A. M. Kirsch has written a heartwarming coming-of-age story following Jennie Heckenlaible, starting in high school, 2015, and finishing up in college. While this does follow Jennie's transgender journey, it also covers different aspects of life that teens may come across during such time - crushes, dating, struggles with parentd, school, biking, etc. - making the story and Jennie well-rounded and dynamic.

I do wish the blurb provided for this book wasn't so spoilery; it's basically a summary of most of the book. Some parts highlighted in the blurb were just a short part of the story, so readers may best enjoy this book if avoiding the blurb.

I loved how Kirsch blended the story with Jennie's blogposts. At the beginning, Kirsch notes that if readers wish to skip the blogposts, there is an index at the end to help guide them through. Don't skip the blogposts! These help better understand Jennie's thought processes. While the transitions between stories and blogposts could have been handled more smoothly, they all provided great reflections from Jennie on what was currently happening in the book.

Throughout the book, Kirsch also brings to life many characters in Jennie's life. The two standouts are Gabby and Jennie's mom. While Gabby is not the main character, she is Jennie's girlfriend, so we learn of her family and their relationships. Kirsch succesfully brings Gabby to life, avoiding the trope many authors fall into of having a love interest just be there, but instead has us glimpse into Gabby's life as Jennie leads the story.

While Jennie's mom is a somewhat distant character at first, as Jennie's transgender journey progresses, Jennie's mom becomes more of a fully developed character, reflecting Jennie's disassociation with others till able to transition. And as a side-note, Jennie's dad, though briefly present, is given depth through other characters, all while never negating the negative influence his upbringing has caused.

Kirsch originally planned this as a memoir, before shifting to this semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story, and it shows. The writing is both informative and entertaining, stemming from Kirsch's own life. I also loved how the 2015 high school setting overlapped with my own time in high school. At the end, Kirsch lists references to all the resources, articles, and information Jennie has referenced throughtout the book. While much of the information provided was not overly surprising or new to me, it's educational purposes will be of great help for teens and adults wishing to learn of the MtF transgender process is detail. It's also very educational on Colorado's transgender history.

I would go so far as to say that this is a groundbreaking book. I can’t remember ever coming across or reading a book that feels this authentic when it comes to the journey of a transgender person. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were based on a true story.

This is a book that should be read in schools!