Tomboy Survival Guide

By: Ivan Coyote

Narrated by: Ivan Coyote

Stonewall Book Award Honor Book winner

Ivan Coyote is a celebrated storyteller and the author of 10 previous books, including Gender Failure (with Rae Spoon) and One in Every Crowd, a collection for LGBT youth. Tomboy Survival Guide is a funny and moving memoir told in stories, in which Ivan recounts the pleasures and difficulties of growing up a tomboy in Canada's Yukon, and how they learned to embrace their tomboy past while carving out a space for those of us who don't fit neatly into boxes or identities or labels.

Ivan writes movingly about many firsts: the first time they were mistaken for a boy; the first time they purposely discarded their bikini top so they could join the boys at the local swimming pool; and the first time they were chastised for using the women's washroom. Ivan also explores their years as a young butch, dealing with new infatuations and old baggage, and life as a gender-box-defying adult, in which they offer advice to young people while seeking guidance from others. (And for tomboys in training, there are even directions on building your very own unicorn trap.)

Tomboy Survival Guide warmly recounts Ivan's adventures and mishaps as a diffident yet free-spirited tomboy, and maps their journey through treacherous gender landscapes and a maze of labels that don't quite stick, to a place of self-acceptance and an authentic and personal strength. These heartfelt, funny, and moving stories are about the culture of difference - a "guide" to being true to one's self.

©2016 Ivan Coyote (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Beautiful and True

It puts words to trans and nonbinary pain and emotions. Incredible language paired with true though painful feelings and experiences. I feel seen and empathized with in this text.

To trans* people: gift this to your family

My sis and I listened to this book recently on a road trip coming back to Michigan from Montreal. As someone who doesn't have the same exposure to topics covered in classes in queer and gender studies programs, Ivan's stories were the first of their kind flowing into my sis' ears. There are a lot of people in our lives who identify somewhere on the trans spectrum and we were able to use Ivan's perspectives as a gateway for valuable conversations. Here are some major takeaways regarding trans* people's possible experiences: navigating public restrooms can be scary and dangerous, so-called 'gender' reveal parties are a way of announcing your child's genitalia publicly, thinking and doing gender in a binary can have very harmful consequences for non-cis-gendered people, appreciate the family members and friends who see and hear you and try their hardest, love yourself.

I 100% recommend this book to anyone, especially to my little 15-year-old self who didn't know they needed to read a book like this and who was 15 way before this book and others like it came into existence.

Relatable, tender, sad, sweet

Thank you Ivan Coyote for telling so many of my own stories thru your stories. For all the butches, trans-masc, and gender variant folks of the masculine flavor, for those of us in the trades who lived through certain times, books like these are far and few between. A real gift.

Truth, Hope & Love

As a non-binary, transmasculine person, it is always so heartening to hear that someone shares the truths I hold in my heart. Ivan's raw and emotional storytelling had me crying, smiling, laughing, and hoping. Hope. That's something that comes in short supply for trans people. Every time I hear of another trans person's success, it becomes my own in some small way. It becomes my hope that I can be understood, accepted, and loved just the way I am. Thank you, Ivan Coyote.

Thank you for all you do

I really enjoyed listening to this book!The voice reminds me of a friend we met who is from Whitehorse. I swear I checked the name and had to see a photo to make sure it wasn't him. I am so grateful for this and will continue to look for more. What a big heart and kind soul! ❤️