But there's one way in which Shane is unlike most boys his age: although he has a boy's brain, he was born with a girl's body. Before his parents divorced, Shane went to school in San Francisco, where everyone knew him as a girl (a "tomboy"), but since transferring to his new school in Los Angeles, everyone knows Shane as a boy. And as he approaches adolescence, he has some tough choices to make about how he wants to grow up.
It certainly doesn't help anything when rumors start to spread around school. If Shane's secret gets out, will he lose his friends? Will people still be able to accept him as a boy? It's a terrifying prospect for Shane, but with the support of his mother and other transgendered kids, he perseveres with courage.
The Other Boy is an emotional tale of being true to one's self, told from the perspective of someone we don't often hear from. The characters are complex and real, the friendships ring true, and the illustrations by Sfe R. Monster complement the text nicely. One of the great joys of reading is being able to learn about the world from someone else's perspective. Shane is completely relatable, and makes for an admirable hero.
At the end of the book, the author has included some excellent resources for people wanting more information about transgendered people and the issues they face.
