Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir
By: Liz Prince / Narrated By: Full Cast
Length: 1 hr and 58 mins
Missing sooo much from the graphic book, yet somehow it works… such a delight!
Here’s how it went:
I’d seen that Tomboy was a graphic memoir, and tho’ I’d wondered how it’d be managed, I said Whatthehey, I shall do it anyway! Uhm, cuz like, it was on total sale over on Chirpbooks. Besides, I’d listened to, and kinda sorta watched The Velveteen Rabbit before, where as one Listened, the pictures on the screen changed and flowed with the story.
Now I dunno if the Audible version does that, but I’d been hooooping that the Chirpbooks version of Tomboy might… Alas, it did not, and not sure if that’s cuz Chirpbooks is relatively new, and they’re still working on their app, or maybe whazza? it just doesn’t offer that. So, uhm WAH!
Which leads me to the verrrry opening of the audiobook in which WAAAAAH!!! is heard loud and clear: Liz Prince as a child, and ooooh soooo not happy about being crammed into a dress. Grandma sent it, they’re going to Grandma’s, Liz canNOT stand it!
And this is where the story totally makes it as an audiobook. This Full Cast o’ Narrators are reeeally into their performances. That WAAAAAH!!! is danged near earsplitting, and it is without a doubt redolent of memories of a Grand Distress. Throughout this li’l journey into What’s With All These Gender Rules, they all put the pedal to the metal and capture Liz at various ages and in various stages of dismay, confusion, and victory/defeat.
She was a weird kid, and was sooo NOT being into a Girly Girl, and very much embraced the idea of “Tomboy”… except when she saw the apt term being misused: Supermodels copping to being Tomboys just because they had friends who were boys. -But- then they’d get all dolled up in dresses to go to the Boys Only shindigs. Liz is most encouraged by birds choosing to crap on said NOT Tomboys’s dresses, so huzzah to discerning birds!
Life is further complicated as she (Dude! I checked on her pronoun self-identification preferences beforehand!) staaaarts getting older. Early on, it was easy to just kinda sorta be who she wanted to be: Suit jacket? No problem. Leather satchel/briefcase? Check. The Ubiquitous ball cap? Got it, every moment of each and every day. But then… whazzis about Getting Your Period? And good cow!!! Breasts and a bra?!?
Nooooo!!!
To make matters worse, the ONLY boy who was her friend both out of school and IN school (Something her after-school friends that were dudes would NOT fess up to), Tyler, uhm, gets all brazen and sends her a Special Valentine, hearts hearts be m’ girlfriend hearts.
Nooooo!!! She’d very much like a Special Valentine (hearts hearts be m’ girlfriend hearts), but from another guy and NOT her bestest friend!!!
Woe woe woe! Navigating growing up all whilst honoring who ya really are can be a fraught situation complete with bullying from both taunting boys, sneering girls.
Tomboy is a just plain awesome book, and it’d be great for any kids looking for role models as they discover that p’raps they don’t quite fit into a specific gender, or if they plain don’t wanna. There are some really neat compromises made by clear-minded and open-hearted adults along the way (Hear: One who says she does NOT have to wear a dress during Mass days but can wear the slacks and tie that boys would wear), and it also shows how understanding adults should be (Mom and Dad tell Grandma ix-nay on the esses-dray).
I went over to Amazon to check on the Publisher’s Summary and had a look-see into the book with their “Look inside” arrow, and the book truly looks wonderful. Prince’s comic art is simple line drawing but it’s LOUD with personality. But, seriously, ya don’t need the book to enjoy this. Just check the drawings out beforehand to get a sense of Prince’s style, and then settle back in for just under 2-hours of a delightful story that chronicles the Ups Down and Sideways of growing up as Something Other than Who Society Says You MUST Be.
Come for the story; stay for the treMENdous performances. Growing up is never fun, so it was great to hear the humor someone else has found in their own journey.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.