Review: ‘Chicken Heart’ shows the best of a coming-of-age story

By Jane Migliara Brigham

‘Chicken Heart’ is a trans coming-of-age story by graphic novelist Morgan Boecher.  The main character is a repressed trans man spurred into action by the death of his exiled trans aunt.

Where ‘Chicken Heart’ succeeds where many similar trans coming of age stories fail is that it doesn't frame being trans as some internal personal journey of self-understanding.  It makes it clear that the protagonist is able to succeed because of support from fellow trans people.  

This is seen from the opening pages, where he is aware that he is a man, but is too isolated and scared to do anything about it.  The death of his aunt spurs him to the trans commune she started, where he is around people like himself for the first time in his life.  Only in such a place is he finally able to act as a man and begin to self-actualize.

This is a pattern I have come to like in trans stories.  I find stories about repressed trans people learning to self-actualize far more compelling than stories about eggs that refuse to crack.  They give the character more opportunities to not sit and mope and debate the nature of gender with their own brainworms.  They give the character to do something about what they know to be true, often in an environment of people that will help and support them.

If you support our coverage, consider subscribing to The Needle as a Gold tier supporter, at $20 a month- you'll get access to all content! For a limited time, you can get half off your first three months!

Become Gold!

I like these stories because they show trans life as more than an intermediate stage between being an ignorant egg and being a member of a wider (cis-dominated) society.  They show how to take the knowledge of being trans and put it into practice.  They are more than just stories, they are lessons and examples to be followed.

‘Chicken Heart’ does this nicely.  It shows trans solidarity as not only the glue that holds us together, but the support structure we need to thrive as individuals.

Our main character is only able to succeed by taking time away from the cis world and spending time in the woods with the trans people who his aunt had gathered together.  That is how he is able to self-actualize and move forward as a man.

The book is a nice little read that delivers the arc that it lays out in the first few pages.  It is also a quick read, with it being readable in 2-3 hours.  It’s a nice time, which is exactly what it needs to be.

Disclaimer: I was given an advanced review copy of the book by the publisher.