Kaethe

Many people have accepted the idea that sexuality and gender presentation have nothing to do with the value of a person. In the course of my lifetime there has been an enormous change in social attitude from mocking, sneering “humor” to a demand for equal rights under the law. Ireland is still killing women rather than aborting doomed pregnancies, but they voted for marriage equality. It’s a huge change. But not everyone is embracing the rainbow; there is still persecution and a hell of a lot of ignorance. As horrific as the idea that 1 in 5 women will be assaulted in their lifetime, the odds for transgendered people are 1 in 2. I’d like every teen in the world to read a copy of this book, and I’d like to smack every member of my state government who supported HB2 repeatedly, upside the head with a copy, until the point starts to sink in.
So, that’s no kind of review of the book, which is better than it needs to be to make its point about humanity. It is a good read, and has some truly charming moments, so the reading itself is a pleasure.

Library copy