior years, and a great intro for younger allies. I particularly like how the book gives advice on how to use your voice in certain scenarios. When purchasing, a hard copy of this book would be important due to the formatting and the nature of the quizzes and sections to fill in your own thoughts.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the digital copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to give this a read! What an interesting workbook! I had trouble deciding where I lie with this book, as some of the language and definitions used are not as eloquent as others in the queer community might be used to. However, it is worth mentioning that this is aimed at young readers and the goal is to make them as accepting of an ally as possible. As an older reader and a queer person, I can’t possibly understand how this would be interpreted by a younger reader, but I think it accomplishes the goal of helping an ally grow that we in the community would be proud of!

I will carry this book in my classroom because it is a great conversation starter. However, I do think there are aspects regarding both gender and sexuality that misrepresented.

Being a Super Trans Ally! is an important book and as an LGBTQ+ ally I feel there still needs to be more understanding and acceptance of those who fall into the categories; it's certainly not time to stop our fight for equal rights for all just because we have moved a step in the right direction as there is still a stigma attached to being part of the LGBT+ community as well as those who support it. Being transgender is perhaps one of the scariest things for a person to undertake and not being accepted for who they wish to be and feel more comfortable as must be terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure. This book is a fantastic resource for those wishing to support friends, family and the wider community and help them feel strong enough to be themselves no matter who that may be on the outside. It is a helpful workbook with activities tailored to ages 10 years plus, their awareness of non-binary individuals, as well as the wider LGBTQ+ fold, and the activities are very helpful to the development of youngsters open-mindedness.

Each of the activities has been well thought through so you are not merely sitting and taking part in pointless exercises; each of the tasks is designed to further a youngsters understanding of the topics and perhaps create an emotional understanding of what some of the community has to live with day in day out. I believe that it's vital to introduce children to these topics and the beauty in individualism from an early age so they become normalised in their lives just like they should in everyones. This is not only perfect for home use but would be great in school classrooms and libraries too as often children learn more from doing a task than merely reading. The ideal way to learn about gender and identity in child-friendly terminology and with compassion, this is a great little task book. Highly Aa. AÀublishing for an ARC.

I really love that this book exists, and I love a lot of what it says and how it introduces younger readers to being a better ally. Unfortunately, the formatting of the ebook is quite bad, so the exercises were often mixed up or just hardly present - the crossword at the start in particular is not actually there at all, though the prompts are. I also found the tone to be a little on the immature side at times - I recognise that this book is aimed at sort of a middle grade to teen range, but at the beginning of the book it says that it is written for all ages to enjoy, and I just found the tone a little frustrating at times.
It was really nice to see representation of other LGBTQ+ labels in here, too, as I identify as nonbinary and pansexual, so it made it fun to think about my own gender and sexuality identification whilst also learning how to be a better trans ally.
Overall, I really love that this exists, but I feel that it could be a little more mature, and some more thought could be put into how the ebook is presented.

I'm predisposed to favor books of this nature whether fiction or, in this case, non-fiction, so it's hard for me to rate one badly and I feel bad about doing so, but I can't in good conscience rate this one favorably for a variety of reasons, and they're all to do with how the book is presented, not with what the book's aims are.

The blurb on Net Galley did advise me that the book was aimed at 10+, but it felt like it was middle-grade or early young adult through and through with nothing for grown-ups. I had to wonder how this would get into the hands of those youngsters if it has to get past parents first, and they're offered no incentive to buy it. It also felt like it was preaching to the choir, and I'm unconvinced of the utility of, or demand for, such a book. I hope it works, I really do, but I remain unconvinced.

This is clearly designed as a print book and it's evident that zero thought has been given to the ebook version, assuming there ever is one. Unfortunately, the ebook version is all I get to review, and I have to wonder at the wisdom of a publisher who puts out a review copy in ebook form for a book that seems designed solely for the reader to write in their own ideas or, as is frequently the case here, their own answers to questions. I'd expected to get answers, not to have them demanded of me! Why expect me to have the answers when I'm reading the book for the very purpose of getting those answers?!

