Leo reviews:  Sam is  my Sister Written by Ashley Rhodes-Courter  Illustrated by MacKenzie Haley

Sam is my Sister
Written by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Illustrated by MacKenzie Haley

“’You are in charge of who you are and how you feel.’”

Evan, Sam and Finn love playing together, especially pretending to travel into space -one day they will all fly up together! Little by little changes happen. Sam is choosing different clothes, different hairstyle, and even different books. Evan is confused until his parents tell him about Sam being a transgender girl. She wants to dress and play with the things that make her feel like her true self. Evan talks to Sam and she explains her feelings with a wonderful metaphor. But the real test is the school playground. Can Evan be a good ally and stand up for his sister, Sam?

As a transgender individual myself and parent of a gender-non-conforming child, I admit I was biased in choosing this book. Lucky for us in the transgender community, books about our life experiences are becoming more common, but still this is a topic woefully under-addressed. This book is a wonderful way to explain to young children the transgender experience, especially in the metaphor used by Sam to explain her feelings. Though this book is written from the brother, Evan’s, perspective, it gives Sam a powerful voice to be herself, express herself, and state firmly her needs. This is very important as often transgender people are spoken over by cisgender (non-transgender) people. Though the author isn’t trans herself, she did a brilliant job conveying the importance of family support and giving their child the freedom to be who they need and want to be.