The whole collection of Pocket Change Collective is a great idea as it lets very short but significant stories be told. Baker struggled their whole life being shoved into one aspect or another and only found solace in skateboarding. Skateboarding was their way to gain confidence and feel like their true self. These are great for teens who are struggling, and because there are a lot of them, if Baker's doesn't fit you, another one might give you the direction you need.

Skate for Your Life is part of the Pocket Change Collective series. It's a small book series that contains big ideas from current leading activists & artists. This one is about Leo Baker's journey in skateboarding. It helps the reader get a better perspective of athletes in the LGBTQIA+ community since this story explained the importance of authenticity & allyship since this was about a non-binary athlete.

“The importance of feeling at home in one’s body is a universal truth.”

I mean, wowzers. The gender divide in sports has always been VERY clear, but how do sports progress when it comes to trans and nonbinary individuals? Leo Baker tackles that divide in the skateboarding world and reminds us that we still have so far to go in making everyone welcome and accepted for who they are in the sports world.

Even if you have little to no knowledge of pro skating or skating competitions outside of media or Tony Hawk,
this pocket-sized memoir will draw you into the reality: the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and the tricks and the troubles. Skate for Your Life is a very short memoir from Leo Baker examining the intersection of their gender identity with their passion for skateboarding, an inside look at how despite being a sport built on freedom and self-expression, the restrictions society places on gender can bleed in and douse the fire of passion.

It's always difficult to rate nonfiction but most especially a memoir, since 'plot' and 'characters' aren't something I can judge as an outsider. Skate for Your Life works perfectly as a short dip into Leo Baker's thoughts about skateboarding and how they've been accepted for something they weren't, rejected for being themselves, and then coming around and carving that space and acceptance out for themselves and people like them. The writing could be a bit simplistic and clunky at times, but given the length of the essay I was able to find it endearing instead of tedious and hard to work through.

This memoir also really spoke to me as a non-binary reader. It's a really great look into the transmasc experience, and so many of Leo Baker's sentiments resonated with me. For being so short, this book really felt like it reached across the divide, both to hold up a mirror to readers like me and also offer a window for those who may not understand, but seek to. Plus, the illustrations inside are really cute, so that was a neat bonus.

If you're looking for a quick nonfiction read, consider picking this or other books from the Pocket Change series!

I really enjoy this series and Skate for Your Life was no exception. These books are easy to digest and I'd definitely recommend them for all ages. Skate for Your Life was interesting and I liked reading Leo Baker's story.

A wonderful, short Own Voices story that provides insight and information on a group of people unfamiliar to so many: non-binary American skaters. Leo Baker introduces the world and business of skating, including all the gendered expectations and standards that live within it. This was a great read and I'm so thankful to Penguin Teen for sending me a digital copy of this ARC!

Thank you to Penguin Teen for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Skate for Your Life follows nonbinary skater Leo Baker on their journey of exploring gender identity and expression and how that affected their life as a professional skateboarder. This book hit me so hard with one question that's repeated often for Leo:

Are you a boy or girl?

This question is just so ugh. Why are there only two options? Throughout this book, I felt Leo's frustration with being forced into the gender binary. Also learned a lot about professional skating! Though my knowledge was basically, skateboarding = Tony Hawk. I really enjoyed Leo's story and I loved that they are making space in Skateboarding for non-males. I hope this will spread to more sports and that they become more inclusive.

Small thing that bothered me [ Leo discloses their deadname in this and I'm hoping that was a personal choice and not something the publisher advocated for. Anyway I will not be repeating it here as their name is Leo.

Leo Baker's story is such a great one to share with the young writers I teach! This book series in general is fantastic. I always buy at least a few copies because they inevitably leave with students, never to return. In SKATE FOR YOUR LIFE, Baker's vulnerability and honesty is especially moving and I know trans and cis students who will gain so much by reading this book.

Such a great and honest look into the path to doing what you love for the reason you love it and learning to be comfortable with being yourself and feeling comfortable forcing others to see you as yourself as well. I found this book really moving.

We must build the spaces we want to see in the world out of the moments where we do not see ourselves.

I am absolutely enamoured with these Pocket Change Collectives and Skate for Your Life in particular. To hear from individuals who have made their way in the world and become icons that inspired and continue to inspire people to be themselves no matter what others tell them to is just so life-affirming. In this installment, Leo Baker discusses their life-long journey of breaking the mould in the skating world. Trans people’s stories in sports are so often discarded or pushed under a rug and here, we get to live through Leo’s experiences from a young age as someone who just wants to skate to growing up and realizing that their authenticity has always been their secret superpower.

Leo exposes the gender binary and overall divide in sports, from such openly inequal rewards for winning competitions between women and men to the transphobic and lack of progress when it comes to including nonbinary individuals in competitions. There is so much in between these pages about how others wire our brains to think we have to make ourselves fit their boxes and how important it is to break out of these boxes and stand up for ourselves and what we believe in.

Recounting their struggles and the sacrifices they made at a young age concerning their gender identity because they wanted to do everything in their power to keep on skating which made them happier than anything else, Leo also details how important it is to forge a brighter path, not only for themselves but for every child like them who will need their support in the future. To stay true to yourself not only for yourself but for your community is such a powerful message that will resonate with readers all over the world!

Whether you’re a skater, a part of the LGBTQIAP+ community or just want to feel empowered, Skate for Your Life is the story you need in your life this Pride month!

This was all about allyship and representation of queer voices and characters and I really loved it. Thank you for the e-arc!

This was a beautiful story that made me completely cry my eyes out. Hearing Leo's story about being a trans man in skateboarding was inspiring and impactful. I reread this multiple times after my first read. I would 100% recommended others to read this story.

Such an authentic story. It is empowering, and I'm so glad books like this exist, especially for young readers. I'm not interested in skateboarding, yet I was captivated the entire time during this quick read

Content Warnings for Deadnaming, misgendering, detailed gender dysphoria.

"My authenticity has never been a burden. It is my superpower" - Leo Baker

This quickly became my favorite book as I sobbed reading this. I advocate for trans people in sports very hard and I really saw myself in Leo's story as a trans man who's childhood and teenage years were spent watching my male friends skateboard. I'd pull all-nighters watching MTV's Scarred until 6 am at the age of 12. I had always consumed the skating culture even if I hadn't picked it up myself. The closest I came to being on a skateboard was Tony Hawk Pro Skater and playing with Tech Decks on the tabletops of the school cafeteria in middle school.

Leo's story really spoke to me and made me feel very seen as a fellow skater boi. They talked so much about trying to find a space for themselves in a sport that's made for the binary and mainly cis-men. They talk about how unfairly paid the women in the pro skating industry were (the men were given a $200k prize whereas the women got $30k *eye roll*). Leo's story is SO IMPORTANT. If you want to learn more about trans people in sports, read their stories. I would recommend starting with Leo's.