Fascinating and so nice to read all of the interviews.

Lovely and necessary.

From the very first story (Jessy's), the reveal of the teens' birth names, the focus on (before and after) photography, and the way Susan Kuklin guides the story while purporting not to guide, I knew this was yet another book about transgender people made by a cisgender person for a voyeuristic cisgender gaze.

The book is small, covering only 6 young people living in a very small geographical area (none of whom happen to be black). Despite its slim size, the text is riddled with typos. Not only that, it's also gender essentialist, relying in some pretty gross gender stereotypes. (I hesitate to criticize since cisgender people are allowed to conceptualize their gendered selves in this way without issues so trans people should too but I think the book would be better served by removing or limiting these elements.) Besides that you can also find unchecked fatphobia, slutshaming, sexism, ableism, misgendering (not only the expected societal and familial abuse but also by romantic partners: Jessy's girlfriend won't use he/him pronouns despite him being a man because she identifies as a lesbian). No authorial comment or correction is made after any of these instances.

Overall, Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out was a good concept with a disappointing execution. I'm glad not to have read it while I was a young teen just entering the road of understanding myself. If you're a transgender person, I'd recommend another book. And if you're cis? Don't let this be the only book you read: get to know transgender people in your community!

Beyond Magenta is a really interesting book but it's also a hard book to talk about.

I like that she talks a diverse group of teens, but most of them (5 out of the 6 interviewed) are from New York, and all 6 teens (particularly the 5 from NY) seem to have access to a lot of services and support. The 5 from New York are in a section called Spectrum, while the last story is in a section Lifeline. And even the teen featured in that narrative seemed to have a good support system and quite a few resources available to him.

Kuklin does mention at the end of the book that she was in touch with a medical center in New York City, which does explain why it's heavily focused on NY teens. She also talks about wanting the book to spread its wings and have another part of the country represented. Unfortunately, it makes the one non-NY story feel like an afterthought that's there just for representation of a different part of the country.

While there are a wide range of experiences, I felt like it lacked stories from teens who don't have the access to services/resources these kids do. The teens we see in Beyond Magenta do have varying degrees of familial support, and I felt for all of the teens, especially the teens who have parents who don't seem to bother trying to understand their children, and denied/dismissed their experience and what they were saying.

Each teen has a very unique story, and it was heartbreaking at times to see what they were going through. There are times where you see gender stereotypes, particularly in the first couple of stories, which I think is something that will frustrate a lot of people (especially if reviews are any indication) but I just took it as their experience and I really felt like Kuklin really tried to keep their story as they told it to her. I will say that it felt very much like they were telling me a story, and that aspect of the writing would make this a particularly good book for an audio format.

Overall, though, there was something about the organization and format that seemed a little weird. I respect that Kuklin interviewed and photographed the teens, and worked with them to tell their story, but 5 NY stories in one section (Spectrum) and the lone non-NY story in a section called Lifeline made no sense to me. I don't understand why you'd need two different sections, and it just really made the one story in Lifeline feel like an afterthought.

There isn't any particular order to the stories- not that they need to be in any particular order, but something about the book felt a little disorganized. And while it is a quick read, I'm not completely happy with the format. It felt like a random assortment of stories with nothing to connect them together- other than all 6 stories being about a transgender teen.

There were random comments from Kuklin, which felt out of place and disrupted the flow of the story. They should have been left in some cases, and in other places, an introduction to the story would have been helpful, and a place where some of her comments could have been better served.

There is an author's note at the end of the book, which I think would have been more insightful/better placed at the beginning of the book so that you had a much better idea of how the project changed for Kuklin. There are also resources at the end of the book, and Kuklin also included a list of books (non-fiction and fiction) and movies. I was disappointed that there only a couple of books in the fiction list, both of which were published over 10 years ago, just because something a little more recent (and more than 2 books) would have been nice.

My Rating: I'm not sure what to rate Beyond Magenta. I think the organization of the book could have been better, and while there is a wide range of experiences in the book, I also think the representation of other parts of the country could have been better, and less like an afterthought. I still like reading about their experiences, and it would be a great book to have in any classroom or library.

As for an actual rating, I'm going to give Beyond Magenta 3 stars.

I'm really torn about this book. On the one hand, the view into the lives of these teens, in their own words, is great. On the other hand, as a nonfiction book it has quite a few flaws. What questions were asked in the interviews? In the interview in the back with Dr. Manel Silva, the question "What causes a person to be transgender?" (italics mine) raises some flags about the author's approach. It feels like the last section about Luke was hastily put together and added in order to give a token teen outside the NYC area. The focus on teens in New York gives a distorted view. What about teens in Los Angeles or Dallas or Chicago? Finally, the resources list is short and outdated. There are so many excellent, newer books available. It is a disservice to readers to not provide the most up-to-date list possible.

In short, this is an important book with an important message. I just wish it had been done better.

Contrary to what the suddenly-politicized local school board may say, I found this book to be neither trash nor ban worthy. It's an interesting, concise look into several examples of teens living their lives boldly and honestly. As they should be able to do.

As someone in the LGBT+ community who is cisgender, I want to learn more about trans issues and experiences so I can be an ally, and I think this book was really helpful. I was really impressed with how insightful all the interviewees were despite being so young and I think they were all great choices for presenting a variety of trans teen stories.

In a pretty short book and only 6 stories it managed to fit a decent array of trans experiences in terms of a lot of different factors: how they realized they were trans, how they came out, how content they are with their transition, race, location, gender identity, income, where they are in their lives, relationship with their families, etc. A lot of the time there are only a few stock stories about trans people that are told, and while a lot of those elements were present in these stories, there were also a lot of things I've never heard before or never considered.

However, like I said the book was short and only had 6 stories, so I do think there was plenty of room for more diversity. For example, there weren't any gay or lesbian interviewees (although I did love that they weren't all straight) or any dmab nonbinary interviewees, who are both groups I think are somewhat marginalized even within the trans community. I do think that every story told was valuable and brought something different to the table, but a lot was left out that could have been addressed.

Another thing I really liked was the end matter because it was useful to know what resources the author used when writing this book and to learn a little more about organizations and services that help trans youth.

4 stars for the idea and content. Though the audiobook readers are good, I definitely recommend the print version because of the photographs and excellent additional resources at the end. That this book exists at all is amazing. The teens are brave and worth knowing. A strength of the book is in their personal diversity:nobody claims to be the trans spokesperson. They are each their own person, as there are an infinite number of ways to be queer or trans.
As a piece of literature, however, only 2 stars. Most of the book seems to be direct transcripts of interviews, which are sometimes repetitive and usually chatty in tone. Another flaw in the book is the choice of these particular teens:all but one are from the boroughs of NYC. Why all but one? Either make this the story of NYC trans teens, or make it the story of trans teens from all over our geographically diverse country.