If I Was Your Girl

Description: Partially inspired by her own experiences as a trans woman, Russo presents the first YA novel to feature a transgender character in a romance that doesn't end badly. "Russo's debut is poignant and rareE" --Julie Murphy, #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Dumplin'."

Brief description: MEREDITH RUSSO was born, raised, and lives in Tennessee. She started living as her true self in late 2013 and never looked back. If I Was Your Girl was partially inspired by her experiences as a trans woman. Like Amanda, Meredith is a gigantic nerd who spends a lot of her time obsessing over video games and Star Wars.

Review Quotes:

Stonewall Book Award Winner
Walter Dean Myers Honor Book for Outstanding Children's Literature
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Zoella Book Club Selection
A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist
A Bustle Best YA Book of the Year
IndieNext Top 10 List
One of Flavorwire's 50 Books Every Modern Teenager Should Read

"This new novel for teens breaks new ground...powerful." --O Magazine

"A beautifully rendered YA novel . . . the first written by a transgender woman about the transgender teen experience." --San Francisco Chronicle

"A vivid, compassionate portrait of a teen finding her place." --The Washington Post

"An illuminating debut guided by hope and overwhelming kindness." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A necessary, universal story about feeling different and enduring prejudices...full of love, hope, and truth." --Kirkus, starred review

"This is everything a coming-of-age novel should be--honest, complicated, and meaningful. Transcends the typical 'issue' novel to be a beautiful tale in its own right." --School Library Journal, SLJ Popular Pick

"Amanda's story is neither overly sentimental nor didactic. A thoughtful, truthful, and much needed coming-of-age tale." --Horn Book Review

"Russo, a trans woman, writes with authority and empathy, giving readers not only an intellectual but also an emotional understanding of Amanda and her compelling story. Never didactic, this debut is a valuable contribution to the slender but growing body of literature of trans teens." --ALA Booklist

"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, author of Tell Me Three Things

"Poignant and rare. If I Was Your Girl is the type of book you read and want to immediately share, because it's too important to keep to yourself." --Julie Murphy, author of Dumplin'

"If I Was Your Girl is important and necessary and brave, and deeply, electrically inspiring. Read this wonderful book. Just read it." --Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places

"If I Was Your Girl will change minds and open hearts." --Nina Lacour, author of We Are Okay

"If I Was Your Girl is real and raw and layered and wonderful." --Alex Gino, author of George

"If there's any justice in the world, we're all witnessing a YA powerhouse in the making." --Forever YA

"Pure magic." --Book Riot