An anthropomorphic bus named Bobby has a long-held secret in this rhyming tale: his name “just didn’t feel right.” When a rider says “Bye, Betty” to him one day (for unexplained reasons), the bus likes that name and starts using it.
Betty then tells all her friends in Transitville about her new name. (She’s using new pronouns, too, but that is not remarked upon.) Archie Aeroplane, Charlie Choo-choo, and Terry the Trolley accept her unconditionally and are happy that she’s happy. Linda the Lifeboat is not so kind, however, telling Betty to go back to the way she was before. “Once a Bobby, always a Bobby!” Linda says, and Betty’s tires droop. With comfort and support from her friends, however, Betty goes on despite Linda’s mean words.
Then Vinny the Vespa tells her, “I’m trans like you.” Vinny is holding a trans flag, but even so, young readers who have not encountered the term “trans” or the flag may not understand, since the book never actually explains what “trans” means or even why Betty’s original name didn’t feel right. (Young readers unfamiliar with the concept of being trans might think the term in fact has to do with transportation, given the book’s title.)
The town holds a rally to celebrate Betty, and Sallie the Submarine calls Betty a hero, since “being yourself helps others be themselves too!” At the end, Transitville has become a town where everyone has a place, “No matter your model, your make, or your gear.” (But are different models and makes of cars a good metaphor for different gender identities? See Kyle Lukoff’s article in Harper’s Bazaar, “Trans Kids Deserve to See Themselves in Children’s Books,” on the limits of metaphor in depicting trans lives.)
The book’s message of self-awareness, self-acceptance, and supportive allyship is commendable, even if the meter is sometimes strained. I do have to question, however, the book’s repeated use of the term “brave” to refer to Betty: “With Archie’s support, she felt brave through and through,” it tells us, while Vinny is “inspired by the stand his brave friend had just made.” Sallie calling her a “hero” for being herself falls into this vein as well. Numerous trans people, however, have written about how they’re tired of being told they’re “brave” simply for existing, and even GLAAD’s “Tips for Allies of Transgender People“ cautions against this. (See also “Don’t call trans people ‘brave’ – we’re just trying to live in a prejudiced society,” by Rebecca Kling; “Just Because I’m Transgender Doesn’t Mean I’m Brave,” by Bethany Grace Howe, “Why You Should Stop Calling Trans People Brave — And What to Say Instead,” by Evey Winters. The concept extends to other LGBTQ folks; see “Please Don’t Call Me Brave,” by Jessica Lifshitz, who is lesbian.) Granted, author Michael Bugno, a member of the LGBTQ community, may personally feel different about the term, and that’s fine, but given that it is a debatable term at best, it might have been best avoided in a picture book so that children don’t pick up on it.
Still, young readers who already know what it means to be trans may find support and gentle amusement in Betty’s story and the “TRANSportation” pun.
