Lily Jo McGrother, born Timothy McGrother, is a girl. But being a girl is not so easy when you look like a boy. Especially when you’re in the eighth grade.
Dunkin Dorfman, birth name Norbert Dorfman, is dealing with bipolar disorder and has just moved from the New Jersey town he’s called home for the past thirteen years. This would be hard enough, but the fact that he is also hiding from a painful secret makes it even worse.
One summer morning, Lily Jo McGrother meets Dunkin Dorfman, and their lives forever change.
"Though not ready to make her transition public, Lily bravely begins to make gestures in that direction: painting her fingernails, wearing lipstick, and so on — all this despite the bullying she receives from the boys she dubs 'the Neanderthals.' Meanwhile, Dunkin has made their middle-school basketball team and, to ensure he has the energy to play, goes off his meds. The two young teens tell their increasingly compelling stories in alternating first-person chapters....Though in less skillful hands this might have turned into a problem novel, it is, instead, a thoughtfully and sensitively written work of character-driven fiction that dramatically addresses two important subjects that deserve more widespread attention." — Michael Cart, Booklist
Recommended Age | 10 and up |
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Author | Donna Gephart |
ISBN | 0553536745 |
Publication Date | May 3, 2016 |
Publisher | Delacorte Books for Young Readers |
Language | English |