None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio
Release Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 328
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A groundbreaking story about a teenage girl who discovers she was born intersex... and what happens when her secret is revealed to the entire school. Incredibly compelling and sensitively told, None of the Above is a thought-provoking novel that explores what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between.
What if everything you knew about yourself changed in an instant?
When Kristin Lattimer is voted homecoming queen, it seems like another piece of her ideal life has fallen into place. She's a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college and she's madly in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she's decided that she's ready to take things to the next level with him.
But Kristin's first time isn't the perfect moment she's planned—something is very wrong. A visit to the doctor reveals the truth: Kristin is intersex, which means that though she outwardly looks like a girl, she has male chromosomes, not to mention boy "parts."
Dealing with her body is difficult enough, but when her diagnosis is leaked to the whole school, Kristin's entire identity is thrown into question. As her world unravels, can she come to terms with her new self?
I've heard about people being born with male and female body parts/organs (sorry I'm at a total loss for a better term) but I never really paid it too much thought, until now. None of the Above centers around our MC Kristin. She's beautiful. smart, a champion hurdler with a full college scholarship and she seemingly has it all, homecoming queen, dating a football player and popular friends. Homecoming night however, changes Kristin's life forever. She decides to sleep with her boyfriend for the first time. After a very painful evening she visits the doctor where she learns the startling truth, she has testicles, and is Intersex.
Kristin is faced with so many questions and decisions, such as should she have them removed< that it seems no high school student should have to deal with. As if that wasn't enough to handle on it's own, the info is leaked to the entire school! Now she has to face not just her boyfriend, and her friends, but her entire school with the truth!
I got so sucked into this book and it made me feel a thousand different things at once. I felt heartache for Kristin as her boyfriend finds out and reacts to the news. I felt confusion as she struggles to wrap her head around what is happening to her and what it really means. I felt scared as she made up her mind between permanent surgery and hormone therapy, and just living as she is. I felt anger as she became bullied and ostracized by her peers, and then I became furious when she was asked to leave school and her scholarship stripped from her. I cried, I laughed, and I hooted as she forged on, determined and hopeful.
None of the Above is a book that will be etched in my memory for many years to come. My heart goes out to not just Kristin but anyone who has had to face this struggle in their life. I am so glad that the author tackled this subject because it really educated me not just on what Inter Sex is, but also what an Inter Sex person might be going through, the struggles they face, and how I can be a supportive person. This is a definite must read and I highly recommend it!
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