
American Teenager
How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era
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Narrated by:
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Nico Lang
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By:
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Nico Lang
About this listen
From an award-winning journalist comes a vivid and moving portrait of eight trans and nonbinary teenagers across the country, following their daily triumphs, struggles, and all that encompasses growing up trans in America today.
Media coverage tends to sensationalize the fight over how trans kids should be allowed to live, but what is incredibly rare are the voices of the people at the heart of this debate: transgender and gender nonconforming kids themselves. For their groundbreaking new book, journalist Nico Lang spent a year traveling the country to document the lives of transgender, nonbinary, and genderfluid teens and their families.
From the tip of Florida’s conservative panhandle to vibrant queer communities in California, and from Texas churches to mosques in Illinois, American Teenager gives listeners a window into the lives of Wyatt, Rhydian, Mykah, Clint, Ruby, Augie, Jack, and Kylie, eight teens who, despite what some lawmakers might want us to believe, are truly just kids looking for a brighter future. Drawing on hundreds of hours of on-the-ground interviews with them and the people in their communities, American Teenager paints a vivid portrait of what it’s actually like to grow up trans today.
©2024 Nico Lang (P)2024 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“With humor and compassion, Lang shows trans teenagers as they really are: kids trying their best, day by day, to grow into their truest selves and fullest potential.”—Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer: A Memoir
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What listeners say about American Teenager
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Charles
- 03-04-25
Absolutely incredible and engaging
I never read a book so engaging about Trans teens. It’s written with unflinching honesty and it has beautiful prose.
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- will
- 12-02-24
Essential
Great read/listen, the young people really come alive. Absolutely essential in this moment at which trans young people and their families have become the right’s favorite target
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- Kit
- 12-14-24
Heartbreaking, Powerful and Joyful
I think this book should be required reading, thank you for sharing each of these stories with the world.
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- Josey
- 01-15-25
a must read
as a parent if a nonbianary child in 2016 and being transgender myself, the book gives a candid view of how children and parents thrive in a world filled with hate. Nico found a way to keep the beauty of the story while explaining why the struggles happen. this is a book filled with stories of people who are looking for the light at the end of the tunnel not realizing they were the light in the tunnel the whole time.
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- carollei
- 12-13-24
opportunistic pandering
still trying to figure out who this book was written for. complete lack of critical analysis and ends with a final message of “have kids”. in this era of human history? seems not only shortsighted but also a privileged position to take.
the story telling is pretty good, but is just set dressing for the author’s voyeuristic incursions into the lives of a handful of trans teens and their families.
again, not sure who the audience is supposed to be. feels like this was written for nico lang and only nico lang
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