Log 2

"My Brother's Name is Jessica" is a young adult novel by Irish author John Boyne. It tells the story of 13-year-old Sam Waver, whose older brother Jason reveals that he is transgender and begins living as a girl named Jessica. The book has received mixed reviews and faced some criticism from the transgender community. Even though LGBTQ+ issues have been discussed and supported for years, the world seems not to really understand, respect, or embrace LGBTQ+ communities. There is still a long way to go.

The reason why I chose this bookm is that I am interested in self-identity. It’s a lifetime issue for everyone to recognize who we are and who we would like to be, and the recognition continuously changes.

When I read the first chapter of this book, I could strongly feel Jason’s struggles with telling the truth and everyone’s emotions towards his confession at the end of the chapter. If I were Jason, it would be pretty hard for me to tell the secret holding for many years. Also, if I were Sam or his parents, I would be very concerned about what had happened to Jason and why he would have this recognition.

However, after reading the first chapter, I thought the author might want to convey the message of not only self-identity but also recognition from others. I found that there were many details of recognition mentioned in the texts. Therefore, I was able to know what kind of person are Sam, Jason, and their parents through their respective descriptions of each other.