parents of transgender children

"When Rosie and Penn and their four boys welcome the newest member of their family, no one is surprised it's another baby boy...But Claude is not like his brothers...When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl. Rosie and Penn aren't panicked at first. Kids go through phases, after all, and make-believe is fun. But soon the entire family is keeping Claude's secret. Until one day it explodes"--Provided by publisher.

Jodie Patterson is the mother of five children, including her ten-year-old transgender son Penelope, the catalyst for the author's reexamination of identity within her own dynamic household--and the wider world. This inspiring and highly personal debut memoir goes on to examine Jodie's extended families' African American experiences with racism and civil rights, and her own coming of age in New York City in the 1970s and 80s, and later on as a wife, mother, and activist. With a novelist's sense of artful structure and pacing, Jodie turns her lens on a range of subjects--from the women who raised her and provided strength and comfort, all the while going against cultural norms and gender expectations, to her own children, who acted as a vehicle for Jodie's own growth and ultimately her acceptance of her very diverse family. The result is an exquisite study in transformation, identity, courage, and love.

"Based on interviews with transgender kids, ranging in age from 4 to 20, and their parents, and over five years of research in the US and Canada, [this book] offers a . . . look into what it is like to grow up as a trans child. Keeping in mind that all trans kids are among the most vulnerable to bullying, violent attacks, self-harm and suicide, and that those who struggle with poverty, racism, lack of parental support, learning differences, etc., are extremely at risk, [the author] offers ways to support all trans kids through policy recommendations and activist interventions. Ultimately, the book is meant to open up options for kids' own gender self-determination, to question the need for the sex binary, and to highlight ways that cultural and material resources can be redistributed more equitably"--Provided by publisher.

"When Rosie and Penn and their four boys welcome the newest member of their family, no one is surprised it's another baby boy...But Claude is not like his brothers...When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl. Rosie and Penn aren't panicked at first. Kids go through phases, after all, and make-believe is fun. But soon the entire family is keeping Claude's secret. Until one day it explodes"--Provided by publisher.