【英語で読書感想文】Birthday by Meredith Russo
Title: Birthday
Author: Meredith Russo
Eric and Morgan were born on the same day in the same hospital. They were always good friends and celebrated their birthday together every year. When they entered their teenage years, their relationship changed.
Birthday is a brilliant coming-of-age story which covers topics we need to discuss, such as gender/sexual identity, self-acceptance, bullying, and teenage suicide. I listened to the Audiobook and found it interesting because it depicted only the day of their birthday each year between the ages 13 and 18. On their 13th Bday, Morgan decides to tell Eric that she is a trans woman. Eric thought he would support Morgan no matter what but he was having his own struggles in his dysfunctional family.
This is a very readable YA book and I felt it was lacking something at the end of the story because it seemed like a fairy tale. However, I reconsidered why the story ends with hope. The audiobook includes the interview with the author Meredith Russo who is also transgender. In the interview, Russo said that she has survived through the hardships Morgan experienced. I also found an interview for her former book, where she said she wanted stories for trans-kids with sweet endings rather than bitter ones because “this is something that hasn’t really existed for young trans people until now”.
Growing up, I read so many happy fairy tales. I believe such nice stories help foster a sense of positivity and self-affirmation in children. I think that’s what Meredith Russo wanted to do for young trans people with Birthday. I had never thought that way until I read this book but everyone deserves happy stories to make them feel that they are precious and can just be their true self.
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これは日本語版出てないのかな？
LGBTQ＋の子どもたちが読むための小説、もっと増えるといいよね
Audiobookで聞きましたが、YAラブストーリーなので比較的聞きやすいと思います。
元の投稿はコチラ↓です。