And yes, the blurb did advise that this is an interactive workbook "packed full of activities such as self-reflective questions, journal prompts and role plays," but I thought this was aimed at education, and I'm not convinced that it will work in that regard since all we seem to be learning here is our own feelings and behaviors for better or for worse, and not what those behaviors really ought to be and how they can be modified.

The blurb did also say "If you care about making your home, school and community a safer and more accepting place for people of all genders, then this book is for you!" I do care very much about that, but I can't help but wonder where in it lies the information and education that will help a person achieve that goal if all we're doing as a reader is filling in our own opinions and feelings in the blanks and getting little in the way of feedback and advice.

On a technical note, the formatting of this review ebook was really poor. The content page was 'tappable' and by that I mean you could touch a chapter heading for a specific chapter and it would take you there, but it offered no means to return to the content page from that chapter if you accidentally tapped the wrong one. The problem is that it's so very easy to tap the wrong one given how jumbled together the chapter headings were, and how hard they are to read, being split over more than one line, with one chapter heading tacking onto the end of the previous one on the same line. Some of it was a jumble, with part of the chapter title not tappable, the rest of it tappable, some of it colored gray, some blue, some red. In short, it was an unappealing mess.

I should note here that my first experience of this was on my phone, which is where I normally read books and typically do not have problems with them unless they're Kindles. This is where I experienced these problems, and it was because of them, that I downloaded this ARC into both Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) and Bluefire Reader (BFR), and I also looked at this on the iPad in the Crappy Kindle App (CKA) to get a wider perspective.

While the layout of the book was much better in both the ADE and the BFR, there were other issues, including the fact that the content list was no longer tappable. It wouldn't take you to the chapter by tapping on it, so what you gain on the carousel you lose on the swings, or whatever that phrase is; however, on the Kindle app, the problems remained pretty much exactly the same as they were on the phone, notwithstanding the greater screen real estate to play with. So once again Amazon's CKA is a major fail.

I blame this on Amazon's sucky Kindle conversion process which will mangle your book if it has the temerity to offer anything other than plain vanilla text up for sacrifice to the Great God Amazon, and that's what seems to have happened here. I've seen this kind of a disaster frequently in Kindle books, which is why I don't buy them anymore. This is one reason I refuse to do business with Amazon, but that said, it really is incumbent upon publishers and authors to check these things if they want to ensure their reader gets a good experience. Clearly this wasn't done in this case, and I am at a loss as to how we can give a decent review of a book that looks and functions (or fails to do so) in e-format, nothing like it's intended to look in print format. A PDF for this particular book would have been a much better choice.

With regard to the content of the book, I had issues with that, too! Part of it was, as I said, that it wasn't designed to be an ebook, so there were questions, each with an underscored space included to write in the answer, which clearly doesn't work in an ebook. The problem with the questions was that they were jumbled together too just like the content list was. I read ebooks on my phone in portrait format, and that didn't work, but even in landscape mode, there were still formatting issues, with bullet points failing to align, and so on.

For example, in the section titled "Puzzle of Important terms" about 9% of the way in, there was a crossword which is guaranteed to be a trashed after Kindle has done with it. I had no idea how this was supposed to be laid out (until I looked in ADE and BFR), but there was a list of numbers from one to ten, and these began with one and two on the same line, followed by three and four on the next line, then the rest of the numbers through ten each on an individual line after that; then came the crossword clues. There was no actual crossword grid at all. I assumed the numbers had been from a grid that Kindle predictably failed to reproduce on both the phone and the iPad, and I was right.

There were other formatting issues. For example, about 41% into the book, the non-words OKTA NOYB began to appear in the text randomly. At least they appeared that way to me on the phone. They were too mangled to make sense of there, so it wasn't until I looked in ADE and BFR that I realized they were acronyms which I'd never encountered before!

