An interesting and very educational graphic memoir concerning a mother coming to terms with their transgendered child's identity. Interesting art style and choices.

Thank you !

This book is really really important. For parents of people who made their coming out to them, but also for the people making their coming out. Coming out is complicated to do, a lot of fear and insecurity. But it's a lot for parents too even if they love their child and want to support them. We don't talk enough of how we change rules by coming out to our parents, but just as we need time to come out our parents needs time to adapt to this news rules. New name, new gender... Of course we're still the same after coming out, but we ask a lot to our parents, give them time to adjust.

I read a lot of graphic novels by trans/non binary authors and I thought it was an interesting (and a risky) idea to tell a parent’s POV for once. As a parent myself I was intrigued. I think it’s easy to say that we would adapt well and easily to our own kid’s transitioning but it must take some time to get used to it as the person who raised this child.

This mother’s journey was moving to follow but my heart broke for Alex since his mom kept deadnamed him for so long. I can understand that it’s harder for a parent as you’re the one who named your kid in the first place but in the end I felt more emotions for Alex than for his mom. I guess it was intentional to have him appear less since it’s focused on the mother’s reaction but I’m glad the book ends with a letter from him. I love the brothers’ reactions and the grand parents, proving that people are full of surprises and not always what you’d expect.

The mother’s inner thoughts were cut by lots of interesting pages about other cultures and about how gender norms changed over time in society, language,…I learned a lot through that!
And I really loved the cursor analogy at the beginning. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen the spectrum explained in this way and it helped me understand some things about myself (at almost 40!) more than other books in the past so that’s a great + for me!

I’d recommend to anyone interested in this subject. In a way Anne’s journey could be used as “what NOT to do when your child come out to you”, especially for parents who never thought they’d react like this. You see her go through a lot of thoughts and doubts and hear a lot of BS from friends and doctors, but like I said all those conversations made me sadder for Alex in the end. But it’s a good way to start a conversation I think. I’m glad in the end they managed to fix their relationship and that Alex was so strong.