The Reese Witherspoon Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick

There was nothing not to like in this book. Frankel deals with a difficult subject. She does so with grace and skill. The book is readable but also smart, a combination we don’t always get. Frankel thinks about gender and in-betweenness in a way we haven’t seen much of since Eugenides.

Any parent who has a child experiencing gender confusion should probably read this book. It's the tale of how a mother and father- and their other three children- pick their way through the delicate dilemma of dealing with the transgender youngest child. I would love to believe every family does it this way-lucky the child who has such fierce love and loyalty-but I'm inclined to believe otherwise. But it's a good read.

This book was interesting and well written. It tackles a subject, whose particulars are relatively unknown to the average person. However, I feel quite educated and informed without once feeling uncomfortable or wanting to yell " TMI " ! I would happily recommend this selection.

This book brings new perspective to the transgender issue. I grew up with well defined gender roles but chafed under them. This book brings sense to my ever evolving thought processes regarding gender.

Ms. Frankel's writing is philosophic without the drip of pretention. She made me think without effort, not only about the issues presented in this novel, but about human relationships.
I stumbled upon this book by accident, and am so happy I did.

This story is riveting . So much during the recent past has been focused on the LBGT community and the narrative provided many new perspectives on the subject .
Although a work of fiction, it presented as a memoir filled with poetic images and provided insight into the life of a Transgender youth.

This novel should be required reading in schools. I felt, for the first time, as if I understood the quivering uncertainties and fears of a transgender child's family … as well as the difficulties inherent in the child's development. The novel's humanity and honest portrayal of people at their best and worst kept me riveted. Up until the last page I loved both Claude and Poppy, but I confess that I was rooting for Poppy.

I was intrigued. The book definitely made me think about how I would have handled it if my child was struggling with this issue. The ending wasn’t really what I hoped but I’m not sure how I expected it to end. I’d recommend it, if for no other reason than to learn to empathize with the parent side, albeit fictional, of transgenderism.

A beautiful, frightening, gut-wrenching but wholly satisfying story of the vulnerability and strength involved in being a family and wrestling life's wonders to the ground. The parables are subtle and blatant, rich and bloody, obvious and sheltered. What a read.

I found this book captivating. A book to ponder. You cannot help being impressed by the author's storytelling ability and her love of language. She was able to elegantly give voice to a very complex, personal subject. After reading the book on my Kindle, I purchased the hard cover edition. In my 71 years I have saved about 25 books that I share with others and read again. This book now has a home on my save and share shelf. What an extraordinary novel!

This book was so thought-provoking to me. I learned so much and at the same time the writing was wonderfully sensitive on a very difficult subject. Given what is happening in our world, the topic of transgender children is something I think we all need to learn more about and this book more than met that goal.

There were some things in the book that I questioned or that didn't feel quite right (I'll list some here after a spoiler alert). Even after I finished the book, the story and the characters stayed with me. There was one thing that the author revealed at the end of the book (in the Afterword) but I'll mention it after the spoiled alert.

Since it has been reported that President Trump does not read books, I'm tempted to send him this one to him in hope that he would read it and learn about transgender children.

So...here are the things about the book that I found were not quite right.....SPOILER ALERT....do not read further if you have not read the book and do not want to learn more about it!!!!!!

!. To me, it was amazing how the parents reacted when Claude started wanting to wear dresses. They seemed so calm with what he was doing. They have four other sons but from what they said, none of them went through this "phase." Where did that acceptance come from?

2. Claude's grandmother was amazingly accepting of his wanting to be a girl. She even buys "him" a pink bikini when he is about 3 or 4 years old and this starts a buzz at the swimming pool. How could they not have anticipated this reaction?

3. The start of the book shows Rosie wanted to get pregnant again and desperately wanting a girl. She follows a lot of old wives' tales and turns the mattress east/west instead of north/south, puts a wooden spoon under the bed, etc. Since her sister (Poppy) died in childhood, Rosie always wanted to have a daughter and name her Poppy. I wondered about these details being part of the book....did Rosie feel all these steps had something to do with Claude wanting to transgender and be called Poppy?

