Transidentity on the youth shelves

In The hurricane and me, Philemon’s mother did something “more difficult than becoming an Olympic athlete or even an astronaut,” says her friend Laurence. She changed her body to become a woman.

Veronique Larocque
The Press

In the youth section of bookstores, there are few books that talk about transidentity. Even rarer are those intended for children of primary school age. By writing the story of Philémon, Marie-Pierre Gazaille wanted to speak to these young people.

“I find that, often, we do not trust them enough. The discomfort of some adults […] is transposed in the fact that we don’t want to present them with subjects that are sometimes difficult to explain. »

It is however in a very simple way that the author approaches the question from the first page of the novel. “In 2015, I was 4 years old and I lost my father. Not lost lost as in “he left and never came back”. No. But he disappeared in another way. […] Fortunately, in exchange for my father, I had Ingrid”, says Philémon, from the height of his 10 years.

Marie-Pierre Gazaille wanted to present transidentity as “one normality among others”, in particular thanks to the illustrations filled with sweetness by Marie-Eve Turgeon.

To write her first novel, the one who works in the field of communications was inspired by her good friend Katrina Naranjo, who made her transition in 2012 when her children were in 3^and and in 6^and year.

“I thought there was a great story to tell and I knew she would have the openness and the desire to share it with me. […]. I wanted to be sure to be in the right tone and to have the right angle, ”says Marie-Pierre Gazaille, by videoconference.

“A Storm Name”

How did Katrina Naranjo react when her friend told her about the project? “I was very touched to know that it was the subject she had chosen to launch a children’s book”, answers the one who also participated in the interview.

The novel is not biographical, but some parallels can be drawn between fiction and reality.

Unlike the hero, Katrina Naranjo’s children weren’t bullied by a student in their class because of their parent’s transition. However, they experienced the same fears as Philemon.

“Are my friends going to talk to me? Am I going to be cast aside? […] Everything that the young person feels in the book, mine lived it inside of them and apprehended what was going to happen at school, ”she says.

Like Katrina Naranjo, Ingrid was inspired by a hurricane for her first name. “I guess my father knew that his announcement and Ingrid’s arrival would turn everything upside down. […]. So he chose a stormy name for himself,” Philemon explains in the novel.

And like Ingrid, Katrina Naranjo isn’t shy about talking about her transition and answering questions about it. She also gives lectures in secondary schools. “Young people are very curious. They want to know everything,” she says, adding that she sees a great open-mindedness among the students.

In the eyes of Marie-Pierre Gazaille, primary school children are also ready to hear about transidentity. “I draw a somewhat easy parallel, but if we think back to when we started talking about the environment, it was a lot of young people who got involved and parents followed the wave. […] I hope that, in the same way, openness to this difference and to other differences can pass through the awareness of young people if they are given the chance. »

The hurricane and me

Text by Marie-Pierre Gazaille, illustrations by Marie-Eve Turgeon

Editions Quebec America

From 7 years old

Teen stories

In 2014, Samuel Champagne wrote Tomboy, the first fictional novel for teenagers to address transidentity in Quebec. Its sequel, Eloi, has recently been reissued. Why did he choose to write novels on this subject? “It is mainly because there was a void. […] In my personal journey, it took so long before I decided to make a transition because I did not see and I did not hear about trans people, “replies the author who began his transition at 28 years old, after giving birth to two children. Samuel Champagne would have liked to read novels on the subject when he was a teenager. “It would have helped me to understand a lot of things about myself and it would probably have helped the people around me to understand me a little better and to support me differently. “I think that in adolescence literature can have an impact on the identity construction of individuals, especially when it addresses more complex themes such as transidentity, he continues. It helps to spread the blinders a little […]. It also allows especially those who live it not to feel alone. »