Burn the Page

November 1, 2021

The first out-and-seated transgender state legislator in U.S. history, Roem had worked as a journalist for ten years in her hometown, Manassas, VA, when she ran in the 2018 elections for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates and defeated a stalwartly anti-LGBTQ+ incumbent. When she decided to run, she realized she had to demolish personal stories that restrained her, and she started by hiring an opposition researcher to uncover every story from her past that her opponent might use against her. Here she blends memoir with manifesto to persuade others to rewrite their personal narratives so that they can move forward, as she has.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 24, 2022
“The facts of your life are what they are. The question is: Are you going to tell your own story about them, or are you going to let other people do that for you?” implores Virginia state representative Roem in this witty and contemplative debut. Putting her “warts and flaws on full display,” Roem details her loss-plagued childhood in conservative Prince William County, Va., in the 1980s and ’90s; her experience as a “closet case” struggling to come out as transgender; and her decade-long career as a “metalhead trans lady reporter.” Eventually, she would run a winning campaign for state government in 2017, becoming the first trans woman to both campaign and serve in the legislature while out (known in headlines less by her name than as “Transgender Candidate,” as she wryly points out). Peppered throughout are globe-trotting tales of her alcohol-themed thrash metal band Cab Ride Home, as well as amusing details of the intricacies of small-town journalism (“Covering local governments... in small-town America is... half Forrest Gump—‘You never know what you’re gonna get’ ”) and legislative procedure. Whether readers agree with her oft-cavalier sociopolitical analysis (“It was the time when bathroom bills were all the rage”), Roem’s perspective is an intriguing one for those interested in the future of American politics. Agent: Anna Sproul-Latimer, Neon Literary.

March 1, 2022
The first out transgender state legislator in American history reflects on her unlikely rise to prominence. Working in politics had never been Roem's dream. Stuck in a dead-end food-service job and heavily in debt, she was also a dedicated journalist who had "logged ten years of experience and thousands of bylines" as a local reporter. Then, in 2016, a political contact told her she should run against Bob Marshall, who, years earlier, "proudly declared...that he was Virginia's "chief homophobe.' " That suggestion turned into Roem's eureka moment, when she went from seeing herself as an "inadequate failure" to a woman who could make a significant difference in the lives of others. Roem revisits her "white, middle-class" past, delving into early heartbreaks--including her father's suicide--and tracing her experiences living with her mother, who, until she repartnered, worked to support both her children and aging parents. The perpetual outsider who came into awareness of her transness in adolescence, Roem embraced heavy metal music and formed a band, which became an outlet for the hard-partying lifestyle that marked the years before her transition. During her 2017 political campaign, that lifestyle, along with her transness, became fodder for Marshall, her staunchly anti-LGBTQ+ opponent. But rather than succumb to his objectionable attacks, Roem put into practice "the lessons learned and skill sets developed as a reporter holding politicians' feet to the fire and actually be that person in office who I thought should be there--honest, transparent, accountable, and, above all, real." With grace and humor, Roem owned up to all of her youthful mistakes and wore her trans womanhood and metalhead quirkiness with pride. Though indulgence in details occasionally hijacks the narrative flow, this colorful, no-holds-barred account of Roem's life and political work still delights for its unabashed candor. An inspiring story of self-acceptance and determination.

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Starred review from March 1, 2022

Roem's memoir--part-history of heavy metal, part-travelogue, part-campaign handbook, part-coming out story--depicts one politician's fascinating climb to authenticity. In 2017, Roem became the first out transgender state legislator in U.S. history when she was elected to Virginia's House of Delegates. Besides being trans, Roem was the most unlikely of politicians--her run for office followed a career in journalism, as a late-night college radio DJ, and as frontwoman of a heavy metal band; she wasn't out as trans until she was nearly 30. Still, the Democrat became a voice of change by flipping a red seat in right-wing district. Roem writes that her career is proof that nothing--not alcohol addiction; a 1.1 GPA; being broke without health insurance--can stop someone from chasing their passion. Roem's completely one-of-a-kind memoir draws from the opposition research dredged up by her political opponents (and by the opposition researchers she hired to investigate her own past, as part of her campaign prep). Roem has penned a memoir that's a toolkit and a positive manifesto, in which seeing obstacles as opportunities, being unapologetically oneself, and trying for impractical dreams are the foundations of success. VERDICT A must-read for fans of unlikely heroes, LGBTQ memoirs, humor, and, of course, heavy metal.--Alana Quarles

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.