The Art of Being Normal

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Birthday Hater: Kate, whose fourteenth birthday is when begins the story proper. Each birthday only serves as a reminder that she is running out of time before she starts going through puberty, which would make it more difficult for her to physically pass as female. The Unfavorite: Poor Kate sees herself as this compared to her pretty, well-adjusted little sister Livvy. What David wants, more than anything, is to be a girl. But as he grows taller and more like his father, he wonders if this will ever be a possibility. The Art of Being Normal even explained the confusion and angst of the teenage experience perfectly; the unrequited crushes, the boredom and the friends we make who change our lives. I found myself whispering to myself, “She understands, she understands, an author who actually knows how it feels to be a teenager!” Only a few authors have made me do that, which is another reason why this book is so wonderful.

The Art of Being Normal is Lisa Williamson’s 2018 novel about two transgender students, Leo Denton and David Piper. On Leo’s first day at his new school, he has one goal: to keep his head low and not draw any attention to himself. Catching the eye of the most beautiful girl in the class is definitely not part of Leo’s plan, particularly because he is a transgender male and is not out at his new school. When Leo stands up for a classmate, David, in a fight, the two become fast friends. David is a transgender girl who has not come out either. With Leo’s support, David prepares to transition and come out as Kate. An uplifting story of two transgender teens trying to live a truth that has been a secret for too long, The Art of Being Normal takes a thought-provoking look at gender identity and what it means to be transgender. I felt The Art of Being Normal so accurately captured the feelings one experiences when you are different, when you are bullied, and how you just wish you could hide to avoid the ridicule and abuse. Williamson created such complex characters that you feel for and root for, characters you think about after the book is over. Even if once the story hits its stride you have a feeling how the plot will unfold, you're completely drawn into the characters' lives and you want to know what is going to happen. Like so many YA books out there these days, this type of book didn't exist when I was growing up. I'm so glad that it exists now, however, and hope that people read it, are moved by it, and perhaps convinced to change their behavior, to understand that their definition of "normal" isn't everyone's. So well done. As I said before, I'm not trans and though I try my best to educate myself on trans issues but if you found anything I said in this review to be wrong or problematic or anything, please tell me and I'll try to do even better in the future.PDF / EPUB File Name: The_Art_of_Being_Normal_-_Lisa_Williamson.pdf, The_Art_of_Being_Normal_-_Lisa_Williamson.epub Open-Minded Parent: Kate says her parents believe themselves to be this, and they are actually very accepting of what they (mistakenly) think their child's big secret is. Bless their hearts, they try their best with all their might to be supportive when Kate's coming out doesn't exactly turn out the way they expected it to. Creo que este es una buena novela que te hace reflexionar sobre muchas cosas y que te ayuda a entender un poco más sobre el tema, una trama entretenida y un libro fácil de seguir, con unos personajes bien construidos que hacen más ágil la lectura y con unos giros en la trama bastantes inesperados, en pocas palabras es un libro muy bien escrito y que debería leer todo el mundo para entender más sobre cosas que son "normales" y no deberían ser un tema que importe, simplemente dejar ser cómo algo común y sin más, una novela que recomiendo completamente para una lectura ligera y bien escrita que te dejará muchas cosas. I’m transgender myself and I work with transgender youth, so of course I’m bringing that to the table. I didn’t hate this book – in fact, I quite liked large parts of it, but there are a few issues that drag it down. One of them was that I don't feel like it was written with transgender people in mind as a part of the key audience, unless they're teenagers still trying to figure out even the most basic things. But at the same time, it's a bit of a narrow representation of transgender people.

Both David and Leo stole my heart. David knows he's supposed to be a girl - he/him-pronouns are used throughout the entire book for him - and he's struggling with it. The only people in the know are his two best friends, Essie and Felix. Earn Your Happy Ending: Kate finally gains the courage to come out to her parents and live her truth, and is much happier as a result. Leo finally moves on with his life, and gets to relax and trust people for a change. Pet the Dog: Though Livvy's status as Kate's bratty younger sister is established pretty early on, she still gives her big sister a nice and thoughtful birthday present. Jerkass Has a Point: Leo's jaded mother isn't wrong to warn her children that life isn't always fair, but could go about it in a different manner. She definitely wasn't lying about the twins' father abandoning her. La novela se lee muy rápido, no tiene una lectura muy fácil porque es densa y la autora nos contextualiza mucho para entender bien qué es la transexualidad. Pero lo hace a la perfección, dejándonos ver cómo evoluciona una persona transexualidad que es consciente de su género.Pero, sobre todo, me ha gustado que esté dirigido a un público juvenil. He tenido con este libro la misma sensación que tuve en su momento con La lección de August: que debería ser obligatorio, imprescindible. Con el tiempo, La lección de August ha sido lectura obligatoria en muchos colegios, El arte de ser normal debería serlo también. I'm not transgender, but even I can see how terrible the author dealt with the characters transness. The story is about the transgender girl Kate who is closeted (and goes by David for most of the book) and the transgender boy Leo who is not out at his new school. The two of them form an unlikely friendship and that's basically what the story is about. I thought the story itself was - except for some problematic things I'll remark on later on - really fun and just nice to read. I love reading about queer kids and friendships. That optimism dissolved when it is revealed that one of the MCs is trans*- but only through a scene that revolves around having his genitalia exposed? What?! That doesn't work for me. I also didn't appreciate the transphobic slurs/dialogue the MCs said to each other, as well as using the wrong pronouns. Add onto that the fact that it was stated multiple times that "David wants to be a girl"- WANTS. NO. She already is. Also, neither character is gay so why is the pride flag on the cover? Whatever happened to the trans* flag? David Piper has really never fit in. Apart from his two best friends, most of his fellow high school students ridicule him for being different. One of the school bullies has called him "Freak Show" since they were younger, but David is willing to wait him out until high school ends. His parents think he is gay, and are waiting for him to tell them.

Make a wish!” Mum says. She has the cake tipped at an angle so I won’t notice it’s wonky. It says Happy Birthday David! in bloodred icing across the top, the day in Birthday scrunched up where she must have run out of room. Fourteen blue candles form a circle around the edge of the cake, dripping wax in the buttercream.The first photo that pops up on the screen is of me. My eyes are closed midblink and my forehead is shiny. That friendship however isn’t strong enough to mask the thin plot of the book. In the first half of the novel the focus is on David and his problems with body dysphoria (which were realistically described, in my cisgender opinion). Not much happens to Leo, apart from him falling in love with Alicia and experiencing some family drama. No Name Given: Kate's father's name is never said, though her mother's name is Jo. Similarly Leo's father Jimmy/Jonathan's name is brought up frequently, but his mother's name (Samantha) only finally shows up in the second half of the book. Mentor in Queerness: In a way, more experienced Leo is this to closeted Kate since he is the only other trans person she has ever met. It is David’s isolation and quiet desperation that Williamson captures so well. Biology is sabotaging his longing to be petite and feminine. Time is against him as a rising tide of testosterone elongates his skinny frame, lengthens his penis, makes his pale, blue-veined feet ugly and huge (“Kate Winslet is a size nine” offers his friend Felix encouragingly). David measures himself obsessively, is dismayed at the thought of stubble and covets his mother’s curves. During those rare moments when he is left alone in the house, he dresses up as a girl before wiping away the makeup and feeling like a stranger in his own body once more. While his friends are all making out, or so he imagines, David reflects that he has never had a girl- or boyfriend, never kissed, never even held hands.