Just Girls discussion questions

Questions for Discussion: Just Girls by Rachel Gold Here's a list of questions for classrooms and book groups. Fair warning: there are more spoilers the further you get into the questions.   Ch. 1 How should the admissions department have handled having a trans girl in the dorms? If you were Ella, how would you want them to have handled it? Ch. 2 What did you think of Tucker coming out as trans even though she isn’t? What would you have done? Tucker and Ella come from different socioeconomic classes, how does this impact the options that are available to them and what they see as viable choices? What might it be like if their situations were reversed? Ch. 4 Before the administration will let Tucker move to Ella’s suite, they ask if she’s had “the surgery.” Our culture seems fixated on genitals. Is it ever okay to ask someone about the state of their genitals? Why or why not? Ch. 5 Getting a team for the Cruel 2B Kind game and then playing the game is one of the ways Ella becomes comfortable on campus. In addition to community, what are other positive effects of playing games? Have you ever had an experience where you could express yourself more fully

Being Emily discussion questions and resources

Thanks to the wonderful people over at RECLAIM for coming up with these questions and providing a training for their book circle facilitators. Please check out RECLAIM's website and don't hesitate to contact them with questions or support if you want to host a book circle in your community. RECLAIM works to increase access to mental health support so that queer and trans youth may reclaim their lives from oppression in all its forms. Being Emily Discussion Questions Chapters 1-2 What was your reaction when Chris(Emily) came out to Claire as transgender? Would you have responded differently than Claire did? Chapters 3-6 In these chapters we see both Claire and Chris(Emily) struggling. How are their difficulties the same, and how are they different? Chapters 7-12 In chapter 8 we meet Natalie. How does she compare to the portrayal of transsexuals we see in mainstream culture? Chapter 13 How do Dr. Webber and Dr. Mary Mendel compare as therapists for Emily? Which one more closely matches what you were expecting a psychologist to be like? In chapter 13 we meet the gender support group that Natalie attends. Did the diversity of the individuals there surprise you? Chapters 14-19 Assuming that you identify as cisgender (identify with the biological sex you were born

Just Girls wins Goldie Award (and that’s not even the best part!)

I had a wonderful time at this year's Golden Crown Literary Society conference -- even before the awards ceremony. Meeting Dorothy Allison and Rita Mae Brown was fantastic! I first read both of them at 16-19 when I was coming out and starting college. They both impacted my writing and seeing them speak reminded me of all the reasons they're amazing and I should keep aspiring to follow the paths they blazed. If you need to get your reading on: Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown Trash by Dorothy Allison (or read Bastard out of Carolina, if you prefer novels to short stories) Just Girls by me!

144 trans people we should talk about more than we talk about Caitlyn Jenner

Media stars and public figures coming out can be great for trans visibility, and I suspect it takes boatloads of courage to come out in a hugely public way no matter who you are. But I’m getting tired of seeing a news feed that’s all pics of Caitlyn Jenner, so here are some alternatives:   This wonderful list of 10 trans icons from around the world, including Parinya Charoenphol (and if you have not seen the film about her life, "Beautiful Boxer," run to Netflix and watch it): http://www.towleroad.com/2015/06/10-trans-icons.html Deva Ozenen who is running for a parliament seat in Turkey: http://www.naijapromo.net/2015/06/meet-transgender-woman-who-wants-to.html Manabi Banerjee, India’s first trans college principal: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/india-transgender-college-principal-150527080214140.html These 8 trans women of color who are amazing! The 8 (known) murdered trans women in the U.S. so far this year: http://www.advocate.com/crime/2015/05/19/philadelphia-sees-eighth-murder-trans-woman-us-year. And the 12 (known) murdered trans women in 2014: http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/11/20/transgender-day-remembrance-those-weve-lost-2014 Leelah Alcorn and the many trans youth like her who feel that suicide is their best or only option: http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/05/01/new-details-emerge-officials-rule-leelah-alcorns-death-suicide Captain Hannah Winterbourne: http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/05/armys-first-transgender-soldier-poses-proudly-in-a-dress-and-heels-looks-great-5231651/ Lana Wachowski and Jamie Clayton — read a great interview with Jamie about the Netflix series Sense8 here: http://www.scifinow.co.uk/news/sense8s-jamie-clayton-on-gender-identity-and-queen-netflix/ The Trans 100: http://thetrans100.com/ a list that celebrates excellent in the trans community. I know I've missed many important and interesting people who are making change

Gaming, writing & mental health – I’m teaching at The Loft!

