Birthday
A Novel
Readers rate it 4.1 (30 on Hardcover)
240 pages · Released May 21, 2019 · Macmillan + ORM
Content report card
Birthday parent’s guide: what’s inside
Violence
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
Birthday is a contemporary romance centered on two best friends navigating identity, first love, and self-discovery over six years, with one character's journey as a transgender woman at its emotional core. The book handles mature themes—including suicidal ideation, grief, and family conflict—with sensitivity and literary depth, making it suitable for older teens rather than younger readers. While there is some mild language and references to sexuality, the story prioritizes emotional authenticity and ultimately delivers affirming messages about self-acceptance, love, and courage. This is award-winning YA literature that introduces transgender experiences to mainstream audiences with nuance and care.
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From the publisher
"Lovers who surmount the odds have always been intense emotional fodder, but rarely have we seen a story like Birthday...true and raw, haunting and undeniable." — The New York Times Book Review Two best friends. A shared birthday. Six years... ERIC: There was the day we were born. There was the minute Morgan and I deci... "Lovers who surmount the odds have always been intense emotional fodder, but rarely have we seen a story like Birthday...true and raw, haunting and undeniable." — The New York Times Book Review Two best friends. A shared birthday. Six years... ERIC: There was the day we were born. There was the minute Morgan and I decided we were best friends for life. The years where we stuck by each other's side—as Morgan's mom died, as he moved across town, as I joined the football team, as my parents started fighting. But sometimes I worry that Morgan and I won't be best friends forever. That there'll be a day, a minute, a second, where it all falls apart and there's no turning back the clock. MORGAN: I know that every birthday should feel like a new beginning, but I'm trapped in this mixed-up body, in this wrong life, in Nowheresville, Tennessee, on repeat. With a dad who cares about his football team more than me, a mom I miss more than anything, and a best friend who can never know my biggest secret. Maybe one day I'll be ready to become the person I am inside. To become her. To tell the world. To tell Eric. But when? Six years of birthdays reveal Eric and Morgan's destiny as they come together, drift apart, fall in love, and discover who they're meant to be—and if they're meant to be together. From the award-winning author of If I Was Your Girl, Meredith Russo, comes a heart-wrenching and universal story of identity, first love, and fate. "Beautifully written, Birthday is an altogether singular contribution to the gradually growing body of transgender literature and, indeed, to mainstream literature, as well." —ALA Booklist, starred review
Shelved under
- Young Adult Fiction
- Young Adult
- LGBTQ
- Juvenile Nonfiction
- suicide
- Homophobia
- Young adult fiction, romance, lgbt
- Young adult fiction, coming of age
- Young adult fiction, lgbt
- contemporary romance
- Transgender youth
- Transgender women
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ISBN 9781250129840 · Macmillan + ORM