Choir Boy [Hardcover]

Charlie Anders (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2005

Twelve-year-old choirboy Berry wants nothing more than to remain a choirboy, surrounded by perfect notes, as opposed to his imperfect, quarreling parents. Choral music and the prospect of divinity thrill him. Desperate to keep his voice from changing, he tries to injure himself, and then convinces a clinic to give him testosterone-inhibiting drugs. The hormone pills keep Berry's voice from deepening but also cause him to grow breasts. Suddenly Berry faces a world of unexpected gender issues that push him into a universe far more complex than anything he has experienced. A fantastical coming-of-age story, Choir Boy combines off-kilter humor and its own brand of modern day magic in a rollicking, bittersweet story about growing up different.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–Berry, 12, lives a lonely and disconnected life at home and finds his only moments of fulfillment and transcendence as a standout soloist in the choir. When he notices that puberty is beginning to crack the pristine pipes of other boys his age, he begins to fear his own transition to manhood. He decides that, in the tradition of the Castrati, he needs to terminate his impending flow of pitch-bending testosterone before it's too late. After an impulsive hack with a kitchen knife leaves his gonads smarting but intact, Berry is able to obtain a pharmaceutical solution: a mixture of testosterone inhibitors and female hormones meant for aspiring transsexuals. He has not yet begun to unravel the complex subtleties of his sexuality, nor does he fully fathom the side effects the regimen will produce. He soon finds himself with a pair of strapping breasts and is thus forced into some difficult life-altering decisions. The story features a cast of over-the-top characters and is delivered in a glib, hipsteresque narrative style reminiscent of Tom Robbins. While some readers may relish the underground tone, others will find it effete and annoying. The sometimes cartoonish treatment, while it does provide some mild comic enjoyment, ultimately subverts the emotional gravity of what are very weighty personal issues. That shortcoming, combined with the adult language and themes, makes this title unsuitable for most collections.–Jeffrey Hastings, Highlander Way Middle School, Howell, MI
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About the Author

Charlie Anders is also the author of The Lazy Crossdresser (also available from Turnaround). Her writing has also been published in numerous publications and anthologies.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press (April 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932360816
• ISBN-13: 978-1932360813
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,757,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No easy answers, April 6, 2005

By 

E. Henry "geeklizzard" (Redwood City, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Choir Boy (Hardcover)

Choir Boy compares well with classic books about teenagers that aren't necessarily for teenagers, like Bridge Over Terabithia or Carson McCullers' Member of the Wedding, and then goes way beyond. It's a fast-moving and complicated story, lyrical and musically structured, scary, hilarious, and hopeful.

Everyone will read it to be "about" gender and queerness, and it is, but I hope people will also see another story, about the possibility of living in uncertainty. Berry and the other characters have outside influences pushing them into particular paths of identity or behavior, but none of them ultimately are locked in to those paths. Commitment to art, above all, is what puts Berry in conflict with society. I listened to cds of choir boys singing anthems while reading the book, and let the philosophical and religious questions percolate.

In short, there is no genre this book fits. It might be read by transgender teenagers as a sort of equivalent to the "difficult issue" young adult book, something that goes beyond Avi, or Betty Miles: books where a kid stands up for some issue like sex education or not saying the Pledge of Allegiance, without understanding that it's going to create a hell of a firestorm beyond their control. But the book's depths put it way beyond that Scholastic Paperback "emperor has no clothes" simplification of what it's like to be a kid, and far beyond the didactic messages of the usual coming-out memoir. Choir Boy is deeply respectful of kids. Reading it made me look back at my own teenage years and the choices I made, and re-evaluate the meaning of some of my own actions.

It's a fun book and a great story!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Growing up Trans, December 16, 2005

By 

Stephen E. Stratton "liberryn" (Camarillo, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Choir Boy (Hardcover)

Within the last year two titles have appeared that provide two very different approaches to discussion of the issue of transgender teenagers. Luna by Julie Anne Peters appeared in 2004 and was an Honor Book for the American Library Association GLBT Round Table's Stonewall Award in literature this past year. Luna is the brother of story's narrator, Regan. Regan's days and nights have revolved around Luna and now Regan is facing up to the fact that she has no life of her own and is becoming resentful.

Choir Boy takes completely different tact. Berry is thirteen years old and loves being in the choir at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. He loves the music and the atmosphere so much that he realizes he wants to remain a choirboy into adulthood. He does not want to change, to lose his magnificent voice after training for 8 years. So Berry does what any confused, scared, male might do in a comic setting. He gets himself to a clinic and quickly begins taking hormones and testosterone blockers. He just hadn't figured that breasts were part of the deal!

Choir Boy is a romp through a confused teenager's life. Berry's exploration, accidental or otherwise, of gender issues is laughingly real. Living half his life in the choir and the other half hiding in his room from his parents, Berry is, to say the least, naïve. Berry stumbles through life seemingly unawares of the steps he is taking until he completes them. It is a state of confusion and uncertainty that I remember well as a teenager, and I am sure exists today for many young adults. The book contains some basic exploratory sex scenes though nothing that hasn't been written about in other teen books. There is some action that make the title suitable only for high school or older kids, though these scenes are handled well and realistically by the author.

Choir Boy is focused on Berry. Berry displays all his inner workings for us to see and they are not always pretty or complete. Berry places himself out for the world to watch and the reader has a seat for the entertainment that follows. Not all adults will like Choir Boy simply because they believe teens should face emotional issues seriously and antiseptically. But I believe many teens will appreciate author Anders' honest approach to what Berry is going through. Teenage life is not always well thought through and the results are not always sensible and serious. Unlike the review in School Library Journal would have you believe, this title is definitely a must for high school and public libraries because it provides another view of growing up with trans issues on your mind.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, June 9, 2005

By 

luaukins (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Choir Boy (Hardcover)

I loved this book. I read it almost a month ago and I find myself still thinking about Berry's world. Sad, funny, achingly touching like adolescence itself, it's really not easy to describe. Berry is a twelve year old who is on the verge of everything: a new voice, body, thoughts, feelings, friends, social standing, family; every inch of Berry is starting to change. Author Charlie Anders has done a wonderful job of bringing the reader back to that time, when everything and nothing about life was simple. I look forward to reading it again!