Lily and Dunkin

March 7, 2016
With humor and great sensitivity, Gephart (Death by Toilet Paper) juxtaposes the efforts of two eighth-graders—one struggling with gender dysphoria, one with mental illness—to establish new identities for themselves. Determined, gentle, and self-aware Tim was “born with boy parts” but identifies as a girl, preferring the name Lily; already “out” to her family and best friend Dare, Lily is both excited and terrified about reactions to a more public transformation. Meanwhile, mercurial newcomer Norbert hates his name—but loves the nickname Lily gives him, Dunkin, which alludes to his favorite haunt—and keeps deep secrets, even from himself. Their friendship develops slowly as Dunkin, desperate for acceptance, gets swept up by an intolerant basketball-playing crowd. Gephart sympathetically contrasts the physical awkwardness, uncertainty, and longings of these two outsiders during a few tightly-plotted months, building to a crescendo of revelation. Strong, supportive women accept these teens as they are, while their fathers struggle mightily. Despite an overly tidy resolution to Dunkin’s story and Lily being a bit too perfect, it’s a valuable portrait of two teenagers whose journeys are just beginning. Ages 10–up. Agent: Tina Wexler, ICM.

February 15, 2016
Lily is trans and is facing puberty, which will make her look less than herself than she does now, while new kid Dunkin's manic impulsiveness makes him a misfit; though they click immediately, life gets complicated. According to her author's note, Gephart promised her son a story with a character who is bipolar like him and promised herself a story of a trans girl, to help foster understanding of people like them. Gephart clearly has a lot of heart, and she tells their stories with compassion. They speak in alternating first-person narration with cursive headers for Lily and block capitals for Dunkin. Dunkin's insensitivity during manic episodes doesn't erase the fact that he's a good kid, and that comes through. But trans readers will likely not recognize themselves in Lily, even if they share some common ground. Lily is perfectly polite, unfailingly kind, with nary a bad thought, angelic right up to her fairy-tale ending. Though Gephart does a good job of rounding out her other characters, Lily is so pristine that she feels mythical, falling into the pile of fiction's magical misfits so perfect it's impossible not to accept this one little departure from the norm. There are too few messy, complicated trans heroes that still find love and acceptance in literature for kids, and while cis readers may find it educational, this isn't going to change that. Gephart's compassion is noble, but it's not enough to make Lily's story resonate. (resources) (Fiction. 10-14)

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Starred review from February 15, 2016
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* I guess everyone has secrets, 13-year-old Tim muses, and his secret is known only to his family and his best friend, Dare. Born a boy, Tim knows he is really a girl named Lily. And then there is her new friend Norbert, whom she has nicknamed Dunkin (acknowledging his passion for Dunkin Donuts). Dunkin has a secret, too: he is bipolar. Though not ready to make her transition public, Lily bravely begins to make gestures in that direction: painting her fingernails, wearing lipstick, and so onall this despite the bullying she receives from the boys she dubs the Neanderthals. Meanwhile, Dunkin has made their middle-school basketball team and, to ensure he has the energy to play, goes off his meds. The two young teens tell their increasingly compelling stories in alternating first-person chapters. Though both stories are emotionally powerful, Dunkin's comes perilously close to eclipsing Lily's, but nevertheless both characters are irresistibly appealing, and Gephart beautifully manages their evolution. Though in less skillful hands this might have turned into a problem novel, it is, instead, a thoughtfully and sensitively written work of character-driven fiction that dramatically addresses two important subjects that deserve more widespread attention.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)