Cris Beam is an American writer. She is the author of nonfiction books on transgender teenagers, the U.S. foster system, and empathy, as well as a young adult novel and a short memoir.

Life

Beam was a volunteer teacher at

EAGLES Academy EAGLES Academy Central High School (also known as EAGLES Academy Hollywood and EAGLES Center) was a public high school located in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with the target group of but not limited to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender young p ...

for two and a half years, a former public high school for LGBT students in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. She has an adoptive daughter.

Books

''Transparent''

In 2007, Beam published ''Transparent: Love, Family, and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers''. The non-fiction book describes four

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

teenage girls; ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said, "With sensitivity and a deep connection to the girls, Beam describes their struggles with transitioning and how they reconcile them with more familiar teenage concerns like crushes and cliques." Beam, a journalist from New York City, began the book after moving to Los Angeles where her partner was in graduate school and Beam began volunteering at a high school for gay and trans teenagers. ''Transparent'' won the 2008 Transgender

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

and the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table named it a Stonewall Honor Book for Nonfiction for 2008.

''I Am J''

In 2011, Beam published '' I Am J'', a young adult novel which was named a finalist for the 2012

Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction The Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, that awards books with transgender content. Awards are granted based on literary merit and transgender content, and the ...

''To the End of June''

In 2013, Beam published ''To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American

Foster Care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

''. In the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', Robin Erb called ''To the End of June'' a "a challenging and refreshing read" thanks to Beam's intention, in Beam's words, to make the book "be more descriptive than prescriptive, placing the ''why'' above the ''what next''" mphasis in the originalin her account of the system's problems. In ''The New York Times'',

Benoit Denizet-Lewis Benoit Denizet-Lewis is a writer with ''The New York Times Magazine'', a ''New York Times'' best-selling author, and a tenured professor of writing, literature and publishing at Emerson College. Background A citizen of both France and the Unite ...

says, "Beam’s book is most gripping when she hangs out with foster children themselves. Just as she did in 'Transparent,' her excellent book about transgender teenagers in Los Angeles, Beam writes about social outcasts without stereotyping them. She gives them a much-needed voice and does what too many adults in the foster-care system can’t, or won’t: she advocates for them." But Denizet-Lewis also notes Beam's reporting suggests this advocacy "can provide only so much hope in a system that no one — 'not the kids, not the foster or

biological parent A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a mal ...

s, not the

social workers Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

, the administrators, the politicians, the policy experts' — thinks is working."

''I Feel You''

In 2018, Beam published the nonfiction book ''I Feel You: The Surprising Power of Extreme Empathy''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beam, Cris Living people American non-fiction writers American LGBT writers American women non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century American women