Sometimes my favorite part about downloading audiobooks from Overdrive is that it's the only avenue where I truly browse and choose random books, rather than finding things on my to-read list. I choose a collection, filter for currently available audiobooks, and scroll until one jumps out at me. Happily, the title that recently jumped out at me was If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo.
From the front cover:
"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 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."
To a point, Amanda's story is one that anyone can empathize with. High school sucks, and even if there aren't major things that set you apart from the crowd it can be hard to fit in. I think a lot of us, myself included, viewed high school as four years we had to survive before we got out into the "real" world. But I never had to worry that I literally would not survive high school.
It's easy to demonize or dismiss things you don't understand, and there are a lot of people who don't understand trans people. Amanda's story, while admittedly fiction and made simpler for story's sake, provides valuable insight into what it's like to grow up trans, to feel like something is wrong and not be entirely sure how to fix it...to finally find the solution only to discover that a huge number of people judge you, hate you, and sometimes even wish violence on you, because of that solution. It also does an incredible job of shining a light on the fact that a person's trans-ness is not and should never become the only thing that defines them. Amanda's journey is one, not just of a trans woman trying to find her place in the world, but also one of self-discovery that we should all identify with. I wish everyone would read this book.
