Not Always a Happy Birthday

Birthday by Meredith Russo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A difficult but worthwhile read. Main characters Eric and Morgan are immediately engaging and you root for them all the way through. Story is told using alternating POV chapters, which works well. Word of warning that there is content here that is confronting: death of a parent; violence and domestic abuse – it puts you through the wringer.
Not a spoiler to say there is a ray of hope at the end, so don’t give up on this one.
However, I would venture to say that this book is at the more adult end of the YA spectrum, so keep that in mind!
For ages 16 and up.

A Transformative Origin Story

Dreadnought by April Daniels
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This book is a killer superhero origin story – but it’s so much more than that. It’s about identity, acceptance, fighting transmisogyny, family, friendship – and yes, superheroes. Danny, who has never felt comfortable in her “male” body, gets caught up in a battle between superheroes – which in this world is a regular occurance – and becomes the vessel for superhero powers. As a result of this, she transitions into a female body; and awesome superpowers (like flying) into the bargain. As if transitioning so quickly wasn’t enough of a rollercoaster, April Daniels decides to give her protagonist an aggressive father, a superhero nemesis, and a murder plot to solve!
I loved this first instalment in this series. Can’t wait to see what adventures await Dreadnought in the next volumes!
For anyone who seeks to understand the transgender experience, the good and the bad, and enjoys seeing a superhero become what they were destined to be – this is for you.
Highly recommended. Ages 12 and up.

Ten letters, no repeats

Zenobia July by Lisa Bunker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this book. I don’t want to spoil anything, but if you want a gentle story that lets transgender and gender neutral kids know they are SEEN, read this. Show them THIS. Lisa Bunker has crafted a wonderful, sensitively written story for all those kids who have no-one to tell what it is like to be them. To have to navigate a world and ways of thinking that have never considered them important. Zenobia is a joy, as are her fabulous aunts, and her friend Arli is a revalation in middle fiction. Arli is a beacon for Zenobia and they are someone who shows Zen what real friendship is supposed to be. No judgement, no agendas, just real human interactions. The only low note for me were the “interlude” chapters where we see Zen or Arli through someone else’s eyes. I found these to be a misstep in an otherwise brilliant novel. Quite simply those interlude chapters were unnecessary. Bunker’s writing is good enough to not need that extra exposition. But this is a small quibble.
Just read it. Please.
Suitable for readers 12 and up.

Grace under pressure

Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Grayson Sender is in sixth grade at Porter high; lives with his uncle and aunt, and cousins Brett and Jack after losing his parents in a car crash when he was very small. And Grayson knows he’s supposed to be something else. Throughout this novel it is clear Grayson identifies as a girl, but currently lives as a boy. It is something he hides on a daily basis, but when the chance to audition for the part of Persphone in the school play is in the offing, Grayson grabs it with both hands.
When Grayson is successfully awarded the lead, written as a female, things get complicated- for everyone but Grayson who for the first time in a long time, starts to feel comfortable in his own skin. His aunt struggles with the idea of Grayson playing a girl, but his uncle is quietly (perhaps too quietly initally) supportive. Jack, his older cousin, is openly hostile and causes trouble for Grayson at school, which leads to an event that ends up bringing things to a head, and a bid by Grayson for acceptance and acknowledgement.
Along the way there are characters, like Grayson’s teacher Finn, who encourage Grayson to be whoever Grayson wants to be, and others like Amelia; whose friendship with Grayson becomes changeable as the real Grayson becomes more visible. As Grayson becomes increasingly invested in the play there are friends in the play who accept Grayson, which helps Grayson assert the right to explore long-held questions of identity. In conversations with Uncle Evan, Grayson learns that until Aunt Sally put a stop to it (because of what she worried others might think or do), Grayson used to dress up in tutus and dresses and say he wanted to be a girl. This is a revelation for Grayson and shores up the determination to step out of the shadows.
The freeverse poem that charts the night of the play is a great way to explore the emotion of the night and how others finally see who Grayson really is. There is also a lovely letter to Grayson from the ever-amazing Finn. That’s not to say everything is tied up neatly in a bow at the end – far from it. But we are left with a sense that Grayson is finding the path to a new way of being, and that there are a lot of people in Grayson’s corner – even Aunt Sally. It leaves us with the most important thing – hope.
I really enjoyed this gently uplifting novel and it’s pitched perfectly at the middle grade, and edges of young adult, readership.
For the reader who is looking for validation and to be seen, this novel is a great start.

Say her name with love

My Brother’s Name is Jessica by John Boyne

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is important. It is raw and real and doesn’t pull any punches. The reactions of the adults are totally believable. Sam is a young boy trying to process his brother Jason’s recent revelation that he is, in fact, a girl. Their parents (mum is an MP with PM aspirations and Dad is…well, a jerk really) react with alarm and incredulity. Sam is confused and doesn’t want to lose his brother. Hurtful words are said, misunderstandings are addressed and then exacerbated, Jason/Jessica is trying to find her way in an increasingly messed up world. Jessica’s Aunt Rose, and her soccer coach, Mr O’Brien, are shining beacons of acceptance and love – and provide great counterpoints to Sam’s parents and schoolmates. I really enjoyed this novel. It’s honest and simple and does a great job. There is hope at the end, and a wonderful sense of the love of these two siblings breaking through all the other stuff and winning the day.
For ages 10 and up.

A Sparkling Biography

The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster by Sarah Krasnostein

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This biography is as illuminating about the biographer as it is of her subject. Sarah Krasnostein lays herself bare many times in this fascinating account of the life (or lives) of Sandra Pankhurst. Sandra reveals little sections of her life story to Krasnostein, forcing her to piece together all the disparate parts, sometimes filling in the blanks with her best guess. As we travel the road of Sandra’s life with her biographer, we get a definite sense of a person who has undergone terrible trauma herself, and now helps other people deal with theirs, in various ways, as her job.
Sandra is the classic unreliable narrator, sometimes choosing not to include details which Krasnostein later uncovers. The fact that any of it leads to an immensely satisfying conclusion is testament to Krasnostein’s easy writing style and willingness to “go with it” when speaking with Sandra; and to Sandra Pankhurst’s dogged determination to keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter what.
Drawn to this initially because of the professional cleaning aspect (Pankhurst cleans death scenes, crime scenes and hoarders’ houses for a living), I found myself staying because I cared about Sandra, AND because I felt connected to her biographer who, by her own admission, struggles with the task she has set herself in documenting Sandra’s life.
Sandra’s clients help Krasnostein turn a light on her own life and experiences and the book is the richer for it. This is biography at its finest, despite its flaws -and it has plenty.
I can ignore the chinks in its armour, though, because I found this story compelling. I hope lots of other people do too, because as a tale of triumph in the face of overwhelming odds, it is a testament.