Precious & Gender Queer Review

By Cole Beehn (they/them)

Continuing with my goal of reading the top banned books in 2023, I have recently read both “Precious” (Push) by Sapphire and “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe.

“Precious” was published in 1996 and made into a movie in 2009. It deals with incredibly difficult and often abrasive topics such as incest, abuse, rape of a child, intrusive thoughts, poverty, and self-hate. The language is vulgar; the text is brutal. However the overall story is inspiring and hopeful. I would highly recommend reading this book and discussing the content with a close friend or counselor, as well as practicing self-care throughout. Books are not created simply for the joy of reading. Many times the most difficult reads challenge us to become better people or help us work through our own lived traumas. Despite my occasional discomfort, I am glad to have finished the book and seen how Precious managed to change the life path set out for her.

“Gender Queer: A Memoir” is a short comic book about Maia’s journey towards self discovery. So many of the topics, thoughts, experiences, and conclusions matched my own that I found myself moved to tears twice while reading through eir book. (1) If I didn’t know any better, I might have thought this author was living inside my head. This memoir is a beautiful look into the life of someone who always felt different from the person they were expected to be. Like me, Maia is nonbinary and asexual. There are a brief few panels with sexually suggestive images and language, but none of the depictions are any more explicit in nature than your average TV show nowadays. In fact, I would say they are more tasteful due to eir drawing style. It’s appalling that anyone would even suggest removing this book from a school library. If I had read this in my youth, perhaps a lot of things would have clicked into place for me much sooner.

I’ll say it again, read banned books. Make your own conclusions. As Voltaire wrote, “Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so, too.”