LGBTQ: If I Was Your Girl by M. Russo

Russo, M. (2016). If I was your girl. [Kindle Version]. Retrieved from www.amazon.com.

Eighteen-year old high school senior Amanda is new in town.  When Grant sees Amanda for the first time, he knows that he wants to know more about her.  Will Grant still want to know Amanda when he realizes that she used to be named “Andrew”?

This young adult book by Meredith Russo will leaves readers rooting for good-guy Grant to overcome societal prejudice and accept the fact that the girl he loves was born male.  More touching is that the author is based Amanda’s story on her own personal struggle, a fact I had not realized until I stumbled upon If I Was Your Girl at ALA in Orlando and I had the opportunity to meet Ms. Russo’s publishing representative.  When I mentioned how much the book touched me and how thrilled I was that the book ended differently than I thought it would, he let me know that the novel was based on Russo’s own personal experiences.  He even took a picture of me with the book to share with the author because he knew that she would appreciate the comic book patterned dress I was wearing.

With shows such as I am Jazz shining light on what it means to be transgender in America today, this book takes the details of an intimate relationship between a boy and a girl to the next level.  The protagonist wonders whether it will ever be possible for anyone to love her for herself but also suffers the consequences when she does not share her biology up front before getting physical.  Relationship struggles between Amanda and her father are painful but when it is revealed that her father’s “cruelty” comes from the fear that his daughter will be killed because of her chromosomes not matching her physicality, the reality of danger hits home.

I would recommend this book to young adults between the ages of 14-20, even if they do not know anyone who is transgender.  Being able to walk in the shoes of the protagonist for this couple hundred pages is an unflinching look at whether the struggle to be true to oneself is worth it when your life is at stake.