4. I was surprised that the Wisconsin school where Claude/Poppy attended was (mostly) incredibly accepting of her transgendering. The principal was so calm and the school had immediate steps to take (procedures, for example, like which bathroom to use). I hope schools really are prepared to face transgender students.

5. When Rosie and Penn decided to relocate to a more liberal area, they move to Seattle but when they arrived decide to not tell anyone about Poppy (who by then has grown her hair out and dressing like a girl all the time). It seemed to me that since able to tell people was the very reason for the move, they could have been more open. Of course, it did eventually come out and the backlash was understandable.

6. Rosie is a doctor and the sole financial support of the family. Penn keeps the house and oversees the activities of the five children. He is working on writing a novel. But, when Rosie has joined a medical practice in Seattle that offers her tons of flexibility but requires her to attend one *;30 AM meeting a week, she somehow finds it hard to get there (citing the need to get the children to school) and jeopardizes her job. Recognizing the critical nature of her income, I would have thought she could have gotten there at 8:30 once a week since Penn was there.

7. The trip to Thailand to try to save her job and to help Poppy, seemed a little too "pat" to me. The Thai people were shown as being completely understanding and accepting of Poppy (who was by then temporarily Claude again) and very enlightened, even having bathrooms that are men's , women's and one with a sign showing a person who is half woman/half man.

8. I personally would have liked to have read more about what the family of a transgender child would have to decide about hormones, surgeries, etc. They are only briefly mentioned and not really faced because Poppy was young.

BUT....in the Afterword, the author reveals that her own son was transgender like Claude and was transitioning to a girl. That added a lot of weight to that she wrote.

A great, well written, thoughtful novel about what happens when children don't turn out as expected. Very believable with great character descriptions. I would love to think that more parents and siblings were as loving and accepting as this family. It definitely gave me a new perspective on growing up transgender,

I talk about this book with whomever is willing to listen. How necessary this novel is and well, if only I had been exposed to this subject years ago. I will always remember that each of us is a bit weird and life is betwixt

I talk about this book with whomever is willing to listen. How necessary this novel is and well, if only I had been exposed to this subject years ago. I will always remember that each of us is a bit weird and life is betwixt

In this time, as a medical professional, I encounter kids like Poppy everyday. These children amaze and enlighten me. I feel honored to know and treat these children. This is a story for everyone, young or old, liberal or conservative,; everyone

This book should be required reading especially for adults. It shows the struggles of a family with a child whose gender is unclear. People need to realize that gender is a scale not a one or the other.

Easy to read without being overly simple, this book made me laugh or smile every couple of minutes and fall in love with the characters within the first pages. While I wish there was more to read, the ending was perfect. What a perfect story!

This book has become one of my favorite reads! The beginning is written in a way that I had to get used to but once you get the hang of her writing style you can't help but love it! Well worth hanging on through the adjustment period.

I loved this novel! The humor and humanity of the people in it (I hesitate to even call them characters, they seemed so real to me!) just grabbed me. I couldn't put it down. This is one family I'd love to know and be friends with. Enjoy!

This was a very interesting book. The author made a good faith effort to capture the uncertainty and the angst of parents of a child with gender dysphoria, although the entire family was somewhat idealized. An easy and enjoyable read.

Absolutely beautiful story that captures the essence of what it means to be a loving parent trying to do right for one's child. Although the story focuses on the challenges of a transgendered child, it is also a story for all parents, of all children. The characters will stay with you long after. Frankel is someone I would have loved to have a coffee with when I was raising my own kids.

This book made me laugh and cry and the characters were so quirky and lovable I am going to miss them now that I finished reading their story. This author is a true compassionate, wise, creative genius of a wordsmith. Stories inside of the story compelled, raised questions and proposed answers without ever seeming trite or hackneyed. Everyone should read this book. The world will be a better more inclusive place.