Centering Transgender Characters in Children’s Literature:
Vanessa and JR Ford discuss their journey to writing Calvin
JR and Vanessa Ford co-authored Calvin, the joyful and touching story of a transgender boy preparing to start school with the help of his loving family. They were inspired by their experience of raising a transgender child and stories from trans boys and their families that they spoke to while writing the book. Published by Penguin Random House, Calvin will be available in print from November 2021. We sat down to discuss the motivation behind writing the book, writing as a couple, and their path to getting published.
Write with Purpose
JR and Vanessa wrote Calvin with the specific intention of writing a positive and affirming story about a trans boy and his family. JR shared that creating a children’s book is part of the advocacy work that the couple has been doing for years for LGBQTIA+ rights and particularly the rights of transgender youth. “We have a transgender child, and we knew that was a dearth of books out there for children that told positive stories about trans youth and what it means to be supported at home and school,” Vanessa said. Specifically, they wanted to have a trans boy as the protagonist because when they started writing the book in 2018, there were not many children’s books with trans boys as the main character. “Even though we don’t have a trans boy, we have a trans, non-binary child, we knew that the representation of that story was really important,” Vanessa said.
The Fords deliberately avoided tropes around bullying, isolation, and prejudice in Calvin. Instead, Calvin’s family, teachers, and friends affirm his identity throughout the book. The positive relationship with his family, particularly his Dad, is at the heart of the story. JR shared that his experience as a Black Dad and his approach of giving their child space to express themselves freely shaped the portrayal of Calvin’s relationship with his father. Through Calvin’s Dad, JR said they wanted to show that “people of color and parents of color are open and accepting, and they need to be heard too.” The conflict Calvin faces is his “internal worry about being the only one, which we knew would resonate with lots of kids because many kids are ‘the only one’ in some capacity,” Vanessa said.
Include Multiple Voices In Your Writing Process
Writing is often seen as a lonely pursuit, but this was not the case for JR and Vanessa. Not only did they co-author Calvin, but they also sought inputs from friends in the trans-community, asked for feedback from experts in inclusive and affirming education in schools, and worked collaboratively with their illustrator and editor. For example, one of the most critical scenes in the book is when Calvin gets his haircut. Having your haircut can be very affirming for transgender kids because it offers an opportunity to “control their hair and how they present outwardly,” Vanessa remarked. Kayla Harren, their illustrator, interpreted this scene as Calvin going with his grandparents, although Vanessa and JR had initially intended it to be his Dad who takes him. This interpretation helped strengthen one of the critical messages of the book around the importance of intergenerational support. Grandparents play a significant role in their children’s lives, and they were keen to emphasize the vital role grandparents can play in a child’s transition in Calvin.
Pick The Right Publisher
Vanessa and JR were in the coveted position of having Calvin go to auction, meaning that after their agent sent it out to editors, they had three publishing houses bidding on it. “Choosing the publisher was a really tough decision,” Vanessa said. The creative ownership they could retain as authors and the publisher’s marketing resources were their top criteria in choosing a publishing house; the size of the financial advance was not top of the list. Writing Calvin has always been about raising awareness: “you really have to get into writing a book for a purpose, not the money,” Vanessa said. They selected Penguin Random House because they hope that the power of a large publisher will help “get it into libraries across the country.”
Calvin is available for pre-order now; see here for more details on how to purchase a copy of the book. To learn more about JR and Vanessa and follow their work, you can visit their website.
This blog aims to demystify the writing process and share my personal takeaways from conversations with authors. I would love to hear your thoughts and questions about writing in the comments. You can also follow @pollyturnsthepage on Instagram for more in-depth book reviews.
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