In August, I get to play games and talk about brains while teaching* teens at The Loft.  (* and by "teaching" I mean tossing out really cool ideas and watching the class make them more awesome.) I'm deeply excited about this for a few reasons: Gaming + writing = super fun writing Gaming with teens = radical creativity at play I haven't taught teens before, but I have taught lawyers and teens have to be immeasurably more fun (with apologies to my lawyer friends) My next YA novel (out spring of 2016) includes radical ideas about mental health (like the fact that sometimes the person with the disorder is the perfect person for you to date) It took me at least 10 years to figure out how to work with my brain to get novels written and I'm excited to share what I've learned and hear what works for other people Below are the class listings. Click through either title to go to The Loft's site where you can register. Also look forward to future posts about mental health, gaming and writing. If you have a topic or question you'd like me to address, comment, tweet, social or email me (contact info is at the bottom of

Kimchi for the innocent, the timid and the neurotic

Adapted from the Yummy Kimchi recipe suggested to me by Allison Moon and the recipe in "Brain Maker" by Dr. David Perlmutter. Altered to be more digestible to people who can’t tolerate FODMAP foods (like me) by removing all onions, leeks, scallions, garlic and the like. If you’re on a very strict FODMAP-avoidant diet, do not use the jicama either. (If you don't know what that means, you probably don't have to worry about it.) Ingredients: 1 napa cabbage quartered and then cut into chunks or strips as you like 1/4 c. plus 1 tbsp fine pure sea salt 1 large crisp apple, Asian pear or bosc pear 2 tbsp fresh ginger root 1 tbsp anchovy paste (sounds gross, is awesome) 1 tablespoon Korean chili powder (or more, or none depending on your taste; I used smoked paprika, this may or may not be your thing -- see notes below) 2 stalks of celery 1/2 to a full daikon radish, peeled and cut into quarters lengthwise, then 1/2-inch-thick chunks 1 large carrot 1/3 to 1/2 jicama (optional) Ingredient notes: Although the recipe called for Korean chili powder, I didn’t have any and I don’t like chili anyway, so I used smoked paprika. If you go this route make sure that a) you really

January Book Club

Gayya.org is hosting a January book club for Just Girls! Much of the discussion is happening on Tumblr -- you can see the details here on the Gayya.org site. You can follow the discussion by following the GayYA Book Club tag. There will also be an hour-long Twichat on January 21st at 8pm EST hosted by Katherine Locke.

Follow the blog tour

The Just Girls blog tour has kicked off and will run through Nov. 16 with blog reviews of the books and many changes to enter a raffle to win a $50 Amazon gift card and signed copies of Just Girls. And here's a quick peek at what some of the first reviewers are saying: Melissa Storm's Blog: "What does it mean to be a young adult in today’s world? What does it mean to be a feminist? To be a girl? Rachel Gold’s fantastic Just Girls asks all these questions and more, and the answers are bound to surprise you while also resonating deeply with anyone who has ever felt insecurity, fear, or love." Pavarti K Tyler's Blog: "Ella’s story is sweet, brave and easy to relate to.  Her relationships with Tucker and Shen especially bring to the discussion the difference between sexuality and gender, a distinction not often considered by the mainstream public.  I very much enjoyed the book."  

Just Girls: Art Giveaway, part 2!

Remember how I had this great plan to reward people who bought Just Girls in its first six weeks with free, amazing art of the characters? Then I spent some time with art and realized I just want everyone to have it. So forget what I said about emailing me to tell me you bought the book. If you want the art, it's yours! Clicking the link below will start downloading the PDF for you (or open it in a browser window so you can save it to your computer). Give it a minute to download. It's a 93MB file so that you can print it out in high quality if you want. Just Girls character art Here's a smaller file version of the finished art so you can see the whole illustration: