Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure & Escape from St. Hell: My Trans Teen Life Levels Up

by Soph Myers-Kelley

In addition to being traditional coming-of-age stories, Welcome to St. Hell and Escape from St. Hell centers Lewis Hancox’s experience recognizing he is different than his peers, coming out, and pursuing medical care as a transgender man. As a British high schooler, Lois Hancox (former name) was not out and proud about being transgender. Consequently, we witness conversations with the present-day author and his past self, trying to make sense of the mess of adolescence, high school, bullying, and not fitting in. Finding and being confident in yourself is hard for any teenager, but it’s doubly hard when you don’t feel comfortable with skirts, dresses, makeup, dating, and being treated like a woman. In writing this book, Hancox has helped countless people feel more comfortable with their respective gender identities and journeys.

With cartoonish, thickly drawn black lines, it’s easy to feel immersed in the high school (and eventually college) experience. Viscerally relatable, it will be easy for readers to laugh and cry during emotionally heartfelt and hilarious scenes. For example, seeing Hancox’s real poster used for his top surgery fundraiser party, titled “Quest for the Chest” with a drawing of Hancox tearing his button up shirt to reveal a tight t-shirt with a lightning bolt on it and a hyper-muscular, masculine chest. Or, the running gag of an anxiety level meter scaled from 0-10, showing the reader how anxious Lewis might be feeling in each social scenario. Even the conversations between Lewis and Lois can be hilarious, with the well-intentioned adult Lewis and the full of teenage angst and eye-rolling Lois working towards a shared understanding.

Hancox walks us through high school life, friendship troubles, teenage spats with mum and dad, and severe body dysmorphia. Hancox restricts his diet and skips essential parts of life (class, friendship hangouts, etc.) to work out at the gym, in hopes to create a more masculine figure and minimize the appearance of breasts/hips.

Hancox also touches on a topic I was refreshed to see; the intersection of lesbian culture and transmasc culture. Many transmasculine people identify as lesbians or feel accepted by lesbian culture before later identifying as a trans man or transmasculine person. Some transmasculine people continue identifying as lesbians and remain active in lesbian culture. Still, others navigate a confusing relationship regarding whether they fit into the social circles and romantic labels that they fit in pre-transition, and whether they’ll be accepted like they were before. Through these memoirs, we see one experience of that navigation.

Beyond gender, we get to watch a tender time when a teenager becomes an adult, struggles to find his place, and grows up alongside beloved friends, family, supervisors, and romantic interests. This would make a great addition to a graphic medicine collection for a myriad of reasons, including that he continues to document his life, transition, and comedy skits online.

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Soph Myers-Kelley is a medical librarian living in North Carolina. They can be followed at https://www.instagram.com/thesofakingofficial/