Thursday, May 26, 2016

Review: If I Was Your Girl

Title:  If I Was Your Girl
Author:  Meredith Russo
Rating:  5/5

Summary:

Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school in Lambertville, Tennessee. Like any other girl, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret. There’s a reason why she transferred schools for her senior year, and why she’s determined not to get too close to anyone.

And then she meets Grant Everett. Grant is unlike anyone she’s ever met—open, honest, kind—and Amanda can’t help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself…including her past. But she’s terrified that once she tells Grant the truth, he won't be able to see past it.

Because the secret that Amanda’s been keeping? It’s that she used to be Andrew.

Review:

I waited two weeks for this to come to me from my library after I saw the day it was released.  I read it in two days I think.  No, it wasn't the most in depth work of transgender young adult fiction I've ever read, but there was a depth that made it enjoyable.

Amanda is your average girl, described physically as someone many of us females wanted to be when we were growing up.  Her secret, is that she wasn't born in the body she craved and she went to drastic measures when she couldn't take being Andrew anymore.

Out of all the characters in this book, aside from Amanda, my favorites are the three girls that embrace her immediately in her new school and prove to be true friends even if they don't completely understand.

I give huge kudos to the author who admitted to being a transgender woman herself and undertaking a writing project like this.  It was an amazing read and I highly recommend.

Also, the woman on the cover is transgender and I think she is beautiful.



Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Diverse Young Adult Books & Fiction

I have a craving for diverse books.  By this I mean that I love books set in different countries with characters who come from different cultures than my own.  They are indeed hard to find though.

The following are some of my favorites in these genres:



Veil of Roses - Laura Fitzgerald
An Iranian-American in the United States of the first time

Dreaming in English - Laura Fitzgerald
An Iranian-American trying to stay in the United States with the man she loves

One True Theory of Love - Laura Fitzgerald
An American woman and her child are courted by an Iranian-American man


  

Written in the Stars - Aisha Saeed
American born and raised girl of Pakastani descent is forced back into a culture she has never known, having grown up in Florida

The Wrath & the Dawn - Renee Ahdieh
Twist on Arabian Nights

When the Emperor Was Divine - Julie Otsuka
A Japanese-American family put in an internment camp in the United States during World War II

Any suggestions for more fiction taking place in other cultures?  Or other cultures existing in the United States?  I have such a hard time finding decent ones.