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YA
Pen (short for Penelope) is a girl whose gender expression doesn't fit into conventional categories. Her struggle for self-definition plays out in three braided plot lines: tensions rise between her and her traditional Portuguese-immigrant parents; a longtime male friend turns cruel; she starts dating a female classmate. Girard offers an impressively nuanced drama about the desire to be recognized for who you are.
Reviewer: Claire E. Gross
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2016