Gr 3-7–Record-breaking
Jeopardy! champion Schneider has adapted her memoir for young readers with nine essays about growing up smart, becoming famous, and being true to oneself. In an author’s note, Schneider explains that though she was raised as a boy, her name is Amy, and she uses she/her pronouns. This matter-of-fact tone continues throughout, as the champion describes her Catholic childhood in Dayton, OH, the teachers and friendships that influenced her, her curiosity and love of learning for its own sake, and the lessons she took from being a theater kid. In the chapter titled, “When Did You Know You Were Trans?” Schneider describes being deeply unhappy growing up as a boy, starting in early childhood and increasing in middle school and adolescence. She identifies the hatred she felt toward boys, and towards her own body and voice. Working with a therapist and eventually receiving a diagnosis of ADD helped Schneider understand and process some of these feelings and put her on the path to greater self-acceptance. The closing chapter focuses on the positive opportunities for advocacy and allyship that Schneider’s transition and
Jeopardy! fame have afforded. This frank and friendly memoir has a strong message for young readers who may feel that they don’t fit in: “It’s really important to do two things, and one of them is to be proud of your identity, to own your identity, and to accept your identity; and the other thing is to not let that define you.”
VERDICT Recommended for most collections, especially where personal accounts of neurodivergence and LGBTQIA+ identities are in demand.
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