Alex as Well by Alyssa Brugman

Alex as Well

8.7

Storyline

8.0/10

Queer Representation

9.0/10

Writing

9.0/10

Pros

• Intersex representation
• Unique writing voice
• Self-acceptance

Cons

• Poor parenting
• Reads as a teaching tool
• Not based on lived experience

Title: Alex as Well

Author: Alyssa Brugman

Original Publication Date: 2013

Original Publisher: Text Publishing Company

Queer Representation: 1 intersex protagonist, 1 bisexual supporting character

Page Length: 214

First published in Australia and then later in the United States, Alex as Well may very well be the first representation of intersex identity in Young Adult literature

Memorable Quote: “There are moments in life when something happens and it changes everything forever. You make one decision and after that you can’t go back. It doesn’t even have to be a big thing.”

Review:

After an incident that occurs in his high school and the decision to stop taking the pills his parents say that he needs, Alex makes a decision that changes his life forever. Alex decides to transfer schools and live her life as a girl. While Alex initially believes herself to be transgender, the truth is that she is intersex. In fact, her initial birth certificate listed her as female until a team of doctors decided that she would be more content being raised as a boy. Alex’s parents hid this information from her, believing that it would take away from her normal life. Yet, somehow Alex always felt as if there were two Alexs — the boy Alex and the girl Alex (also known as Alex as well), and now it is Alex as well’s time to come to the front-lines.

Alex as Well follows Alex as she transfers to her new school and tries to live her life as the girl she knows herself to be. Alex shares with the readers her struggle to get a new birth certificate, her desire to fit in with the other girls, and her experience of modeling in the school fashion show fundraiser. Yet, as much as this novel is about Alex, it is also about her parents. Interspersed with the chapters narrated by Alex, the reader is given a selection of posts made by Alex’s mother on a website for mothers as well as the advice that she receives in the comments — most of which is far from helpful. Alex’s parents struggle to decide what is the best way to help their child and make sense of what is going on.

In the end, Alex as Well is a groundbreaking text in that it is likely the first young adult book to feature an intersex protagonist. However, because it is the first it seems to be trying to do the work of educated the masses as to what it is like to be intersex. As a result, it seems to have more in common with the early problem novels of the late 1990s than with the more complex queer representation that has developed in this century. It is clear that Brugman placed a great deal of research and thought into her writing, and Alex as Well is a remarkable text worthy of reading, but ultimately this text only serves to highlight how strong the need for intersex representation truly is.