Topic: Identity construction
List of entries
This post-modern autobiographical novel mainly focuses on mental health, addressing suicide and psychological treatments. Esther Greenwood is a young woman in the 1950s aiming for an academic career. When she is almost raped during an internship far away from home, she becomes mentally unstable. Her mental health declines further as she loses her perspective of […]
“I can’t be as my dad or my mum, you know?” This award-winning graphic novel on gender stereotypes, friendship and identity construction follows thirteen-year-old Aster in the magical world of witches and shapeshifters. In this world, boys normally become shapeshifters, and girls grow up as witches, but as a boy, Aster is rather interested in […]
“The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?“ This teenage novel on identity construction, gender fluidity, internet blogging, peer pressure and coming out follows the story of Riley Cavanaugh, a nonbinary teenager, who neither fully identifies as a boy or a girl. […]
Simon Spier is a 16-year-old high school junior with an affinity for musical theatre. Lately, he’s been flirting online with a boy he only knows as “Blue”. He isn’t out of the closet; and plans on keeping it that way for the foreseeable future. This choice is taken from him when a classmate starts blackmailing […]
This heart-warming picture book on being different, feeling isolated and finally finding friends and acceptance follows a bear who always wanted to be a rabbit. Born as a bear but identifying as a bunny, Bunnybear experiences peer pressure from the other bears, who tell him to stop hopping around and twitching his nose as rabbits […]
“I had been brought up not to think about the Others in terms of where they came from or who they were, to ignore all that—they were just Others.” This dystopian novel tells the story of a world broken by climate change, divided by man. James always knew he would have to become a Defender. […]
This award-winning young adult novel about isolation, identity construction, being different and coming out as transgender, follows 17-year-old J, who lives with his parents in New York and does not identify as a female. To cover his body, J wears long baggy pants, large T-shirts and also keeps his hair short. Experiencing peer pressure at […]
18-year-old Georgia is about to start college and has never been in love. Sure, she’s read and fantasized about it, but real-life love? – Nowhere in sight. And so Georgia sets out on the college adventure of figuring out who she is and what she’s actually looking for. When she comes across the terms asexual […]
David is yet another American trying to find an escape from life in Paris in the 1950s. His girlfriend, Hella, is spending time alone in Spain trying to make up her mind regarding his proposal. Lonely and broke, David meets with an acquaintance at a bar in hopes of getting a financial boost. There, he […]
Named after happiness itself, Felix hasn’t found his happily ever after yet… let alone been in love. How come everyone else makes it look so effortless? He worries that being a black transgender young man could keep him from finding love and make him a target. This fear is confirmed when he receives transphobic messages […]
Making its debut in 1997, Zits comics narrate the everyday life of 15-year-old Jeremy; a teenager living in Ohio. But suburban life and high school come with their own set of problems, including but not limited to parents, school and girls. Whether it be about the embarrassment that parents are to teens or the other […]
Calvin may seem like a normal 6-year-old living in suburban America with his family and stuffed tiger “Hobbes”. To Calvin though, Hobbes is very much alive and his best friend and companion. Named after two philosophers, the pair is regularly immersed in deep conversations, often humorously lacking in the childlike expressions you would expect. But, […]
This modern novel describes a dystopian version of the year 1984. The world is ruled by three totalitarian superpowers with the book focusing on Oceania. The people are under constant surveillance and anyone opposing or even criticising the regime is eliminated together with all records of existence. Only thinking about another life or reality is […]
Fitting in can be hard for anyone. However, in a world of blue bunnies and yellow birds, feeling like you belong is extra tough. One day, the most peculiar green little creature hatches, with a fluffy tail and adorable little wings. Not this, not that… It’s Neither! Feeling out of place among the bunnies and […]
“You can have anything,” she said. “Once you admit you deserve it.” No one likes to be the new kid. All Amanda wants is to blend in and find friends. That plan fades away when she meets Grant and falls for him immediately. As they spend more time together, she feels herself opening up to […]
As long as she can remember, Jazz has known she’s a girl even though those around her perceive her as a boy. She doesn’t identify with stereotypical boys’ clothing and toys and would ideally just like to be a mermaid 24/7. Her parents listen to her and take her to a doctor, who confirms that […]
This novel tells a story of loving and embracing yourself while learning to trust yourself and open up to others. To her family, teachers and peers George is a boy. George however identifies as a girl and longs to live and present herself the way she wants to. She is so excited when the school […]
14-year-old Izzy lives in a small town, goes to school and doesn’t think of her life as anything extraordinarily special or exciting. That all changes when her father comes out as a trans-woman. The story deals with Izzy’s feelings of uncertainty and fear. Will her parents divorce? Will her classmates at school gossip about her? […]