I Am J
Little, Brown 2011
J had always felt different. He was (sometimes) sure that people would one day understand who he really was: a boy mistakenly identified as a girl. Yet as he grew up, his body began to betray him; he started covering up his body, keeping himself invisible--from his family, from his friends...from the world. But after being deserted by the best friend, J decides he's done hiding: it's time to be who he really is. And this time he's determined not give up, no matter the cost. (young adult)
Read More ↓
Kirkus Best Books of 2011
Amazon Best Books of March 2011
Junior Library Guild Selection 2011
Rainbow Book List 2012
“A wonderful addition to the few novels that have dared to tackle a subject that has long lived in the cultural margins…a tender, surprisingly relatable story.”- Los Angeles Times
"Easily the best book to date about...being a transsexual teen...J [is] a multilayered, absolutely believable character." - Booklist (starred review)
"Finally, a book about a transgender teen that gives its central character a life in which gender and transition matter but do not define his existence!" - Kirkus (starred review)
"It is J's authentic voice that keeps this challenging story from simply being a problem novel…Readers should be absorbed by J's struggle to prove "My gender's not a lie. I am not a lie." -Publisher's Weekly
“Author Cris Beam’s extraordinary understanding of this often overlooked population shows in J--a complex, conflicted character whose emotional journey will resonate beyond the final page.” -Amazon, Best Books of the Month, March 2011
"The novel's greatest strengths are J's voice and his clearly articulated perspective...even readers with little familiarity with transgender issues will find plenty to relate to on an emotional level." - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
"J is an especially vivid character...believable and effective." -School Library Journal
“So honest it will break your heart, then stitch it back together.” -Ellen Wittlinger, Printz Honor and Lambda Literary Award-winning author of Parrotfish and Hard Love
"Until I Am J came along, I didn't know I'd been desperately lacking a tranny Holden Caulfield in my life. Smart and sensitive, but with just the right amount of rage bubbling over, J is an inspiring and courageous ambassador for any twenty-first century kid trying to figure out who and what he or she (or anything in between) is in this world." -T Cooper, bestselling author of The Beaufort Diaries and Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes
"Honest, fearless, enlightening and important...a beautifully written debut, filled—much like life itself—with pain, heartbreak, and confusion, but also friendship, love and hope." -Martin Wilson, author of What They Always Tell Us