I am Jazz - Online Resource (3)

I am Jazz is written by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings and it was illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas. It was published in 2014 by Penguin Young Readers Group.

Lexile Level: N/A     Ages: 4-8

Read on: Audible.com

Summary:

     I am Jazz is a true story about a transgender child that takes the reader through her life experiences as Jazz Jennings. From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl's brain in a boy's body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn't feel like herself in boys' clothing.Until one day Jazz and her parents went to the doctors office where the doctor explained that Jazz was transgender and she was born that way.

Evaluation and Illustrations:

     This is an inspirational story and one of the authors is actually Jazz Jennings, who the story is about. It takes us through a young child's life as she finds herself to be transgender and in the end gets all the support possible from her family. There are always negative stories about families who find out their child/sibling is transgender, but this does the opposite. It shows an accepting family doing what they can to make sure their child is happy in her own skin.

     The illustrations helps explain what Jazz is trying to show the author. Readers are taken through her journey with upbeat watercolor illustrations that are a good complement to the cheerful tone and positive message of the story We see Jazz happy, we see her upset, we see her as a boy and we see her as a girl. The images are easy for the child to understand what is happening on each page. They great thing about this story is it is told in an order so through just looking at the pictures one can see Jazz's transition into a girl.

Literary Elements:

     There is conflict in this story, the conflict is that Jazz is confused, she is caught between who she truly is and the body she was born in. There are powerful themes, those are self-worth and acceptance. The overall mood of the story is positive and cheerful. There are a couple times when the tone drops to negativity, like when we see Jazz get bullied.

1. Conflict: Jazz is stuck in the wrong body.
2. Themes: self-worth and acceptance
3. Mood: cheerful, positive, and happy

In the Classroom:

     I am Jazz is a great book to have in the classroom to show positivity on a tough subject. I would take this opportunity to discuss with students that they may be friends with a student who identifies as transgender or maybe someone in their family. It is important for students at a young age to know that being transgender does not make them any different from anyone else, they were not born who they really are.


Herthel, J., Jennings, J., & McNicholas, S. (2014). I am Jazz. NY, NY: Penguin Youngs Readers Group.