Happy Families

Published |
Updated
 
0.0 (0)
839 0
Happy Families

On the surface, teen twins Justin and Ysabel Nicholas have it made: brainy Justin is making a name for himself in the world of high school debates and artistic Ys has been catching a lot of attention for her creative glasswork and jewelry. Surrounded by the love and support of their parents and friends, they seem to living in the most ideal of happy families. And then they discover a secret that threatens to unravel everything they have.

Seemingly overnight, normal dad Chris admits to his family his deepest desire: to wear women’s clothing and become known as Christine. Upon dropping that bombshell, he moves out and upends Justin and Ysabel’s lives entirely. Happy Families tells, from both teens’ perspectives, the story of how the Nicholas family comes to grips with their difficult situation and their relationships with one another. In the wake of the siblings’ confusion over where they stand with Chris/Christine, can they rebuild their family and live and love each other in a new way? Is their dad even really their dad anymore? What will people say when they find out?

During a long spring break stay with their estranged father, Justin and Ys struggle to make heads or tails of it all, all while making new friends, going through family therapy, and ultimately starting to understand and accept what has happened to their family. This is an honest and thought-provoking look at an unconventional family, and certainly one that will make readers think. 240 pages.

Recommended by Molly Crumbley, Librarian, Maryland, USA

See more of Molly's reviews at:  https://heyboobooks.tumblr.com

+++

“We  can work it out.  
We  can work it out.”
--  Lennon/McCartney


“Ysabel stares fixedly at the tabletop.  My  father smiles vaguely at the waitress, leaned away from the table so she can  bustle around him, but there’s a stiffness to his face.  The slope of his shoulders telegraphs hurt, and I look down at my plate, wishing I was hungry, wishing that we were just all here for real, being together like before.

“But  Ysabel has it right—we’re here to say something to each other.  And as the waitress bustles away, I decide there’s no time like the present. “’We don’t know you, Dad,’ I repeat quietly, looking up at him.  ‘No offense, but…I don’t want to know either.  Not…the Christine part.’  I shrug.  ‘I’m sorry, but…it’s how I feel.’

“My father tries to smile, but the attempt falls short.  His mouth twitches.  ‘Well, that was the risk, wasn’t it?’ he says finally, his voice threaded with weariness.  ‘I had hoped that you would never…that we would never be…’  He stops, and everything hangs, for a moment, in that silence, which goes on forever.  I shift my feet and pick up my fork, drawing away a piece of shredded lettuce from my taco and chasing it around my  plate.  Dad finally clears his  throat.  I look up at him, and there is a kindness and a
tiredness and grief in his eyes.  ‘I hope you both get a chance to know me again.’

“I  look away.  Dad wants me to understand this and be okay with things, but I can’t.  I can’t understand this…thing he’s doing.  I don’t want to lose my father in trade for someone named Christine, but he’s already gone.  I don’t know how to take that, or what to do.  I don’t know how to deal with this Christine person he’s left behind him.


“I  just want my dad back.”


When  we first meet twin teens Ysabel and Justin Nicholas, they are in ninth grade and  it is the “before” time.  They are very different from one another and both are very talented.  Ysabel is a gifted artist, creating glass beads and jewelry with a miniature propane blowtorch, a small kiln, and rods of glass.  Justin is the gifted  academic and freshman phenom of the debate team.


After  a few introductory chapters we are fast-forwarded into the following year, the  “after” time – after their father has been accidentally discovered (by his  father-in-law) to be dressing and living, when away from home, as a woman named  Christine.  After Justin has subsequently dropped off of the debate team and broken up with his  girlfriend.  

The story told in HAPPY FAMILIES, is that of Ysabel and Justin’s going to visit their father for a week.  It is their first reunion with him since he was “discovered” and subsequently moved an hour away from the family.  It is a week of honesty and tension and fears and frustration and a therapist and support groups – both online and in person.  It is a story of love and of hope and of family and how being true to one’s self can really make a mess of things.


“Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It’s  a mixed up muddled up shook up world…”
--Ray  Davies, “Lola”
Now,  I know what many of you are thinking at this moment: Here we go again, pushing  the envelope of tween literature.  Now we have to defend the inclusion in the collection of yet another book  about unnatural, perverse behavior that will cause outrage amongst certain  parents when they find their
kids reading it. And all I can tell you is that you need to choose to either be in the
light or be in the dark.  The exceptional quality of the writing here, the sensitivity and intelligence of the writing here, the  consistently positive nature of the story told here, and the extent to which the  story greatly educated me about a topic of which I was quite ignorant, without  ever once becoming didactic, makes HAPPY FAMILIES a book of excellent literary quality that is unquestionably worthy of and age appropriate for placement in  middle school and high school collections. I am so happy to have plucked this jewel from the stacks.


Recommended by Richie  Partington, MLIS, Librarian, California, USA
Visit his blog at: Richie's Picks _https://richiespicks.com_ (https://richiespicks.com/)

User reviews

Have you read this book? We'd love to hear what you think. Click the button below to write your own review!
Already have an account? or Create an account