Initially, I'd thought this was some sort of formatting that Kindle had screwed up, but I could not for the life of me figure out what it was supposed to be. My best guess had been that this was meant to be Yes/No (and that wasn't a bad guess!), but it resulted in sentences like: "Do you wear a jockstrap or a sports bra when you OKTA NOYB play sports?" which made no sense if the Yes/No was in the middle of the sentence. This was the case on both the phone and the iPad Kindle app.

I had no idea what that particular question was supposed to resolve, especially when when we're told just a screen or so later that it's never OK to ask what's between a person's legs (Duhh!). Isn't eh jockstrap quesiton precisely asking that same question, just with different words? It sounded very hypocritical to me. This brought me to the next issue I had with this book, but let me have a quick word about the ADE and BFR editions first.

In ADE when I searched for OKTA, I found several hits, but when I tapped on it to go to the page (it said it was on p93), I was transported to what was purportedly p98, and there was nothing there in the ADE edition. I could not move from that page either, no matter which way I swiped! I was stuck on a page 98 no man's (woman's, or other gender's) land! I did not have this problem in BFR, which was the only app I consulted which both offered decent formatting and let me examine what these acronyms actually were!

BFR is typically my goto app for books with unusual formatting, although I've had issues even with that with some books, so I tend to bounce back and forth between it and ADE. Given that Adobe developed Portable Document Format, I was surprised to find a PDF file did not work in their own reader! Note that I was able to swipe to page 98 and beyond - I just wasn't able to get anywhere when I alighted there as a result of a search hit.

Like I said, while the book is written for a very young audience, I'd been expecting at least some of it to be aimed at a more mature readership, including parents, but there was nothing, nor was it inclusive of people who already know things, but still wish to learn more. That's what I felt was missing. The book blithely takes the position that everyone is in dire ignorance about these topics, and so it felt a bit insulting, but if it is indeed aimed at people who know literally nothing other than standard binary genders, then where was the educational portion designed to bring them into the fold of the knowledgeable and thereby useful? Had I been less enlightened and less patient with this particular topic than I am, I would have quit this book long before I actually did.

The book felt much more like it was a survey of the readers feelings about the LGBTQIA community than ever it was a book offering useful advice on how to interact with that community. That's why I feel it was of little help to people in my position, who know plenty about the non-binary world we live in, but would still like to learn more, and without being made to feel we're in grade school while learning it! If this book truly is aimed at people who are just dipping their toes into learning about this world, and especially young people, then I imagine it would overwhelm them because there are so many questions flying at you and no sort of advice or help or hints or tips or definitions (until the glossary at the back).

My first experience of this book was during a drive in to work, and I was using Apple's VoiceOver technology, which is designed to assist people with visual impairments when using their phone. I do not have such limitations, but VoiceOver renders your ebook app quite well as an audiobook if you open it when the book is on the screen. It has issues, but like I said, it's very passable.

Unfortunately, VoiceOver is not an audiobook app, so it reads literally everything that is on the screen, including the punctuation at random times, so when this book listed every letter of the alphabet with 26 underscores after each letter, which were designed in the print version, as a set of lines to fill in as many LGBTQIA words as you could think of which began with each letter, the VoiceOver read the letter A, and followed that with "26 underscores" and then the next letter, and followed that with "26 underscores," and so on through the entire alphabet. It was beyond tedious to listen to!

Had I been reading it myself, I could have skipped that section, but there was no way to skip it while driving. I had to listen to it all - and to the same kind of thing with every other question that came before and after it! I had this same experience with every set of underscores, every multiple-choice question where the options were all run together, and on and on, where the VoiceOver read the thing without pause or inflection that it turned into gibberish. For ten minutes.

Had I known it was going to be entirely a quiz book, I would never have set VoiceOver loose on it, but I had no idea, and I was stuck with this for a half hour! Be warned! LOL! This is relevant, because it underscores the fact that it is largely a quiz book. It's not an information or advice book, and I just didn't get how asking me about my knowledge of these issues was educating me in how to be a better partner/advocate/supporter, or whatever, of those who need this support. I can imagine some people at least becoming frustrated with this repeatedly pointing out to them - via their inability to answer these questions perhaps - how ignorant they are, and dissuading them from reading any further.

