Gender Queer: A Memoir Deluxe Edition

by Maia Kobabe, Phoebe Kobabe (Illustrator)

In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Then e created Gender Queer. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fan fiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal It is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere. This special deluxe hardcover edition of Gender Queer features a brand-new cover, exclusive art and sketches, a foreword from ND Stevenson, Lumberjanes writer and creator of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and an afterword from Maia Kobabe.

Kindle Edition

Published July 6, 2022

About the author

Maia Kobabe is a nonbinary, queer, trans author, a voracious reader, a kpop fan, and a daydreamer. You can learn an astonishing number of intimate details about em in GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR and in eir short comics and writing published by The New Yorker, The Nib, NPR, Time Magazine, The Washington Post and in many print anthologies. GENDER QUEER won a Stonewall Honor and an Alex Award from the American Library Association in 2020. It was also the number one most challenged book in the United States in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Maia's second book is BREATHE: JOURNEYS TO HEALTHY BINDING written with Dr Sarah Peitzmeier (Dutton, 2024). Eir next book is OPTING OUT, a middle grade graphic novel with Lucky Srikumar (Scholastic Graphix, 2026).

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Reviews

[SagaSommar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! A must read! Now I have a deeper understanding of my transgender son. This is truly a touching story and fantastic pictures to explain the thoughts and feelings in a great way. Read it in one go and could not stop. Thanks to Maia for sharing eir story.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a memoir, so the 5 stars isn't anything to do with content, but moreso how easy it was to digest. As someone who is still trying to figure out my own identity, it was comforting to read about someone discovering who they are making it out the other end just fine. It may have been assigned for a class, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important work. The format as a graphic work makes the meaning stronger and more understandable, especially to someone who is not trans and doesn't have the same relationship to gender as the author. This book helped me understand, even though I already consider myself an ally to the trans community, so thank you.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

ahhhhhhhh I love this book

[PM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the variation in paneling when conveying different points of the author’s life. I liked how personal and genuine eir recollection was. I wish I could’ve read this when I was younger.