This Is How It Always Is is a beautifully written bold novel about gender dysphoria and the impact his change has on a family and society as a whole. The author weaves fairy tales and humor into a story of the changes a family experiences when their fifth son becomes a daughter. A must read for our time.
Kathy Fahey, Library Assistant
Synopsis
“But first, Roo was born.” – first line
A family reshapes their ideas about family, love and loyalty when youngest son Claude reveals increasingly determined preferences for girls’ clothing and accessories and refuses to stay silent.
About the Author
Laurie Frankel is a New York Times best selling author, previous college professor, and mom to a transgender child. Also an essayist, Frankel wrote “From He to She in the First Grade” for The New York Times and “10 Essentail Books for Parents of Transgender Children” for Publishers Weekly. Her next novel, One Two Three, will be published in June 2021.
Read-a-Likes
Fighting an ugly custody battle with an artistic tenant who has little regard for the strict rules of their progressive Cleveland suburb, a straitlaced family woman who is seeking to adopt a baby becomes obsessed with exposing the tenant’s past, only to trigger devastating consequences for both of their families.
Living with her parents in a nearly abandoned counterculture commune, 14-year-old Linda finds her perspectives and desires changed by the scandal-marked arrest of a teacher and the secrets of a new neighbor family as she wrestles with the consequences of actions and failures in the name of love.
Coming of age in a dwindling 1960s farming community in eastern Pennsylvania, Mimi struggles with profound family secrets and the pain of falling in love with the wrong person against a backdrop of dynamic historical periods.
Appeal Terms
How do you describe the books you love to read? Appeal terms help us describe what it is about a book that would make us recommend it to others. These come from the NoveList database, which librarians love! You, too, can use and explore this database free with your library card.
Genre
Adult books for young adults & Domestic fiction
Characters
Authentic, Complex, LGBTQIA diverse
Tone
Amusing, Moving, Thought-provoking
Writing Style
Compelling
Awards & More
NPR’s Article: ‘This is How It Always Is’ Was Inspired By Its Author’s Transgender Child
My Kid Is Gay Interview: Interviewing Laurie Frankel, Author of This Is How It Always Is
People Magazine’s Top 10 Books of 2017
Amazon’s Best Books of 2017: Top 20
Pacific Northwest Book Awards Finalist
Bustle’s 17 Books Every Woman Should Read From 2017
This blog post was created by librarians from Park City Library with help of information found in NoveList – a database which is free with your library card. NoveList is a comprehensive reading recommendation resource.