81. The Pants Project by Cat Clark

listened on Audible

2017
272 pgs.
MidGr CRF
Finished  7/28/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.09 - 2106 ratings
My rating: 4.5

My comments: Another story about a trans middle schooler.  Live is starting a brand new middle school where she has to wear a uniform and for girlss that means a skirt every day.  She hates this.  nd of course there are two (female) bully sidekicks that treat her horribly, especially when they discover she has two moms.  Her best friend abandons her completely to be popular, but she meets a terrific young man, Jacob, who becomes her best friend.  Her mom and mama are terrific, as is her little brother Enzo.  It's a great story of a loving family in contemporary times and a young person who begins to trust herselfand the choices she makes.  

Goodreads synopsis:  Whoever wrote the uniform policy decided (whyyy?) that girls had to wear skirts, while boys were allowed to wear pants.

Sexist. Dumb. Unfair.

“Girls must wear a black, pleated, knee-length skirt.”

I bet I read those words a hundred times during summer vacation. The problem wasn’t the last word in that sentence. Skirt wasn’t really the issue, not for me.
The issue was the first word. Girls.

Here’s the thing:
I may seem like a girl, but on the inside, I’m a boy.

13. To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer

read the BOOK!!! (first one this year)
2019 Dial Books
295 pgs.
YA Contemporary Epistolary
Finished 1/20/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.09 - 4115 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary NYC, California coast, Minnesota woods....

First line/s: "From:  Brett Devlin
To:  Avery Bloom
Subject:  you don't know me"

My comments:  Note, the above cover is the only one I've seen on a book, but I found this illustrated cover that may be the Kindle edition cover?
     I read a book, an actual book, not on my phone/Kindle or audio!295 pages, all delightful.  I giggled and laughed out loud all the way throught.  Written entirely in correspondence between two 12-year old  protagonists, they begin as adversaries committed to breaking up their dating fathers, and of course their relationship grows into so much ore.  Clever and completely delicious with a wonderful cast of really well-fleshed-out characters and many wonderful settings.  An almost perfect book for every 12-year-old girl on the planet!

Goodreads synopsis:  From two extraordinary authors comes a moving, exuberant, laugh-out-loud novel about friendship and family, told entirely in emails and letters.
          Avery Bloom, who's bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City. Bett Devlin, who's fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve years old, and are both being raised by single, gay dads.
          When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends--and possibly, one day, even sisters.
          But things soon go off the rails for the girls (and for their dads too), and they find themselves on a summer adventure that neither of them could have predicted. Now that they can't imagine life without each other, will the two girls (who sometimes call themselves Night Owl and Dogfish) figure out a way to be a family?

36. Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith

Listened on Audible - in my library
read by Anthony Mark Barrow and Karissa Vacker
Unabridged audio (8:23)
2019 Delacorte Press
271 pgs.
YA CRF
Finished 4/4/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.06 - 882 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: England & NY State, then cross country from NYC thru Chicago, Denver, to SF.

First line/s:  "Mae wakes, as she does each morning, to the sound of a train."

My comments:  When I read the synopsis for this book I was quite excited because traveling cross-country is my all-time favorite thing to do, or read about, or even think about.  The book was a lot more than that.  It was full of emotion and thoughtfulness, family and love.  Two very different families from two different parts of the world - a girl raised by two dads and her loving Nana in New York; and a boy from Surrey, England, who is the youngest in a group of famous sextuplets who has never - ever - been on his own.  Once I let go of the idea that this would be an adventurous summary of the sights and sounds across the United States, I let myself become absorbed in the thoughtful reverie of these two wonderful young people..  It was a good read, although not at all what I had anticipated.

Goodreads synopsis:  Having just been dumped by his girlfriend, British-born Hugo is still determined to take his last-hurrah-before-college train trip across the United States. One snag: the companion ticket is already booked under the name of his ex, Margaret Campbell. Nontransferable, no exceptions.
            Enter the new Margaret C. (Mae for short), an aspiring filmmaker with big dreams. After finding Hugo's spare ticket offer online, she's convinced it's the perfect opportunity to expand her horizons.
            When the two meet, the attraction is undeniable, and both find more than they bargained for. As Mae pushes Hugo to explore his dreams for his future, he'll encourage her to channel a new, vulnerable side of her art. But when life off the train threatens the bubble they've created for themselves, will they manage to keep their love on track?

A Tale of Two Daddies – Vanita Oelschlager

Illustrated by Kristin Blackwood & Mike Blanc
Vanita Books, 2010
$15.95
40 pgs.
Rating: 3.5/4
Endpapers: Simplistic silhouette, two shades of deep pink
Illustrations: Afterword includes a description of their process!

There are many things I like about this book, and just a couple that I don't. I love the subject, of course, that a child of any gender can live a normal, loving life with gay parents. I love that the personalities of the two dads are not only discussed, but SHOWN in the illustrations. Only their legs, never their faces. Love it! I love that this wonderful child is such a free spirit. I like that the story rhymes and has somewhat of a rhythm. And that leads me to what I'm not so crazy about...the rhythm is off in many places, and sometimes the rhyming seems forced. But you can't have everything, right?

The protagonist and her male friend are having a back and forth question and answer conversation, that's how the storyline goes:

"Who's your dad when your hair needs braids? Who's your dad when you're afraid?
Poppa's the one when I need braids. Daddy is there when I'm afraid."

In Our Mothers' House - Patricia Polacco

Published: 2009
Philomel Young Readers/Penguin
$17.99
Rating: 5
48 pages
For: K-12
Endpapers; Azure

Told in the first person by the eldest of three adopted children, we watch her (she happens to be African American), Will (Asian American) and Millie (red-haired and freckled) grow up being raised by two mothers - Meema, a short, stout, pediatrician who loves to cook and sew and Marmee, a tall, thin organized fixer-upper who is a paramedic. Through 48 pages we watch the family grow, thrive, have fun, and love each other. It handles a neighbor-woman, unhappy with their relationship, lightly and well (because, unfortunately, the world has to deal with bigots and homophobes). This is a totally delightful story of a wonderful family and two mothers that will...and DO....do anything for their children.

Outstanding storytelling, setting, and illustrations, Patricia Polacco! You never disappoint!

A more comprehensive review than mine can be found at Library Voice (a Connecticut librarian)