Herman, Joanne. Transgender Explained for Those Who Are Not. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2009. paperback. 148p. $14.95. ISBN-13: 978-1449029579(sc). ISBN-13: 978-1449029661(e).

The short, easy-to-read chapters in Transgender Explained for Those Who Are Not began as columns in The Advocate during 2006 and 2007. Author Joanne Herman’s goal in both the original and updated essays is to provide an easy-to-understand, non-threatening introduction to the world of transgender for anyone who may have a transgender person in their life or anyone wanting a quick introduction to the topic.

Four sections structure the book and cover a broad spectrum of topics: The Primer (basic vocabulary, discrimination, success
stories, transgender children, and the medical establishment); Advanced Topics (regret, deception, religion, sexism, feminism); My Story (Herman’s personal account of transitioning); and Resources (annotated bibliography, talking points, and web resources).

This is not meant to be an academic book, so the tone is conversational and the text lacks formal notes. While Herman achieves her goal of a non-threatening, easy-to-understand introduction to the topic, academics will want to trouble some of the definitions, arguments, and the focus on normalization.

Readers will benefit from the insight to the medical system, everyday challenges transgender folks face, and Herman’s first person accounts. Despite its flaws, Transgender Explained for Those Who Are Not can be a very useful introduction, but it should not be used as a sole resource on this topic.

This title is recommended for academic and public libraries.

Reviewed by, Amy Hribar
University of Minnesota