If I Was Your Girl

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But overall this is a book I think everyone needs to read - ownvoices trans stories published by major publishers are rare and we're privileged to have this one. It's enlightening and important and offers a message of hope despite a world that can seem bleak for queer people In 2003, the Jay-Z/ Beyoncé Knowles single, " '03 Bonnie & Clyde" (from The Blueprint²: The Gift & the Curse) used several lines of "If I Was Your Girlfriend", and Prince was credited as one of the writers. At times it was a little too contrived, light and fluffy for me. I was expected more of a Hillary Swank "Boys Don't Cry" type of book. That being said, it is a YA novel. The novel being lighter is all the more reason to encourage your teenagers to read it.

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) The only thing I disliked about this book, really, was the incredibly dark ending segment. I thought this book was trying to make itself a book for trans readers to relate to and adore, and I felt that way up until the incredibly cruel outing. I will say that it was so obviously the direction the book was going, so it wasn’t really a surprise. And I think this segment was meant as education for cis readers to really understand how awful life can be for trans women, which is really important, don’t get me wrong. But can I be totally honest? It was… really awful to read, and I think it would be even more awful to read for a young trans reader. I don’t mean this in a condescending way at all - I mean, I’m a seventeen-year-old very-out-of-the-closet cis girl, and I think the ending of this was one of the most difficult-to-read endings I have read in my whole life. I honestly cannot imagine reading this as a fifteen-year-old closeted trans girl. If I Was Your Girl is real and raw and layered and wonderful." —Alex Gino, Stonewall Award-winning author of George

Did we miss something on diversity?

But I wanted something more from the plot. We definitely don't need another trans horror story, but I wish one of the first mainstream YA trans books by a trans author didn't play it so safe. Russo has adapted the trans experience to make it easier for cis readers to digest - again, this is understandable, but sad too. I also wanted the romance to be more developed, less sappy, cheesy and "I'll love you no matter what". It fell into a bunch of the same old YA tropes. It remained unexplored, unquestioned, unrealistic. Grant is arguably a manic pixie dreamboy. If I Was Your Girlfriend" was covered on the TLC album, CrazySexyCool, released in 1994, and on their FanMail Tour. I brought my wrist up to my chest and looked down. The identification bracelet said my name was Andrew Hardy. If I died, I realized, Andrew was the name they would put on my tombstone. Amanda is easily relatable, but I found that was because she didn't have a very distinct personality. She definitely creates a feeling of universal sympathy - because it's hard trying to fit in, learning to accept yourself, and finding someone to love you - but she feels, perhaps deliberately, like a blank canvas. Maybe this is so all readers, trans and otherwise, can put themselves in her shoes. What did the counselor say?” I had met with him a few days before. When he asked me what was wrong with me, I wrote six words on a notepad, my throat still too sore from the stomach pump to speak.

The song was originally birthed to be a part of a cancelled Prince project called Camille. In the Camille project Prince would take on the pseudonym of Camille and sing songs in the point of view of a female. When the project was scrapped Prince revised the song and planned to include it on another unreleased project called Crystal Ball. When that project was cancelled Prince took a handful of songs off Crystal Ball and included them on his new project Sign “☮” The Times. But here's what I think: in five, maybe ten years time, there will be many more trans books. At that time, I think most people won't feel the need to return to this one. I am glad that it's here, though, as one of the first. I like the story telling. It's told between the present and the past but not bewildering. The process of transgender is described in a light and uncomplicated way and it is a satisfactory for me. Through this book I found out that once a transgender surgery is done, one doesn't immediately become a woman. Like Amanda said: Afternoon, Mary Anne,” he said, grinning broadly and waving as he took a seat at the counter. That smile gave me a feeling of vertigo. He had smiled when I was seven and I told him I wanted to try out for Little League. He had smiled when I was nine and I agreed to go hunting with him. I couldn’t remember any other times. “Heard your granny had a stroke. How y’all holding up?”

Because the secret that Amanda’s been keeping? It's that at her old school, she used to be Andrew. Will the truth cost Amanda her new life, and her new love? so yeah, it's an important book, and it's such a fast read that it's generally easy to overlook the first novel-jitters, although it needs to be said that the star wars homecomingposal scene was intensely cheesy and absurd.

The story was amazing, I really like the dual-time aspect because it helped me to understand Amanda a lot more, to see where she's coming from and how much she went through. That ain’t possible,” she said. “There ain’t a thing in God’s creation that could undo the love I have for my son.” Beautiful, smart, and so urgently needed, If I Was Your Girl should be required reading for every teen—scratch that, every person—in America. This book is exactly what YA is for: to break ground, to break hearts, to teach us empathy, to find the universal in the specific. I loved every word. You will too.” —Julie Buxbaum, New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three ThingsNot really,” I said. I hadn’t been hungry in a while. I hadn’t cried in a while. Mostly I just felt numb. This is definitely a cute, sweet book that finds an equal balance with some intense subject matter. It was a lovely reading experience to be able to be smiling with giddiness one moment, but feeling heartbroken and wanting to cry the next. Definitely a book with a whirlwind of emotions! I said, “What about?” My voice sounded like nothing—flat, toneless, with the faintest deepening that made me never want to speak again. My stomach cramped and twisted. A necessary, universal story about feeling different and enduring prejudices…full of love, hope, and truth.” — Kirkus, starred review She says heaven don’t want her and hell’s afraid she’d take over,” the girl said, pulling a notebook and pen from her apron and walking over. “The physical therapy’s been a bear, though.”