Gender doesn’t really mean anything – we all have crazy things happen to us growing up and we are all looking for a way to fit in to the world we live in while being true to ourselves. They are hopeful that people are changing and in the end, we are really, all the same. What was inspiring was the fact that through it all, Ivan is able to support and honor others. I had no idea about all of the issues that people like Ivan face every single day. I was inspired and connected to Ivan as an author and a person as I read this book. Little gems are interspersed throughout the book like the woman in the bathroom who apologizes for her reaction to seeing them in the ladies room. Ivan’s writing touches on how cruel people can be and very real problems like going to the swimming pool and ditching their bikini top to hang out with the boys. Ivan seeks advice and also gives heartfelt advice to those who need it. The stories in this book help the reader to understand the difficulties of being butch in a world that isn’t quite ready. These heartfelt, funny, and moving stories are about the culture of difference- a guide to being true to one's self.Tomboy Survival Guide by Ivan Coyote is a collection of stories from Ivan’s days of growing up as a ‘tomboy’ in the Yukon and their struggles becoming who they are. 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. (And for tomboys in training, there are even directions on building your very own unicorn trap.) 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.

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. 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 Coyote is a celebrated storyteller and the author of ten previous books, including Gender Failure (with Rae Spoon) and One in Every Crowd, a collection for LGBT youth.

Tomboy Survival Guide by Ivan E. Coyote