Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They've been together forever. They never fight. They're deeply, hopelessly in love. When they separate for their first year at college—Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU—they're sure they'll be fine. Where other long-distance relationships have fallen apart, their relationship will surely thrive.The reality of being apart, however, is a lot different than they expected. As Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, falls in with a group of transgender upperclassmen and immediately finds a sense of belonging that has always been missing, Gretchen struggles to remember who she is outside their relationship.
While Toni worries that Gretchen, who is not trans, just won't understand what is going on, Gretchen begins to wonder where she fits in Toni's life. As distance and Toni's shifting gender identity begins to wear on their relationship, the couple must decide—have they grown apart for good, or is love enough to keep them together?
LINKS: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | The Book Depository
Today we welcome Robin for a guest post. Take it away! If I Won the Lottery…
Here are 10
charities I would divvy up the winnings between, in alphabetical order:
1.
The American
Civil Liberties Union. From marriage equality to racial justice to violence
against women, the ACLU is all about defending individuals’ rights and
liberties, and they don’t shy away from difficult challenges.
2.
Community
of Hope. My wife and I are just a few weeks away from having our first
child, and for her prenatal care, we’ve been going to Community of Hope here in
Washington, D.C. Their midwives are wonderful, and they’re also an amazing
nonprofit health care provider who does a ton of really important work with
underserved communities.
3.
Doctors
Without Borders. This organization sends health care workers into the most
urgent situation in the world and delivers medical care to people who would
otherwise have no hope of it. They’re amazing.
4.
Girl Scouts
of the USA. I was a Girl Scout from first grade up through college, and
I’ve never stopped being impressed by this organization’s work to encourage
girls to learn and develop new skills, and to be inclusive of everyone who
wants to be a part of the Girl Scout community.
5.
Joseph’s
House. Another local Washington, D.C. organization, Joseph’s House started
out as a response to the AIDS epidemic and now provides end of life care for
homeless men and women suffering from AIDS or cancer.
6.
The Lambda
Literary Foundation. A few years ago I was able to take part in Lambda
Literary’s annual retreat for emerging LGBTQ writers and spent an amazing week
studying writing in a workshop full of up-and-coming queer writers. This
organization does a ton of amazing things to foster the literary community for
LGBTQIA+ fiction.
7.
The Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights. More than 200 civil rights organizations banded
together to form this coalition that pushes for equality and fairness for members
of marginalized communities.
8.
The National
Center for Transgender Equality. NCTE advocates for laws that protect
transgender people from discrimination and helps members of the trans*
community with everything from updating identification documents to getting
fair, affordable health care.
9.
Planned
Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is one of the most important health care
providers for low-income women and men in the United States, and they also give
important, accurate sex education to kids and teenagers who often don’t have
other information sources they can rely on.
10. Point Foundation. Point offers
scholarships to LGBTQIA+ students who need help continuing their educations.
With the LGBTQIA+ youth population at greater risk for homelessness and school
dropouts due to discrimination, Point is fulfilling an essential need.
11. We Need Diverse Books. Okay, I was
only supposed to list 10 but I’m cheating because I can’t leave off WNDB!
They’re doing great work to support inclusivity in children’s literature, from
supporting internships to bring more diverse employees into the publishing
industry to sponsoring mentorship programs for up-and-coming writers.
I grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, and escaped to Washington, D.C., at the first opportunity. I now live with my wife, our antisocial cat, and our goofy hound dog on Capitol Hill and work for a progressive nonprofit organization. I spend my nights and weekends writing young adult fiction about queer characters, reading books, and having in-depth conversations with friends and family about things like whether Jasmine's character motivation was sufficiently established in Aladdin.My first novel, Lies We Tell Ourselves, was released in September 2014 by Harlequin Teen. It's set in 1959 Virginia, and it's about a black girl who's one of the first to integrate an all-white high school, and the white girl with whom she ultimately falls in love. My next book, What We Left Behind, follows a high school couple -- Gretchen, who identifies as a lesbian, and Toni, who identifies as genderqueer -- whose relationship is tested when they're separated for their first year of college. It's coming out in November 2015.
TOUR SCHEDULE:
Week 1:
Oct. 26: No BS Book Reviews - Q&A
Oct. 27: Addicted 2 Novels - Review
Oct. 28: One Way Or An Author - Fan Art
Oct. 29: Emily Reads Everything - Review
Oct. 30: Reading Is My Treasure: Top 10
Week 2:
Nov. 2: The Cover Contessa - Guest Post
Nov. 3: Good Books & Good Wine - Review
Nov. 4: A Book & A Latte - How I Write
Nov. 5: Kelly Vision - Review
Giveaway:
3 Finished Copies of WHAT WE LEFT BEHIND - US Only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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