This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. Maybe it’s a historical novel and the real history in a nonfiction version, or a memoir and a novel, or a fiction book you’ve read and you would like recommendations for background reading. You can be as creative as you like!
None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio is a YA story about a teenage athlete who finds out that she is intersex. The author is a surgeon so a lot of the explanations in the book are coming from a medical perspective. That’s good for people who aren’t well versed on what it means to be born with a difference in sexual development.
The book sometimes reads like trying to fit a story around all the education. It was also written in 2015 and may seem a little behind the times to people who have been following discussions on these issues since then. But, it is a good place to start learning.
XOXY by Kimberly M. Zieselman is a memoir of a woman who also finds out as an adult that she was born with XY chromosomes and an insensitivity to testosterone. I thought the best parts of this book were the in depth discussions of the different syndromes seen. I thought the book got weaker when she discussed rather unrelated things like her adoptions and her kids’ lives.
I did get frustrated reading about her family’s lack of understanding of medical issues when she was growing up. It felt like she would talk about what the doctor told them and then in the next breath complain that they didn’t know anything about what the doctor was telling them. She complains bitterly about her primary care doctor not telling her enough information while also complaining that this doctor was trying to push her to listen to discussions about her condition that she didn’t want to have. I kept yelling at her, “You can’t have it both ways!”
So both of these books have weaknesses but if you aren’t familiar with Differences of Sexual Development, these are good places to start your education.
I also recently reviewed Caster Semenya’s new memoir about being an elite athlete at the center of gender controversy.
I’m going to get more in-depth with this topic next week in the Worldview Shapers post that will be about trans and DSD athletes in women’s sports. Stay tuned!
This week’s host is Liz at Adventures in reading, running and working from home
An interesting topic, and one I’m glad people are learning about. Thanks for sharing
Very interesting pairings, I read an extract from Semenya’s book the other weekend and am keen to get hold of a copy of that one, too. I’m pleased I’ve seen so many book pairings and it’s only Monday!
These are very interesting topics. I don’t read much medical related nonfiction but I would definitely be drawn to stories written by medical professionals with firsthand experience. Great post!
Timely reads. I appreciate that you identified the weaknesses in both books. Sometimes 2015 seems like yesterday but other times it seems like ages ago.
My Nonfiction November Week Three Post
I love that None of the Above is written by a surgeon. Their experience should make it for a good and factual read, even though it’s a book from 2015. XOXY also sounds like a good memoir even though the author seemed to go off on other things in her life that didn’t seem so relevant.
I read Pidgeon Pagonis’ memoir this month, Nobody Needs to Know, about being born intersex. It was so enlightening on things I didn’t know much about, so I’m adding None of the Above to my tbr list (and also from Liz’s mention of it today as well).
These are great ones, I’ve only seen a few so far and the diversity is already excellent! I hope you can add this post to the InLinkz link party!