A father for ten years, a mother for eight, and for a time
in between, neither, or both ("the parental version of the
schnoodle, or the cockapoo"), Jennifer Finney Boylan has
seen parenthood from both sides of the gender divide. When
her two children were young, Boylan came out as transgender,
and as Jenny transitioned from a man to a woman and from a
father to a mother, her family faced unique challenges and
questions. In this thoughtful, tear-jerking, hilarious
memoir, Jenny asks what it means to be a father, or a
mother, and to what extent gender shades our experiences as
parents. "It is my hope," she writes, "that having a father
who became a woman in turn helped my sons become better men."
Through both her own story and incredibly insightful
interviews with others, including Richard Russo, Edward
Albee, Ann Beattie, Augusten Burroughs, Susan Minot, Trey
Ellis, Timothy Kreider, and more, Jenny examines
relationships with fathers and mothers, people's memories of
the children they were and the parents they became, and the
many different ways a family can be. Followed by an
Afterword by Anna Quindlen that includes Jenny and her wife
discussing the challenges they've faced and the love they
share, Stuck in the Middle with You is a brilliant
meditation on raising – and on being – a child.
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