Alyx was born interex. After a traumatic bullying event in her native Walnut Grove, California prompts she and her mother to relocate to her mother's hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Alyx aksi makes the decision that she identifies as a girl despite her parents' decision to raise her as a boy and allowing her to choose later. Knowing she can't undergo surgery that would allow her to fully identify as a girl for two years, Alyx changes her last name at her new school and is off to a new start despite feelings of PTSD from the bullying. When she joins the basketball team jealousy from a teammate threatens to unravel all that she's started to build.
The long version:
The book had its strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths: the essential plotting of the story was well-constructed, the technical writing was efficient and descriptive and resulted in an easy to read story that moved quickly and kept the reader involved. The plot points became fraught with tension with the implication that at many points in the story her history would be revealed. The PTSD from the bullying event was effectively woven through the story which served to additionally heighten the tension.
Alyx's family's response from her grandfather, uncle and mother, to her change in gender identity was heartfelt and believable and complex and the majority of the secondary characters were refreshing in their humanity.
Weaknesses: I couldn't help getting tripped up in Alyx's character development. Here was a character who had lived her first fifteen years as a boy, however uncomfortably, yet her transition to living as a girl was in some ways surprisingly easy. There was no implication she'd been preparing for it in any way during childhood. She could identify other girls' cup sizes in the locker room, she had no issues with adapting to make-up and dressing as a girl (despite some small insecurities if she's passing), she adapted to social situations with relative (not total) ease. There was a complexity to the minutia of her transition that was somewhat glossed over or went unaddressed, in my opinion.
For all the nicely realized secondary characters, Alyx's nemesis is a bit too evil (and thus one dimensional) for my liking, especially within the context of so many other secondary characters who were not. It seemed like an easy device to make Pepper evil with a stunted character arc and a dissatisfying resolution in the end. Trying not to reveal too much, the later plot points that threaten Alyx's future seemed more nuanced (with again sympathetic, humane secondary characters) than Pepper.
I also wished the author didn't feel it necessary to throw in details that were more interesting to her but seemed incongruous and distracting to the plot. Trying to throw in facts about Wisconsin Governor Walker breaking up unions or Alyx repeating factual information about intersex teens she learned from her doctor, for example, not essential in my opinion.
With the lack of young adult fiction featuring intersex characters (though it's nice to see the numbers growing), this was the first I read thus far that provided an engaging story and characters. The basketball subplot and sports detail (which I think can be hard to write and incorporate into narrative) was evenly woven into Alyx's story in a balanced way that was both easy to read and didn't create two disparate plots.
In the end, an enjoyable and engaging read that broaches a tough subject matter with ease and sensitivity.
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