Kisses For Jet: A Coming-of-Gender Story

by Joris Bas Backer, Ameera Rajabali (Translator)

Overview

A striking and emotive graphic novel from debut trans creator, Joris Bas Backer about coming to terms with his gender before the age of the internet. For fans of Gender Queer and The Black Flamingo.

“A nuanced look into the life of a trans teen by a trans author and illustrator. The black, white, and grayish-blue illustrations powerfully capture Jet’s complicated emotions."
–BuzzFeed

"Jet’s earnest questioning and relationship with gender and adolescence illustrates the conflict between becoming who the world wants them to be and who they are, conveyed in a raw, personal-feeling portrayal of transition in a pre-internet era."
– Publishers Weekly

"I love that this graphic novel exists for generations who may be feeling these same insecurities, anxieties, and challenges that Jet experiences."
—Utopian State of Mind

"A warm, funny, lived-in book that captures exactly the feeling of having a desire you just can’t place, and the relief when you manage to crack it wide open."
— Mattie Lubchansky, The Nib

"Exciting from the first to the last page! I say, this book is already a classic."
— Ulli Lust, author of Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life

“Kisses for Jet is a sensitively written, beautifully-illustrated depiction of a trans-masculine experience so rarely shown in media…a huge step forward for trans representation.”
— Jake Hall, Author of The Art of Drag

Featured in Xtra Magazine with Interview by Gender Queer author, Maia Kobabe

In 1999, when most people think that the world is about to end with the Y2K crash on the eve of the new Millennium, Jet is just trying to get through high school. When their Mom moves to another country to work on fixing the Millennium bug, Jet is forced to stay at a boarding house while they finish the school year, and they’re not pleased about it.

But something’s not quite right, and it’s not just the out-of-control kids that Jet has to live with, or the staff who look after the boarding house who act super suspiciously. As Jet slowly starts to feel overwhelmed by their peers, they begin to notice that they don’t feel like the other girls in their class. As new feelings start to emerge, Jet slowly begins to realise that they may be more of a boy than a girl.

Is that even possible? And who do they talk to about these feelings when there’s not even any internet around, and cell phones are barely used?

This coming-of-gender graphic novel debut from trans creator Joris Bas Backer is an enlightening and often hilarious tale that casts light on what it was like to be transgender before information and help was more accessible and widespread.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781913123031
Publisher:	Nobrow Ltd.
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	643,881
Product dimensions:	6.75(w) x 8.88(h) x 0.79(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Joris Bas Backer is a comic artist and illustrator who spent his life in the Netherlands, Romania, and New York. He studied visual arts in Amsterdam and Rhode Island, and since 2003, has lived in Berlin, Germany. He has co-founded and worked for long periods in the art collectives Palatti and Chicks on Comics. His previous webcomic, Familienjuwelen, was published by Jaja Verlag in 2018. Kisses for jet is his first graphic novel!

Editorial Reviews

04/04/2022

Set in the Netherlands in 1999, this moody graphic novel by trans creator Backer follows 16-year-old Jet’s year living in a boarding house while their parents work abroad. In addition to encountering conflict among the housemates and navigating worries about their academic future, Jet, who cues as white, explores the increasing awareness that they “would like to be a boy, or something.” In lieu of a linear narrative, Backer divides the story into scenes that convey important moments and emotions in the protagonist’s maturation, making certain threads hard to follow. Striking, mostly monochromatic art with a sketchy feel simultaneously illustrates the tone of Jet’s real-life situations and abstract feelings and dreams, all steeped thoroughly in ’90s culture. (Notes on which songs are playing in certain scenes—such as “Disarm” by Smashing Pumpkins—appear throughout.) Jet’s earnest questioning and relationship with gender and adolescence illustrates the conflict between becoming who the world wants them to be and who they are, conveyed in a raw, personal-feeling portrayal of transition in a pre-internet era. Ages 14–up. (May)■

Publishers Weekly

Featured in Xtra Magazine with Interview by Gender Queer author, Maia Kobabe 

Included in the CBC's May 2022 Hot Off the Press reading list

“A nuanced look into the life of a trans teen by a trans author and illustrator. The black, white, and grayish-blue illustrations powerfully capture Jet’s complicated emotions."
– BuzzFeed

"Jet’s earnest questioning and relationship with gender and adolescence illustrates the conflict between becoming who the world wants them to be and who they are, conveyed in a raw, personal-feeling portrayal of transition in a pre-internet era."
– Publishers Weekly

“Kisses for Jet is a sensitively written, beautifully-illustrated depiction of a trans-masculine experience so rarely shown in media…a huge step forward for trans representation.”
– Jake Hall, Author of The Art of Drag

“The art uses a limited color palette (grays and blues) with an occasional pop of pink. The artistic style is expressive and complements the text.”
—Youth Services Book Review starred review

"Trans creator Joris Bas Backer conveys his coming-of-gender memoir with intimacy and humor while showing us what it was like during a time where information was not just a click away." 
– Bookshop Santa Cruz

“A collection of small moments of gender discovery, almost as if by mistake...anyone that has spent hours reflecting on their own personal journey and joining threads, this book is for you.”
–The Tiny Activist

From the Publisher