If it weren't for the 2020 PopSugar Reading Challenge, I may have never picked up Meredith Russo's If I Was Your Girl, a powerful YA novel about a trans teenager just trying to live her life as the person she was born to be. Going into this novel, I knew little about the trans community, the avenues available to them as they transition, and the obstacles they face on their new life journey, but this book opened my eyes to their world. If I Was Your Girl proved to be a thought-provoking, educational, important read that can be enjoyed by both young and old alike. The novel follows a trans girl - Amanda - as she makes a life for herself in a new town after being bullied at her previous school and later attempting suicide. Amanda, who has completed her transition, is by all appearances, a girl, yet she is afraid that someone is going to figure out her secret. If I Was Your Girl takes readers into Amanda's innermost thoughts and experiences as she navigates friendship, her relationship with her father, and first love. Interwoven in the narrative are flashbacks to Amanda's past, when she was Andrew, and helps readers understand her journey to the girl she is today. If you have ever had questions about the trans experience or want to learn more about what it means to transition, give this book a try. I found this book to be intriguing and engaging, pulling me in at all the right places, and raising questions in my mind, as any good issue-oriented book should. If I Was Your Girl compelled me to do my own research into the trans community, and I feel that I have a better understanding of the trans experience after reading this book. At the end of the novel, the author explains that while Amanda's journey is more seamless and palatable than what most trans people experience, she wrote her book this way to make it more accessible to cisgender (a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex) people. Therefore, anyone who is hesitant to approach this book due to fears of it being too graphic can rest assured that this is not the case here. On the other hand, for those looking to read a story that highlights in great detail the harsh obstacles that trans people face, this book may not meet your needs.
Availability: Book
Rating: ***** Stars (I loved it)
Reviewer: Brooke, Public Relations Librarian
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DISCOVER MORE WITH NOVELIST APPEALS! If I Was Your Girl
GENRE: LGBTQIA Fiction; Realistic Fiction
THEMES: Coming Out Experiences (Whether they're loud and proud or timidly tiptoeing out of the closet, characters in these stories are beginning to open up about being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or asexual.)
TONE: Emotionally Intense
CHARACTER: Authentic; LGBTQIA Diverse
STORYLINE: Character-Driven; Own Voices
LOCATION: Tennessee
SUBJECT: Gender Identity; New Students; Secrets; Small Towns; Teenage Boy/Girl Relations; Teenage Girls; Teenage Romance; Transgender Persons; Transgender Teenagers; Transitioning
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