September Queer Book of the Month: Pageboy by Elliott Page

@SPL: 791.43028 Page

Most of us will remember the award-winning movie, Juno from 2007, particularly the performance by a young actor, known at that time as Ellen Page. Page was cast as a pregnant teen, looking for the right adoptive family for her baby. Since that time Page has transitioned and is now known as Elliot, and his memoir, Pageboy, documents that difficult journey.

Pageboy is a brave, unflinching look at Page’s early questioning, to his coming out in 2014, and finally his transition in 2020. He gives a heartbreaking account of his struggles with body dysmorphia and the bullying by his stepmother and peers.

The movie, Juno, thrust Page into the spotlight at a time he was coming to terms with his own queerness. As he says, “Hollywood is built on leveraging queerness. Tucking it away when needed, pulling it out when beneficial, while patting themselves on the back.” It was inconvenient to Hollywood to allow Page to come out as Queer, because it didn’t fit their narrative of him. So, for years Page kept his true identity hidden behind women’s clothing and makeup, resulting in self-loathing, eating disorders, and self-mutilation.

The decision to come out and transition was made when Page realized that hiding his true self was threatening his life. He came to terms with the fact that the people that loved him for who he truly was would continue to love him no matter what.

This is a no holds barred story of Page’s feelings on gender and sexuality, and is written in a non-linear style that at times makes the memoir challenging to read. But it’s also as if we are sitting with the author as he reminisces about growing up in Nova Scotia, and his unlikely success in Hollywood.

Page sums up his experiences by saying this is just his story, “and there are an infinite number of ways to be queer and trans, and my story speaks to only one.”

Heather Lister Public Service Librarian Stratford Public Library