Book Review
A short overview of this book
How to Be Ace A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess is a graphic novel that explains asexuality. The author shares their journey but also educates as to the many different ways asexuality may present.
Here’s the storyline…
“When I was in school, everyone got to a certain age where they became interested in talking about only one thing: boys, girls and sex. Me though? I was only interested in comics.”
Growing up, Rebecca assumes sex is just a scary new thing they will ‘grow into’ as they get older, but when they leave school, start working and do grow up, they start to wonder why they don’t want to have sex with other people.
In this brave, hilarious and empowering graphic memoir, we follow Rebecca as they navigate a culture obsessed with sex – from being bullied at school and trying to fit in with friends, to forcing themself into relationships and experiencing anxiety and OCD – before coming to understand and embrace their asexual identity.
Giving unparalleled insight into asexuality and asexual relationships, How To Be Ace shows the importance of learning to be happy and proud of who you are.
You can learn more on this page, about how to talk to kids about sex education.
Video Transcription
A transcription in case you are more of a reader than a listener
Hey there! I’m Cath Hakanson, and welcome to Sex Ed Rescue.
Sex Ed Rescue is all about helping parents find an easier way to talk to their kids about love, sex, and relationships. Today, I want to share a fantastic book with you called How to Be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess.
Now, this book is what we call a graphic novel. Don’t worry, it’s not explicit or anything like that. The term graphic used to have a different meaning, but let’s not get into that. Let’s focus on what this book is all about.
It takes you on a journey of what it’s like to be asexual, starting from high school or middle school (depending on where you live) and feeling out of place when everyone else is talking about liking boys and girls and wanting to have sex. It follows the author through university, where they finally connect with people who are similar to them but still struggle to find their crowd and feel pressured to be sexual or have relationships. Eventually, they find comfort in accepting who they truly are.
The book covers a lot of ground. The first chapter is about pretending to be something you’re not, just to fit in. The second chapter explores the author’s experiences in university, experimenting and trying to figure out their identity and their feelings about sex. Chapter three delves into relationships and the challenges of navigating them while still trying to understand oneself. Chapter four is all about finding peace with being asexual and being okay with being alone forever. Chapter five shares stories of falling in love and relationships from the perspective of asexuality. And finally, the last chapter offers insights on how to live and be comfortable as an asexual individual.
The book is filled with engaging illustrations, and the publisher really knows how to create amazing books. In fact, I’m already itching to check out some of their other titles!
Now, let’s talk about why this book is so important. Nowadays, thanks to the internet and social media, teenagers are more aware of different sexual orientations. When we talk to our kids about love and marriage, we need to let them know that they might love someone of the same sex, a different sex, all sexes, or even no one at all. And that’s where this book comes in handy.
If your child comes to you and says, Hey, mom, I’m asexual, this book can be a great resource for you to learn more about asexuality and understand the struggles that come with it. And if your child identifies as asexual, this book can be incredibly empowering and make them feel less alone.
So, I just had to share this book with you because I think it’s really fantastic and can be a valuable tool for talking to kids and teens about asexuality. I hope you give it a read and find it as helpful as I did.
Cheers!
