Trans Kids

July 1, 2018
Sociologist Meadow has written a pioneering work of ethnography about gender nonconforming and transgender children (as opposed to transgender adults and teens), an unprecedented social category. While the book possesses potentially expansive interest, its readership will probably be largely limited to academics. The author is an academic and writes from that perspective, employing an often unfamiliar vocabulary ( antiessentialist premises, omnirelevant, somatic indicia, etiological explanations, etc.). That said, portions of the book are readily accessible to lay readers: Meadow's profiles of two major advocacy organizations, for example, and, more important, the stories of parents of trans children (Meadow conducted 80 interviews with 62 parents). Many of them report the challenges they experienced when they chose to support their child's transition: opprobrium, threats of violence, state interference, and more. Clearly, more information is urgently needed to counteract ignorance, and one hopes, accordingly, that this fine book will be enlightening.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)