This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel
One of the best books I’ve ever read (not just this past year, but ever!), This is How it Always Is illuminates one family’s journey with a child who was born a boy but knows inside he’s a girl. Told with humor and incredible insight, we follow parents Rosie and Penn as they help son Claude/daughter Poppy navigate a difficult and confusing path of identity. A powerful, important message of accepting one’s truth.
There are countless summaries and reviews out there, but I like this quote best from Ms. Frankel herself: “…it is a novel about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And it’s about the ways this is how it always is: Change is always hard and miraculous and hard again; parenting is always a leap into the unknown with crossed fingers and full hearts; children grow but not always according to plan. And families with secrets don’t get to keep them forever.
I reached out to her personally and asked, “What is the one thing you’d like your reader to take away from the book?” She replied, “I hope readers take away open minds, open hearts, satisfied souls, and the desire to read more books!”