Coming March 2005: "Choir Boy" by Charlie Anders, published by Soft Skull Press

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Praise for Choir Boy:

"This delightfully odd novel could be the script for an after-school special aired in Bizarro-land. Forget everything you know about teen angst, and make way for Bach, boobs, and aqua-therapy."
-Pagan Kennedy

"Choir Boy is a daring, strange, emotionally complex, and completely engrossing novel. Anyone who's ever felt slightly alien, oddball, or uneven will love its character, Berry, and its author, Charlie Anders."
-Scott Heim, author of Mysterious Skin

"Choir Boy gives us an unexpected new way to consider gender, through the adventures of a sweet and nerdy accidental trans-kid. A seriously unique story."
-Michelle Tea

"Anders, a transgender former choir boy herself, is writing neither a cautionary tale nor an earnest after-school special. She brings the same upbeat attitude to her novel as she did to her first book... Berry's unconventional coming of age is at heart no different from that of any teen who feels like an outsider, and it's a journey almost anyone can relate to. Haven't we all, at one point or another, felt like strangers in our own bodies? And although Berry's struggle is more extreme than most, he handles it with enviable grace. 'I don't know what I'm going to turn into,' he tells his choir mates when they quiz him about his life as a girl. 'For now, I just want to sing.'"
-Carolyn Juris, SF Chronicle, April 10, 2005

"Sometimes surreal and often hilarious, Choir Boy is a boldly whimsical fable about a kid who doesn't fit neatly into boxes of "M" or "F" - and doesn't want to. And that's a coming-of-age story the world needs more of."
-Alissa Chadburn, Bitch Magazine

"Take away the spironolactone, and this is a coming-of-age tale with universal resonance that also manages to expand our understanding of the word 'universal.'"
-Kate Crane, New York Press

""In her debut novel, Anders presents a bizarre world in which gender is not the only dysphoric element. Choir Boy is an amalgamation of religious references, pop culture allusions, teenage slang, and New Age self-help jargon... The characters who populate Choir Boy s suburban wasteland are cleverly drawn, in the comedic tradition of writers like Armistead Maupin and Paul Rudnick... Berry s story will appeal to those who like fiction that bounces right up against the edge of reality... Anders shows that there s a gray area between the real and the absurd, a fitting message for a novel in which the lines of gender and sexuality are blurred... More than coming to terms with his identity as a man or a woman a tricky prospect at such an early age young Berry wants to be loved and accepted. Anders deftly succeeds at this high-wire act, balancing between the sensitive and the outrageous, creating a completely original coming of age tale. At its heart, Choir Boy is a story not only for those who have felt at odds with their gender, but for anyone who has ever been uncomfortable in his or her own skin."
-Tom Dolby

"Gender confusion can now be officially added to the coming-of-age canon with Anders' funny, sharp, and fully engaging first novel."
-The Austin Chronicle

"Charlie Anders has brought new meaning to the 'coming of age' story with this book... Anders has a great knack for character development, each of them with unique voices and motivations... The scenes are vivid, high tension, and consist of fresh dialogue. While this book may be short, it is jam-packed with scene, conflict and strong societal commentary."
-Dana Kaye, Punk Planet

"With Charlie Anders' Choir Boy, Soft Skull has delivered another funny and literate transgressive work... Much of the drama (and comedy) in Choir Boy stems from Berry's attempt to manage everyone's expectations while staying true to himself... Anders handles Berry's plight with a deft, sympathetic touch. The story raises important points, the least of which involve gender issues; rather, what's important is to retain individual identity in a world of artificial constructs imposed by religion, family and society... Choir Boy is a dead-on portrayal of junior high school that will make everybody who remembers this awkward age squirm with discomfort and squawk with laughter."
-Tim Brown, Rain Taxi

"Anders' rollicking debut novel, laced with moments of emotional intensity and tinges of graphic violence, is a multi-layered marvel: it's a sweet coming-of-age story, a savvy consideration of gender exploration, a shrewd study of middle school bullying, a smart critique of wrong-headed religious fervor, and a sly commentary on how crazy adults can be."
-Richard Labonte, Book Marks

