This realistic LGBTQ fiction book won the Walter Award Teen Category and the Stonewall Book Award.
When Amanda Hardy moves to Lambertville, Tennessee she becomes the intriguing new girl at school. Even though she plans to keep her head down, focus on her academics, and graduate so she can move on to college to begin a new phase of her life she finds herself becoming part of a group of charismatic friends and the apple of Grant Everett's eye. As friendships and romance blossoms Amanda wonders if people knew the truth about her past, about what really brought her to Tennessee, would her life be in danger. After all, she nearly died when she was Andrew.
The fact that this book is about a transgender character by a transgender author encouraged me to give this book a chance. I don't know what it's like to feel stuck in the wrong body. I felt like reading about someone's experience, even a fictitious account like Amanda's, could allow me to glimpse through a window into the LGBTQ community. I could very well have patrons come into the library who are confused or in the process of transitioning and those readers need a book that illustrates that happy endings are possible for them.
The effects that Amanda's transition had on her relationships with her parents really made me question how I would react if my child told me she felt like a boy on the inside. Honestly, I imagine I would have a hard time accepting it like her father did. While I would need time to come to terms with that knowledge I would want to strive to be like her mother. Her mother was a champion for her and while she was sad to "lose" her son she recognized that Amanda would always be her child and is worthy of love and support. It breaks my heart to realize that there are people in the world who are going through these very personal challenges and they are having to face them alone because their loved ones have abandoned them. It pains me to know that this book was based on Russo's real life experiences and that people can be so cruel. What I have gained from reading this story is more empathy for a community that I'm still trying to understand and though my understanding may not ever be fully realized I can do everything in my power to give others hope.
Overall this book was insightful and entertaining. There was not an overwhelming amount of characters to keep up with, the writing was concise, and Amanda's thoughts, feelings, and fears became relevant. While initially this story would not have appealed to my personal taste in literature I'm glad to have read it. I may not go personally recommending it to everyone I know, but hope to inspire more readers to add this book to their TBR piles. I give it a 4.5 out of a 5 star rating.
Russo, M. (2016). If I was your girl. Flatiron Books.
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