Review by Booklist Review
It was a story the media found irresistible: two transgender teens Katie Rain Hill, an MTF transgender, and Arin Andrews, an FTM transgender from small Oklahoma towns met against all odds and fell in love. Excited by the opportunity to raise the visibility of transgender issues, the two felt that their life stories could provide inspiration. As a consequence, they have now written their respective memoirs or cowritten, since, in their acknowledgments, both thank their cowriters. This is Katie's story. By the time the media discovered them, their intense love relationship had already become tenuous. Many things contributed to the demise of their affair: Katie's gender reassignment surgery (paid for by an anonymous donor) and their ages (Katie went off to college, while Arin, two years younger, remained in high school). Katie then began seeing other boys without Arin's knowledge, and, well, it's a sad story and one that has, to a certain degree, been massaged. It would be interesting to have more information about the fact-fiction divide. Still, this is an invaluable title that puts empathetic human faces on a condition that otherwise might be presented as coldly clinical. For an expanded exploration of the two teens' books, including a look at Arin's memoir, Some Assembly Required (2014), please see Michael Cart's feature Transgender Teens and Romance. --Cart, Michael Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Katie knew she was a girl on the inside, even when she was a suicidal kid named Luke growing up in a disjointed family in Oklahoma. Bullied relentlessly at school and unsupported by administrators, other students' parents, and even her own father, Katie finds an ally in her mother, who stands by her daughter as she starts dressing like a girl, legally changes her name, and travels to get genital reconstruction surgery the day after turning 18. Along the way, Katie becomes an advocate for transgender teens, appearing on TV with her trans boyfriend Arin Andrews, whose memoir, Some Assembly Required, is being published simultaneously. Katie's story provides solid information about what it means to be transgender and to transition, as well as "Tips for Talking to Transgender People" in the back matter. Part of what makes Katie's story so extraordinary is that many of her struggles are entirely ordinary (she cheats on Arin, for example, lying to him when he finds out through Facebook). Being so open-and openly imperfect-makes Katie relatable on a human level, not just as a spokesperson. Ages 14-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Like most transgender children, Katie, who was born and raised as a boy named Luke, was aware of her difference early on, though it was years before she found the word to describe herself. Other family problems made it easy for her to withdraw into a serious depression without being noticed. When Katie finally came across the word "transgender" and read descriptions of what it meant, she risked everything and reached out to her mother, who was supportive and relieved to understand her child better. She promised to help Katie make the transition to her internally identified gender of female, if Katie promised not to kill herself. The book opens with Katie starting college. Having chosen to be an out and open transgender activist while still in high school, she decided to "go stealth" at college, a term used to describe transgender people who prefer not to be identified as such. The writing style is open and straightforward, although much of the dialogue is awkward and extraneous. The book starts out a bit slowly and picks up significantly in the later half. This is a worthwhile addition, given how few transgender memoirs there are for teens.-Nancy Silverrod, San Francisco Public Library (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
The author lived as a male--suicidally depressed due to body dysmorphia--until transitioning to female at age fifteen. This candid, touching memoir relates her transition, activism, public relationship with another transgender teen (Arin Andrews, whose Some Assembly Required also discusses their relationship), and hopes for the future. "Tips for Talking to Transgender People" appended. Reading list, websites. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In a warm, conversational and sometimes-irreverent memoir, a young transgender woman discusses friendship, family and romance, as well as gender, transition and coming out. Readers may recognize author Katie Rain Hill as one half of a transgender teen couple whose relationship was profiled on television's Inside Edition. (Arin Andrews, the other half, has written his own memoir, Some Assembly Required.) Here, the author, a college student at the time of the book's publication, recounts significant moments from her life so far, including being bullied in middle school, coming out to her mom and transitioning as a teenager, and meeting new friends at college. Hill tackles both painful and joyful experiences with a light touch, and background information about gender and physical transition is woven seamlessly into the narrative. Reading Hill's and Andrews' memoirs side by side, readers will notice differences in the way the twonow splitdescribe their relationship. Of particular interest to celebrity-savvy readers is the way both narratives differ from the version of their relationship shown on television, a contrast Katie likens to "a business proposition, like Katniss and Peeta in The Hunger Games." Will both educate cisgender readers and strike sparks of recognition in those questioning their own gender identities. (Memoir. 12 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
