I am J by Chris Beam

I am J by Cris Beam

Publisher- little brown  

Genre- realistic fiction

Pages-352

learn about it here

buy it here

rating- 5 stars

All his life J has been different, different from other people, different then he seems. On the outside J is a quiet person, a strange person, someone you cant figure out. The truth is J can't figure it out his self either, because technically J is a woman. J was born female, but in his mind, in his heart, he's always been a male. He is a male. His body is whats female. Stuck with parts he hates, and parents that don't understand, wont understand, J doesn't know what to do. He used to pray that one day he'll wake up and be a boy. He hoped that he would wake up and everyone would understand the horrible mistake the universe made the day was born a girl. J covered his body, layering and layering. Tried to make his body disappear tried to turn invisible, hidden from the cruel world. Well, J's done hiding. Its time to show the world what he really is, and he wont give up, no matter the consequence. Its time for people to understand things the way J sees them, its time for them to understand. 

There are no words. Absolutely no words to describe this book. Do you even know how hard it was to write the description of the book? It was impossible to do it justice.  I just have two words to say to you: Read It.

 You may think this book was depressing, or strange or uncomfortable. I mean J is transgender, and that is hard for a lot of people to understand. I barley knew any thing about that topic and my eyes were opened. I understood what J was going through, completely. And even though I am straight, I felt like I was seeing eye to eye with J. Every confusion and hardship was presented, and Beam did it flawlessly.

He also touched the hard subject of depression with J's best friend Melissa, who cut herself. My favorite seen in the book is when Melissa was dancing, I felt like I was there, living through her emotions, her pain, and the escape she feels when she cuts.

Now don't get me wrong, I still extremely disapprove of cutting, but the book was so well written its hard not to like every aspect of I am J.

Like I said. highly recommended, I am J is a book about discovering yourself, whoever you are. This book defies the boundaries and makes you realise how to love, and how to love yourself.

Dana