There were several times that tears prickled and my heart lurched throughout this novel whilst reading. This timeless charm permeates the book but it has an enduring freshness. It’s a story that we have heard before, it’s films we’ve seen before, just with a transgender twist its a context that could fit in any modern post-war decade and of course gender issues existed then too but were even more closeted. Yes texting, music and Youtube are mentioned but it’s the dynamic that really matters as the teens of the town continuously play out the same American story of generations high school hopes pinned on football success for boys and for girls riding the coattails of a boyfriend’s glory whether out of town or into domestic small town drudgery and the desperation and depression that permeates such setting.
It’s a contemporary YA story and set in America but the Southern small town Football setting adds a nostalgic cinematic wistfulness that makes it less contemporary as others. One of the pair, Morgan is transgender and not only is grieving for her mother but struggles with the revelation believing she will be spurned by those she craves the acceptance and love from leading to a descent into depression, self hate & body dysmorphia and eventually alcohol abuse, tormented by the fear of allowing her true self to be seen and the tender but oceanic depth of feeling towards her best friend Eric.Įqually Eric is dealing with an abusive bigoted and controlling father, his parents’ marriage disintegrating and his deep protective bond to Morgan despite their diversifying friendship groups, and indeed confusing feelings too. UK Book Cover for BirthdayĬoming of age story? Check, but with a LBTQIA twist.
Told in a One Day (David Nichols) style across the afternoon and evenings of their shared birthday, we see the story develop over the years between their 13th and 18th Birthdays. This dual-narrative #ownvoices story is a rollercoaster of emotions but ultimately of hope and recognition relating the events on the birthdays of two teens born the same day and how their lives are entangled in each other whilst their lives seem to shoot in different directions.
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