SHELF-AWARENESS --Artist Maia Kobabe is genderqueerand uses pronouns e, em and eir. In the gorgeous and candid graphic memoir Gender Queer , e illustrates an aching journey toward reconciliation withbeing nonbinary and asexual. Kobabe grew up in a progressive home,with parents who didn't enforce gender roles, but such things are socializedearly in places like school and neighborhoods. The dysphoria e experiencedbecame more acute with age; e frequently felt out of step with eir peers. Therewere awkward Tinder dates and excruciating Pap smears. All the while, Maiasearched for an explanation, a language to assign to this internal trauma andconfusion. Midway through the book lies atwo-page spread of weighted scales. Each side of holds a gender assigned atbirth, as a frantic Maia piles pronouns, clothes, hair style, hormones, etc.

, onthe other. "The end goal wasn't masculinity," e writes, "the goal was balance."Had e been assigned male at birth, e would be playing with makeup and nailpolish every day. Kobabe'sdrawings, colored by sister Phoebe Kobabe, casts eir life and truths insplendorous, vivid light. And the relationship between the siblings on the pageis one of Gender Queer 's sweetest elements. Often scared of what liesahead, Maia confides in Phoebe, a lesbian, about eir queer hopes and fears, andis met each time with the gracious enthusiasm of a sister who has eir back: "Ilucked out so hard in the sibling lottery." A challenging yet heartwarmingmemoir, Gender Queer succeeds on all fronts.--Dave Wheeler,associate editor, Shelf Awareness.