Dear Early Readers,
This Is How It Always Is is about a family of five boys, the youngest of whom becomes a girl. This novel has required something of a leap of faith on my part, so I want to introduce myself and share a little bit about why I took it.
I have only one child (a smart, funny, currently front-toothless second grader), but she, too, used to be a little boy and is now a little girl, a transgirl, like the youngest child of the family in this book. She is why sharing this story, even though it’s fiction, requires some bravery. She is also why I’ve done it anyway.
There are so many kids like mine, families like mine, families unlike mine, who don’t conform in other ways. I hope this book will find them and do what all good books do, which is make us feel more connected, more understood, and less alone. Over the course of This Is How It Always Is the characters come to realize that telling their stories and secrets is hard and scary and sometimes dangerous, but they must do it anyway because that’s how life gets better for everyone. And this is what I came to realize over the course of this book as well.
So with courage (and a little mild panic), I humbly present This Is How It Always Is. I hope you will find it to be a compelling, provocative, heartfelt story about a family that will appeal to any reader who has ever been a part of one. I believe, to the tips of my toes, that writing and reading and sharing stories is how we make the world a better place. I bet you think so too. Thank you, thank you, for allowing me to share this story with you.
Very warm wishes,
Laurie Frankel
I have only one child (a smart, funny, currently front-toothless second grader), but she, too, used to be a little boy and is now a little girl, a transgirl, like the youngest child of the family in this book. She is why sharing this story, even though it’s fiction, requires some bravery. She is also why I’ve done it anyway.
There are so many kids like mine, families like mine, families unlike mine, who don’t conform in other ways. I hope this book will find them and do what all good books do, which is make us feel more connected, more understood, and less alone. Over the course of This Is How It Always Is the characters come to realize that telling their stories and secrets is hard and scary and sometimes dangerous, but they must do it anyway because that’s how life gets better for everyone. And this is what I came to realize over the course of this book as well.
So with courage (and a little mild panic), I humbly present This Is How It Always Is. I hope you will find it to be a compelling, provocative, heartfelt story about a family that will appeal to any reader who has ever been a part of one. I believe, to the tips of my toes, that writing and reading and sharing stories is how we make the world a better place. I bet you think so too. Thank you, thank you, for allowing me to share this story with you.
Very warm wishes,
Laurie Frankel