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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

This month wasn't much of a voting event but the selection has been made for this month's Busy Moms Monthly Online Book Club!
If you are new to my site, and don't know about the Busy Moms Monthly Online Book Club - click here to learn more!



Transsister Radio by Chris Bohjalian



Set in the village of Bartlett, Vermont, Trans-Sister Radio tells the story of four people who are drawn into a complicated tangle of relationships—relationships that will profoundly change each of them. When Allison, grade-school teacher and divorced mother of a teenage daughter, meets Dana, she feels she's at the beginning of an intense, ideal romance. But Dana reveals that he's always felt himself to be a woman and plans to have the surgery that will make that feeling a reality, and soon Allison's love for Dana and her perception of herself is severely tested. She grapples with the fact that she might not be able to love Dana in a woman's body. She worries whether her teaching career will survive the scandal that living with a transsexual in a small New England town is sure to cause. She wonders what effect the situation will have on her relationship with her daughter, Carly, and how her ex-husband, Will, is going to view the situation.
Allison stands by Dana through the surgery and recovery period, enduring the opprobrium of the local community and a growing unease about her own sexual identity. Threatening notes left in her school mailbox, obscene graffiti scrawled on her front door, pressure from the school board to take a leave of absence, and a local petition about teacher morality all contribute to making Allison and Dana's relationship both a public issue and a private ordeal. Even Will and Carly become increasingly involved in Allison and Dana's predicament, and when they decide to air a program on transsexualism for Vermont Public Radio, they bring both clarity to the issue and a new set of changes for everyone involved.


Written with empathy and extraordinary insight, Trans-Sister Radio explores the uncertain terrain of gender identity, sexual preference, and the entire range of pleasures, confusions, and sacrifices that love demands.

So go get your copy, start reading and come back on the 21st for the discussion questions! If you are planning to participate, please leave a comment below.



3 comments:

  1. Oh wow that sounds intense indeed.

    I will have to look at your Book Club post.

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  2. You know you can count me in! I also posted about your book club on my blog. Hopefully that will get some more participants!

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  3. Thanks for doing that Julie P.

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I love love love love to hear what other people think - share your thoughts so we can start a dialogue!