LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
An incredibly accessible book which explores a controversial subject with honesty and openness. It is a tender, funny, and powerful novel about questioning identity, discovering sexuality, navigating friendships and finding a place to belong.
A Piece of Passion from Georgia Lawe, Publicist, Curious Fox I first read Alex As Well in autumn last year and I can remember now the feeling of turning the last page: ‘please don’t let it end, I want to read it again’. It’s a book I immediately wanted my friends to read so I could talk to them about it. It masterfully combines humour, powerful emotional scenes, thought-provoking concepts and characters you both love and hate. It’s a fast, fun and un-put-down-able read – and it’s also more than that. It’s an important book. It raises questions about gender and sexuality that I’d never even thought of and has definitely changed my view of the gender spectrum.
Since connecting with the LGBT world to get feedback on Alex As Well, I’ve discovered some amazing facts, people and communities. I’ve learnt that 1 in 2000 babies is born intersex (having both male and female attributes) which is the same proportion as babies born with ginger hair – mind blowing heh? I’ve made contact with some amazingly supportive and positive people in the trans and intersex world, as well as champions in the literary world like Inclusive Minds. It’s been an enlightening journey for me as a publicist to explore this world and theme and I’m so excited to see the book published.
This is a book I believe in with all my heart and I hope it touches the heart of everyone who reads it, young and old, girl and boy, gay and straight, male and female and those in between.
LoveReading
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About
Alex As Well Synopsis
Why does it matter whether I am a boy or a girl? But it does. It really, really matters. People want to know which one you are. They want to be able to decide what you are, even when they are just walking past on the street and will never see you again. It’s crazy. Most people don’t see it as a grey area.
For me it’s a very grey area.
Alex As Well follows the story of Alex, whom doctors described as ‘sexually ambiguous” when he was born. For the last fourteen years his parents have raised Alex as a boy. They dressed him in boys’ clothes, sent him to a boys’ school and gave him medication to help regulate his hormones. The book opens over a family dinner time when Alex makes an announcement, three words that would change everything: “I’m a girl”. And when Alex sets about changing her life – her wardrobe, her school, her entire identity – no one knows how to react, least of all her parents.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781782020899 |
| Publication date: |
8th May 2014 |
| Author: |
Alyssa Brugman |
| Publisher: |
Curious Fox |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Primary Genre |
Young Adult Fiction
|
| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Alyssa Brugman Press Reviews
A startlingly accurate portrayal of teenage life and … a remarkable exploration of gender and sexuality. Junior Bookseller & Publisher
Alyssa Brugman writes with compassion, insight and verve. This is a wonderful book that will take you to places you've read about but never visited. Go there. Alex and Alex are spectacular travelling companions.” Rebecca Root, Actor and Voice coach, London
I picked this up just to read the first page, and a little while later I’d finished, and I was BLOWN AWAY! Alex As Well is a poignant, funny but also emotional story that will stay with me a long time. Highly recommended. The Bibliomaniac blog
Alex is strong, bold and brave…she is so inspiring. I loved her! An amazing story, and I’d really recommend it. Once Upon a Bookcase blog
Confronting, thought-provoking and often surprisingly amusing, Alex as Well is an amazingly powerful story of a young woman in conflict as she struggles to establish her identity within her family, friendships, community and, most importantly, within herself. Kids Book Review
Brugman successfully depicts Alex as a strong, unique character not defined by her problems…original, thought-provoking and rich in memorable characters and scenarios. Magpies Magazine
Author
About Alyssa Brugman
Alyssa Brugman was born in Rathmines, Lake Macquarie, Australia in May 1974. She attended five public schools before completing a Marketing Degree at the University of Newcastle.
Alyssa has worked as an after-school tutor for Aboriginal children. She taught management, accounting and marketing at a business college, worked for a home improvements company and then worked in Public Relations before becoming a full-time writer. She currently runs a small business providing hoofcare, equine rehabilitation and producing nutritional supplements for horses.
Her first book, Finding Grace, was published in 2001 and since then she has written a further 11 books.
She submitted her first manuscript, Finding Grace, to the Australian Vogel Literary Award in 1998. While the novel did not receive an award, it was considered for publication, the most recent of which being 'Alex as Well'.
Alyssa's books have been short listed for the NSW Premier's Literary Award (Ethel Turner Prize), the Queensland Premier's Literary Award, the CBCA Book of the Year (Older Readers - Honour Book), the Sanderson Young Adult Audio Book of the Year, and the Best Designed Young Adult Book APA Design Awards, the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, the Michael Printz Award, the Kids Own Australian Literature Award, The Young Australian Best Book Awards and the Children's Choice Book Awards, the Children's Peace Literature Award, selected for the 'Books Alive' Campaign, and listed as a Voices of Youth Advocates "Top Shelf Fiction" book, and the Adelaide Festival Literature Award.
Alyssa's books have been translated into eight languages - Turkish, Portugese, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, and German.
Alyssa writes full time and lives in the Hunter Valley. She has recently completed postgraduate studies at the University of Canberra.
More About Alyssa Brugman
