And She Was by Jessica Verdi (review)

Dara has finished high school, and she wants to take her tennis career to the next level by turning pro. When she tries to get documentation for travel to tournaments, she’s stunned to see that her birth certificate gives unfamiliar names as her parents and a different last name for her. Her mother, Mellie, the only parent Dara has ever known, confesses the truth: Mellie was born Marcus, she transitioned shortly after Dara’s birth (and Dara’s biological mother’s death), and she changed their last name to separate from family. A furious Dara, joined by her best guy friend, Sam, decides to go on a road trip to connect with the family of the birth mother she never knew. This is a contemporary update of the appealing birth-certificate-reveals-a-secret trope, and Dara’s sense of betrayal is keen and understandable. Some of Dara’s journey is fairly predictable, though (like her move into romance with Sam), and the book ultimately positions her more as a audience for Mellie than as the protagonist in her own right. Mellie’s long emails to Dara on the road become a parallel (and implausibly literary) narrative as they relate Mellie’s journey from abused child to questioning adult to protective parent; it’s a heartfelt tale, but the book is surprisingly conservative in its message that Dara’s task is to understand and validate her mother’s decision (a task made easier by contrivance of character and situation). Davis’ Happy Families (BCCB 5/12) is therefore a more realistically complex take on a trans parent, but the message of love and support here still rings clear.