Bruce Edlen - Jazz Mergirl: The True Story of Jazz Jennings, a Transgender Girl Born in a Boy’s Body

Jazz Mergirl

The True Story of Jazz Jennings,

a Transgender Girl Born in a Boys Body

Bruce Edlen, M.A.ed

Jazz Mergirl is in tribute to Jazz Jennings and her family. Although not an official authorized biography, profits from this book will be donated to

Jazzs TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation.

This ebook is licensed to the purchaser alone. It is not meant for resale or to be given away (except Kindles one-time loan). If you would like to share, please purchase additional copies. Thank you for respecting the authors work and the good cause for which it is intended.

Jazz Mergirl

Copyright 2015 by Bruce Edlen

All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Process

First Edition

ISBN (soft cover): 978-1-5153-2826-1

ASIN (ebook): B01C1K05NS

Dedicated to

Jazz, Jeanette, and Greg Jennings.

You inspired me to write this book.

I am a soccer player. I am an artist. I am a high schooler. I am transgender. I am proud. I am Jazz!

~ Jazz Jennings ~

Be who you are,

And say what you feel,

Because those who mind dont matter,

And those who matter dont mind.

Dr. Seuss

Preface

I had no idea I was going to write a book this book. And then, when I did begin this project, I had no idea that it would take more than a year of research and writing to bring Jazz Mergirl to publication. Jazz jokingly told me I probably know more about her life than she does!

It all started after I ended my 20-year career as a teacher, and was casting about for my next big venture. I knew it was going to be something creative, but what? Then one day, while browsing around on YouTube, I happened across My Secret Self, a Barbara Walters television program I vaguely remembered having first seen in 2007.

I spent the next 45 minutes engrossed in a most compelling and touching story about children who are known as transgender , including six-year-old Jazz Jennings. This was a topic related to gender that I didnt know much about or even think about until I once again saw the videocast on YouTube.

On the other hand, my masters thesis from years before was on the subject of gender equity, an issue I thought about daily in my own interactions with students. I had also conducted teacher workshops based on my thesis. So I was naturally interested and fascinated by this television documentary.

After viewing that program, I watched a few related YouTube selections, and searched Google for more information about Jazz Jennings. When I looked online hoping to purchase a biography about Jazz, there was an announcement of a childrens picture book titled I Am Jazz , to be published in September 2014. But besides that one childrens title, there were no other Jazz Jennings biographies. Although I didnt find the lengthier book I was looking for, I did buy I Am Jazz upon its release, (which Jazz autographed for me).

My explorations had located a wealth of online material about Jazz Jennings, and what it means to be transgender. However, I noticed that the only relevant books I found were fiction titles for very young children, a few guidebooks for their parents, and a number of biographies about transgender adults. My web search turned up no non-fiction publications concerning transgender kids written for young teens, and there was little available at the older teen level (although thats now beginning to change).

Yet it is this age group, the younger Millennials and Generation Z , that is leading the way for society to become more open-minded and accepting of the LGBTQ community. A growing number of trans kids now feel more confident in coming out to their families, friends, and beyond.

The teacher in me recognized this situation as providing both a need and an opportunity. I soon realized I wanted to write the book that I hadnt been able to find. I was motivated to share this fascinating and moving true story about Jazz and the Jennings family. At the same time , I wanted to inform and enlighten readers about people who are transgender and to further the cause of the Jennings TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation. Jazz Mergirls profits will be donated to support the foundation.

Although I wrote Jazz Mergirl for a teen and young adult audience, it will also appeal to interested parents and other grownups. Whats more, as the manuscript progressed, it became apparent this book will be of value to additional groups of readers, such as classroom teachers, those in psychology and gender studies programs, therapists, medical students, and others in the healthcare and child protective systems.

As I bring this work to completion, and share it with my readers, I hope you too will be moved and inspired by Jazzs life of courage, determination, and love.

Bruce Edlen

August 2015

Notes to the Reader

Jazz Mergirl incorporates several unique features about which readers should be aware:

This book is intended for a wide-range of people, from younger and older teens to adults. To make this book more accessible to those younger teen readers (and anyone else not already familiar with the medical terminology involved), scaffolds have been provided along with the specialized vocabulary and concepts discussed. These helpful hints will be found enclosed in (parentheses). In addition, an extensive, user-friendly glossary at the end of the book will also serve the same purpose.

The subject of human sexuality is quite complex and can be somewhat confusing. After finishing Jazz Mergirl , adult readers may find it useful to go over the Guide in Appendix 8, which is a basic and straightforward introduction to that topic.

This story includes a significant amount of quotations. These and other references have all been properly attributed. However, to keep these citations from interrupting or distracting the reader, each source is noted in the text with a superscripted number that corresponds to entries in the Bibliography.

A number of quotations have been slightly modified for the purpose of clarity. To that end, inconsistent and confusing use of the pronouns he and she were corrected in quotations taken from family interviews.

On occasion, a word or phrase was changed or added to a quotation, again for clarity, but no [brackets] were emplaced around these adjustments. That was to reduce distractions for younger and older readers alike. For the same reason, when words were deleted from original quotations, the traditional ellipses () were not employed.

Great care was taken when making these minor modifications so that the speakers original meaning and intent were preserved.

In the first part of the story, Jazz is referred to with male terms ( boy , he , him ), while later in the book, these transition to female words ( girl , she , her ). This was done to show the actual sequence of events, and to be as clear and consistent as possible.