I Am J- a review

I Am J is a young-adult novel by Cris Beam about a transsexual teenager struggling to adapt in a society that takes a very narrow-minded view on sexuality.
J, the main character, knows he's really a boy at heart. Unfortunately, no one else seems to see him that way- his parents still call him Jenifer, the other kids at school treat him as something other than human, and even his friend Melissa, the one person he's closest to, doesn't truly understand him.
J's fight to show his parents and Melissa who he truly is on the inside (not the lesbian his mother thinks she can deal with, not a gay teenage boy- there's a difference between gay and trans!) is chronicled in a unique third-person point of view, detailing the internal and external conflict J has with himself and the people around him.
I like this author's writing style- it's different from Astrid's snarky and sarcastic comments in Ask the Passengers, but still has that witty sense of humor I enjoy.

"I feel like I'm taking beefcake shots for a calendar."

 I also like watching how J changes throughout the course of the book, from the introvert carefully concealing his change from a rather overprotective mom to a bolder person coming out (eesh, unintentional) and confronting said mother about his sexuality.
I would recommend this book to anyone exploring LGBTQ themes.

Ask the Passengers- a review

Ask the Passengers is a young-adult novel by A.S. King about a teenager questioning her sexuality in an insulated small town.
Astrid Jones, the main character, moved with her family to her mother's hometown of Unity Valley- a drastically different place from her former home in New York. Unlike her younger sister, Astrid has never really "fit in" with the crowd, despite being friends with the homecoming couple. She's also dating a girl, but she doesn't know if she's gay. On top of that, she has no one to talk to, her mother completely ignoring her, her father occupied with smoking pot, and her sister Ellis sucking up to their mom. So she sends her love to the passengers in the airplanes flying overhead- not that they know she's down there, but she has no one else to give her love to, really.
The author intersperses Astrid's story with little vignettes of passengers on the planes passing over Unity Valley. All these passengers (unknowingly) have a small connection with Astrid's love, and it ends up changing their lives- and eventually hers -for the better.
I like how the author portrays Astrid's growing sense of self-acceptance and bravery throughout the book, especially her courage to confront her mother near the end. I also appreciate her snarky, sarcastic sense of humor used to defend herself from the taunts she receives at school and to reflect upon events, because it's something I would do.

"How many things do I have to invent in my head to survive this?" -A.S. King, Ask the Passengers

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in LGBTQ themes.