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By Paula Bistagnino

The life story of a trans girl told in a book to talk about diversity and rights to young children. That's what "I Am Alexa" is all about, a book created by high school students from School 11 in the city of San Pedro that will be reading material for preschool, first, and second grade in local educational institutions.

“I Am Alexa” tells the story, through illustrations and text, of Alexa Pettone, a trans skater and human rights activist in her city, who is also a trans woman. “It was created as a school project, part of our visual arts learning, and ended up becoming a beautiful project that led the kids down a path of reflection and growth,” says Carolina Sofía, the Visual Arts teacher, whose class was the subject in which the project was developed.

The project was presented at the last Youth and Memory meeting in Chapadmalal, which brings together all the schools in the province of Buenos Aires and will have its printed version by the Chirimbote publishing house.

READ ALSO Alexa, the first trans skater in Argentina

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The trigger was a femicide in the neighborhood: the murder of a student's mother, in which the boy was also wounded, shocked the school community. At that time, the students had to choose a topic for an audiovisual project and decided to work on femicides. “They were very scared and shocked and began working on how to prevent cases of violence. That's how their first book, 'Dalma and Felipe,' which addresses microaggressions in childhood, came about,” explains Sofía.

While working on that book, they found a Facebook post by Alexa Pettone: “I had posted a story about a teacher at a kindergarten who had asked the children to bring toys, but with a twist: she asked the boys to bring toy cars, and the girls to bring dolls. And because of that, the students called me to ask me to give a talk at the school,” the skater tells Presentes.

“They were so surprised by what Alexa shared—what it means to be a trans girl today and the violence and aggression trans people face—that they decided to create a second picture book about Alexa’s life,” the teacher says. To do this, they visited local illustrator Zeque Bracco, who taught them collage and papercutting techniques and helped them with the book’s design.

“From the very beginning, the two books were intended to be published and then distributed free of charge to schools and kindergartens in San Pedro so that we could work on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE),” says Sofía.

“If Alexa could do it, so can I.”

“This book is about respecting all people, whether they are different, act differently, or live differently. It’s hypocritical to believe we are all the same, because we are different. But the point is that we all deserve the same respect, and we have to open our minds to accept that everyone has the right to be and live as they wish. We learned that from Alexa’s story and wanted to share it in a book for children,” says Kevin, 18, one of the students who participated.

Her friend Sharon, 17, adds: “There are people and stories that are told to us. And I think it’s good that with a book we can tell them so that other people can find out and learn to respect others. So they can reflect on violence, on what we experience. And it’s designed for younger children because we believe it’s important for them to grow up with more open minds and to be more respectful of other children and avoid bullying, which happens so often.”  

READ ALSO Gabriela Mansilla: “The battle for trans children doesn’t end with the document”

For Alexa, the whole process was a surprise: “When the kids invited me to the school to chat, I was thrilled. And when I found out through the teacher that they wanted to make a book about my story, I was so excited,” says the skater and trans activist. She adds: “It moves me that, as teenagers, they had the sensitivity to understand and find it interesting to tell the story of a trans person. That my story can also serve as a different kind of reading material for schools, something that can reach any child and be a mirror for that trans boy or girl in the classroom who thinks: ‘If Alexa could do it, so can I.’”