21 Nov / Birthday by Meredith Russo [in Shelf Awareness]
Born on the same day during a freak September blizzard in Tennessee, Eric and Morgan – and their families – “became friends for life.” The shared birthday anchors them through life’s most dramatic changes: Morgan’s mother dies and Morgan’s father shuts down, while Eric’s once-perfect family implodes. At 13, Morgan desperately needs to tell Eric, “I’m supposed to be a girl,” while Eric struggles to understand who Morgan really is – especially to him. Over the next six birthdays, the BFFs will reevaluate, redefine, and reinvent their bond as they mature together toward adulthood.
#OwnVoices author Meredith Russo’s follow-up to her 2017 Stonewall Award-winning debut, If I Was Your Girl, is another affecting examination of teens grappling with relationships, socioeconomic disparities, school challenges, and mental and physical abuse – with an added layer of affirming gender identity. Russo seamlessly melds difficulties with joy and impossibilities with solutions, to create a resonating “love story eighteen years in the making.”
Discover: In Meredith Russo’s Birthday, Morgan and Eric redefine their lifetime bond through various stages of friendship, separation, and falling in love.
Review: “Gift Guide: Children & Young Adult,” Shelf Awareness, November 19, 2019
Readers: Young Adult
Published: 2019