"It's a worthwhile journey. Anders doesn't tie things up neatly and doesn't have all the answers. But then, neither does Berry."
-Christina DeCarie, Shameless Magazine

"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 ... 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."
-American Library Assoication GLBT Newsletter

"Finally, a coming-of-age story that completely puts gender on its head! Choir Boy, the stunning new novel by Charlie Anders (the diva who brought us the Lazy Crossdresser), is the story of Berry, 12-year-old choirboy who never wants to become a man. To accomplish this, he injures himself and convinces docs to give him "testosterone-inhibiting" drugs, keeping him a choirboy forever. But not everything is what it seems, and Berry is faced with a lot more than a voice that never grows deep. Berry's funny, original, wild adventure takes him from bras to hippies to finding his true self. A lovely tale of gender, choir camp, and growing up."
-Meliza Banales, On Our Backs

"Twelve-year-old Berry Sanchez has a small problem: He wants to continue being a choir boy - forever. When another soloist's voice cracks during a hymn, Berry, whose own voice, for the time being, remains a soprano, panics. To keep his own voice high, he makes an unsuccessful attempt at self-castration, and gets sent to therapy. While there he meets a transsexual who clues him in on how to get female hormones at a local clinic. Already the target of fellow schoolmates' and choir members' taunts, Berry's budding breasts and increasingly feminine look lead to further peer torture... Charlie Anders manages to wrestle an excruciatingly funny and captivating novel out of such an unlikely premise... Anders takes sardonic aim with laser-like precision at a dysfunctional set of adults - seriously screwed-up parents, an unholy choir director, and a crazy therapist, among others - who have been let loose on a younger generation. Berry himself is a real charmer - a hip Huckleberry Finn, tender, long-suffering, and preternaturally bright, with a gift for aphorisms like 'When your heroes are the same size as you, it makes you smaller.' ... The author has a knack for sharp, dizzy, laugh-out-loud dialogue."
-Harry Eugene Baldwin, Frontiers Newsmagazine

"It's been a long time since I've read a book that so hooked me in. I started and finished it in one day."
-Gwen Smith, GwenSmith.com.

"It's a first novel, but you wouldn't know that unless someone told you - there's mature writing and craftsmanship here. Luckily, Charlie herself is young and has lots of time to write more novels, since this one ended too soon for me."
-Amanda Cotten, Valencia Street Books.

About Charlie Anders:

"Charlie Anders is one striking woman, if the images posted on her various Web sites are any indication. The stylish publisher of other magazine is long and lean: slim legs, trim torso, sinewy arms. Prone to wearing fabulous dresses and intricate costumes, she looks as adorable in a slinky cherry-red dress as she does decked out as Wonder Woman or dolled up in strappy heels and a knee-length number made entirely of yellow caution tape. Her facial features are narrow and angular, resembling those of a young Matthew Modine. In other words, the Connecticut native is a damn good-looking woman, especially for someone born, as she herself has been known to explain, 'a genetic male.'

...A prolific short-story scribe, sometime satirist, and occasional journalist, Anders is described as a 'harmful eccentric, a sheep in women's clothing, and a bastion of the moral non sequitur' in the author identification of a book review she wrote for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. 'If Charlie Anders were a flavor of ice cream, she'd be pistachio fudge swirl with pink marshmallows,' reads a bio appearing on the online 'journal of subversive writing' Suspect Thoughts."
-The Boston Phoenix

"Anders, who sometimes goes by Charliegirl and identifies as a male-to-female transgender, is blond, blue-eyed, buoyant and excitable... Her tentatively titled book Choir Boy, which she describes as "a gender-queer adventure novel about religion," is coming out in the spring."
-SF Chronicle

"The secret to a good variety show doesn't solely rest on the shoulders of the individual acts themselves, but, rather, in the force that keeps the show moving ahead. Charlie Anders, who is often called upon to emcee others' events due to the sheer cleverness and savoir faire that roll off her like a demure tsunami, steered the barge for her own monthly series Writers with Drinks last Sunday at the Makeout Room. There's something about a lanky genderfudger (coining a term here, due to language issues) in a tutu at dusk that puts the wheels in motion for good times."
-Beth Lisick, SFGate.com.