Unit 4 Review - Queer Ducks

 

Bibliographic Information

Schrefer, Eliot. 2022. QUEER DUCKS (AND OTHER ANIMALS): THE NATURAL WORLD OF ANIMAL SEXUALITY. Ill. by Jules Zuckerberg. New York : Katherine Tegen Books. ISBN 978-0-06-306949-7

Plot Summary

A quiet revolution has been underway in recent years, with study after study revealing substantial same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Join celebrated author Eliot Schrefer on an exploration of queer behavior in the animal world—from albatrosses to bonobos to clownfish to doodlebugs. In sharp and witty prose—aided by humorous comics from artist Jules Zuckerberg—Schrefer uses science, history, anthropology, and sociology to illustrate the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world. Interviews with researchers in the field offer additional insights for readers and aspiring scientists. Queer behavior in animals is as diverse and complex—and as natural—as it is in our own species. It doesn’t set us apart from animals—it bonds us even closer to our animal selves.

Critical Analysis

In this hilarious, eye-opening, and educational novel, Queer Ducks (and Other Animals), author Eliot Schrefer documents the not often discussed topic of animal sexuality. This book upends long standing assumptions about the nature and purpose of sex in the animal kingdom, with implications for rethinking what human beings should and shouldn’t be doing when it comes to mating. Schrefer, in an early chapter, explains that he is gay and how at age eleven he found himself attracted to males in underwear ads. That made him feel strange and confused, as if there were something wrong about him and that he should be ashamed. As an adult he certainly overcame such doubts and his extensive research for Queer Ducks is a message to thousands of other young people that they are merely human variations, normal like millions of creatures throughout nature.

The book is organized with each chapter focusing on a different animal; doodlebugs, fruit flies, wrasse fish, and bulls for example. Jules Zuckerberg offers humorous, comic book-like illustrations that add visuals to the stories told by Schrefer and other scientists that Schrefer interviewed. As you read, you can tell the amount of detail and research that Eliot Schrefer put into making sure this book was as accurate as possible, with his sources listed throughout the book, as well as in the selected notes and bibliography at the back of the book. Schrefer also made sure to include a glossary to define terms the reader may be unfamiliar with such as anthropodenial, microvilli, or protandry. Due to the vocabulary and content, I would recommend this book for students 8th grade and above, with a focus being on the maturity of the reader. While most would view this book as educational and giggle worthy, it is also one of inclusivity and being an ally. Queer Ducks offers a fascinating peek into the animal kingdom that is unlike any book I have ever read before. 

Awards Won & Review Excerpt(s)

*A Nerdy Book Club 2022 Nerdies: Long Form Nonfiction Winner

*Booklist, starred review: "This is a groundbreaking young adult publication that documents new insights into animal behavior, including research previously repressed or ignored. It also reassures readers that same-sex attraction, interaction, and sexual intercourse is completely natural, both in the animal and human realms."

*Publisher’s Weekly, starred review: "Together, the creators deliver punch lines while revealing little-known animal facts about avian asexuality and polyamory, bisexual bonobos, and intersex deer, all supporting the argument that exclusionary takes on the natural world are a breakable human habit—and that, as science shows, queer behavior has never been 'unnatural.'"

*School Library Journal, starred review: "A nonfiction book that richly mines scientific facts, this can be read in one sitting or researched as individual chapters for ultimate flexibility."

Connections

*Read other books like Queer Ducks: 

Wind, Lee. NO WAY, THEY WERE GAY? : HIDDEN LIVES AND SECRET LOVES. ISBN 978-1541581623

Bronski, Michael. A QUEER HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. ISBN 978-0807044391

Fleischer, Jeff. A HOT MESS : HOW THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS CHANGING OUR WORLD. ISBN 978-1541597778

Montgomery, Sy. THE SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS : A SURPRISING EXPLORATION INTO THE WONDER OF CONSCIOUSNESS. ISBN 978-1451697711

*Listen to the NPR interview about Queer Ducks with Eliot Schrefer. https://www.npr.org/2022/05/29/1101224759/what-queer-ducks-can-teach-teenagers-about-sexuality-in-the-animal-kingdom/