The bottom line was that I was looking for something else, and perhaps that's my fault for not intuiting better from the blurb how little this would be of benefit to me in my quest, but I don't feel like the blame is all mine. If you offer a book with the stated goal of helping those who "care about making your home, school and community a safer and more accepting place for people of all genders," then I think it's incumbent upon you to ensure that you provide useful information, not grill me endlessly about how I feel!

That could be a part of it (although I disapprove of that technique personally), but it can't be all of it, because that tells me only about me, not about what I need to offer to those who need this support. I didn't want to read a book about me. I'm not that interesting! 'Being a Super Trans Ally' has the acronym BASTA, which amusingly is the Spanish word for 'enough', and I'm afraid I didn't feel that this was anywhere near enough.

For these reasons I cannot commend this as a worthy read.

I really wanted to give this book five stars. There's so much about it that's brilliant. The suggested activities are interesting and creative, the language is very positive, it seems like it could be really helpful for young people interested in making the world better for their trans friends and family members. But the definitions near the start of the book are just straight up wrong.

I can't give more than 3 stars to a book that includes a biphobic definition of bisexual. Bi is not attraction to two binary genders. It is attraction to any/all genders, and can be regardless of gender. This is the way it has always been defined by bi activists. There were some other issues with the beginning definitions. The definitions of lesbian and gay seemed to imply that nonbinary people can't identify as lesbian or gay, only as an mspec identity. This is not true. Demisexual is not romantic attraction to one of more genders, it is sexual attraction to someone only after forming an emotional connection. And then, something that really frustrated me since this book is by a trans author about trans people, was the definition of heterosexual being a cis man or cis woman attracted to cis women or cis men. Because trans people, especially binary trans people, can 100% be heterosexual, and a cis man who finds a trans woman attractive is still heterosexual, and vice versa.

There is actually a better glossary at the back, which includes a better definition of bisexual, but it's at the back of the book, where I didn't think to look until the end because I had assumed that the glossary at the front was the only one. I would have preferred if the book had only had the glossary at the back, or had the better glossary at the front. It also seemed odd to have two glossaries with conflicting definitions, especially in a book for young people, because that just screams confusion.

I did like the emphasis on 'super trans ally' rather than just caring friend, and the focus on stepping out of your comfort zone to help your trans friends. Whilst there is a lot of kickback from the LGBTQ+ community online against 'ally cookies', the stars and rewards for allyship work really well in a book aimed at children. There are fun activities like crosswords to help learn definitions, roleplay activities for practicing difficult conversations, and space for the reader to explore their own identity.

Ultimately, I would probably go through and change, or even remove, the beginning definitions before giving this book to someone.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of Being a Super Trans Ally! In exchange of an honest review.


This is a fantastic way to introduce teens with being Trans and how can they understand social constructs, binary concepts and gender.

Sadly my Kindle doesn’t show the interactive features the right way and everything’s smashed together. But other than that, I think this should be provided at schools for teens to start being inclusive, to teach and for them to understand. It doesn’t have to be specially for teens, anyone can read this.

It’s very handy that it makes you apply and check moments you understand someone could be affected by X SITUATION. Or, write what you understand and learn definitions. Not only it ask questions but it answers and explain prejudice and concepts.

⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars

This book is a good starting point for those who wish to educate themselves about the Trans Community. However, it is not in-depth enough that I think you wouldn’t have to supplement your reading with other books to learn about trans rights and the issues Transgender people face.

I received an E-Arc of the book and therefore I cannot say how well some of the interactive features function as they did not show up well on my kindle app. However, for the most part, they were engaging and did make the reader stop to digest what they had just read and actively apply them to real-world situations.

Overall, I think this book is a good place to start your education and if you combine it with other new releases like Seeing Gender: An Illustrated Guide to Identity and Expression and other non fiction books about gender then I think that you will be on your way to being well educated about Trans Rights and how to be a good Ally.

I received an advance review copy for free via NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily 📚