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Almost Perfect

Brian Katcher

Why we're reading this: This is a book about a transgendered teen.
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Jan 16, 2011 Mark rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult-literature, glbtq

"'You've never met a transgendered person, have you?'

'No.' Growing up in Boyer, I'd also never met a homosexual, a Muslim, a Jew, a Communist, or a New Yorker. Up until this year, people like Sage were just perverts who appeared on talk shows. And now I was friends with one, and she wasn't even as perverted as Jack."

Logan Witherspoon is a high school senior in Boyer, MO, a small town far from everything. He's just ended a long-term relationship with his first and only girlfriend, when he meets S "'You've never met a transgendered person, have you?'

'No.' Growing up in Boyer, I'd also never met a homosexual, a Muslim, a Jew, a Communist, or a New Yorker. Up until this year, people like Sage were just perverts who appeared on talk shows. And now I was friends with one, and she wasn't even as perverted as Jack."

Logan Witherspoon is a high school senior in Boyer, MO, a small town far from everything. He's just ended a long-term relationship with his first and only girlfriend, when he meets Sage Hendricks, a new student in his biology class. He's struck by Sage's outgoing nature, as well as her looks - she's red-headed, tall, freckled, and unlike any girl Logan has ever seen. Logan and Sage start as friends, and Logan hopes to move their relationship to the next level. But Sage is very secretive, and won't tell Logan much about her background, or why she's been homeschooled for the past few years. After they share a first kiss, Sage reveals her secret to Logan: she's a boy.

Logan is enraged, convinced that Sage deliberately tricked him, and now wonders if this means he himself is gay. But eventually he and Sage talk, and Logan learns much more about Sage's background, and her difficult decision to transition from the boy she was born as, to the girl she knows she is. Logan becomes Sage's best friend, confidant, and protector. But on a weekend trip to visit Logan's sister at college, he and Sage cross a line in their relationship, which will have serious consequences.

I was astounded by this book. Unlike the few other YA titles that deal with transgendered teens (Wittlinger's Parrotfish, and Peters' Luna), this one goes farther, in that it shows readers what it's like to be in a relationship, both friendly and romantic, with a transgendered teen. Sage is a believable, likable character, and we see all of the pain and confusion she's lived with in making this difficult decision, and the effect it's had on her family and herself. In Logan, Katcher offers a very honest and open teen voice - a boy who's vulnerable to begin with, given his own earlier breakup, and is now confused and searching for answers to questions about Sage's sexuality, and his own. Logan goes between acceptance to rage and back again throughout the book, which I think is probably accurate; his relationship with Sage is not easy, and the book reflects that. The narrative voice, while pretty simple, I think reflects Logan's mindset as he sorts out these answers for himself.

While this would be a tough book to teach in a classroom, I think it's valuable for teens to read. Not only is it a phenomenal addition to the growing GLBTQ list of YA literature, but it demonstrates how a relationship (GLBTQ or straight) doesn't have to be about romance and sex; sometimes it's just as simple as being a friend, and being there for the other person when they need you. ...more

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Sep 18, 2013 Library Lady 📚 rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya-mg, audiobooks, dont-believe-the-hype

I'd read the back of this book several times and thought I'd enjoy it. It sounded like my kind of book, an edgy GLBT book for teens. It began with such promise, and pulled me in immediately. Sure, our MC Logan was a bit whiny, but he'd just been dumped, so I excused it, especially since the book was sometimes so overboard with dramatics that I found myself rolling my eyes and laughing.

Up until Sage reveals herself to Logan, it absorbed me fully. Though all the transgendered info was interesting, ...more

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