How to Be a Girl

How to be a girl is a moving, brave and incredibly vital memoir that will make you cry and lift you up, Break your heart then wrap a blanket around your shoulders because the story within these pages IS unconditional love and acceptance embodied; It does not get more real, more heart wrenching. or more inspirational than this memoir.

How to be a Girl is a mothers story of her journey in raising a transgendered child. While the subject is still relatively new to being recognized as important and acceptable, many stories starting to hit shelves are from the child's point of view.; While those stories are equally vital the knowledge we gain by reading a parents experience through the journey could not possibly be more relevant than is is right now.

Ask yourself as a Mother or as a father what would you do if one day your child comes at you with something like this:
"Mama, he said, "something went wrong in your tummy...and it made me come out as a boy instead of a girl. "Put me back Mama Put me back so I can come out again as a girl! "
This is M's reality as she knew how to voice while being so young. This is the outburst Mack was faced with and this is what truly set off the journey about to unfold.

We follow along as worlds feel shattered, new territory is explored, mistakes are made and learning happens every single day for both Mother and daughter. Together the path is paved from a raging storm to the gentle ebb and flow of daily life, of family life as it is for any individual.

As readers, we can not gain more from a story than this one. Readers will learn right along with Mack and M, and gather some tools necessary to avoid a situation that for some may be messy. Keep in mind while reading that this is real, this is going on not only for M but for millions of individuals, young and old around the world today. Let this story guide you to a place of solid ground,

A perfect accompaniment to the podcast, which if you haven't already been following you must do so now, This book is a start yes, but you will truly be missing out if you don't also give the podcast a try.
I do so love the visual aids scattered amongst the book that provides us one more thing the podcast can't quite achieve on its own.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for the advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion. I am beyond proud to promote this book and will be shouting it's title from the rooftops until everyone near me has experienced this one.

My reaction to How to be a Girl by Marlo Mack was to sit down to read it and not leave my chair until I had finished it. What an amazing journey they have had (and will have, I can't wait to hear more) and how fortunate I feel to have been given a look into their world. This should be read by everyone.

Just hoping this memoir gets into the hands of the right people. No one with an open heart will argue that M is an amazing, wonderful transgender child. At three years old when M tells her mom that something went wrong in her tummy and that she wants to go back and correct things, readers realize the enormity of the struggle transgender people face. In the conclusion, Marlo doesn't sugarcoat the reality that although strides have been made to protect the rights of the transgender, there are those who still pose a real threat.

*Book review* 4/5
How to be a Girl was an interesting take on Marlo's experience with raising a transgender child. I've read a couple of books written by trans authors talking about their experiences but this is my first written by a parent.

Marlo is refreshingly honest about how she tackled her child's admission to being born in the wrong body.

I'm so glad she was so supportive of her daughter, many transgender people aren't so lucky. I hope as many people as possible read this book and get educated on matter like this.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It is a mother-daughter story and also a wondrously ordinary one, not just about a mother’s unconditional love but also about listening to one another, learning together. It shows following your gut as a parent and a divorced parent as well as your mama-heart, and leaping into the unknown with a child—your child—as your guide. It taught me a lot of what to be grateful for as we have come so far as a society but still have so far to go.

how to be a girl is such a beautiful read. it's veryyy poignant and powerful and I one hundred percent recommend it.

Marlo Mack's novel is very reminiscent of of her podcast by the same name. Largely focused on Mack's process of understanding and supporting her daughter's transition, this book covers Mack's entire experience. She is honest and shares some of her missteps from early in the process. I would highly recommend this book to any parent on their own path with discovering that their child is transgender. Mack includes an excellent list of resources at the end of the book as well. I loved the quotes from M. (Mack's daughter) that Mack shared throughout the book. M is an insightful young lady that I am sure has a bright future ahead of her. Mature beyond her year.

This is a real good account of a family navigating their life journey, after realizing that their 3 y/o boy actually identifies as a girl. It's written by the mom & she does a good job of portraying the confusion, the fear, the seeking out of help, support groups, school & playmates........she is a wonderful advocate for her child. I think this mom did a great job of trying to find her way through this uncharted territory.....& maybe even starts making a bit of a map for others finding themselves starting this journey. I think this might be a good read for everyone, even those not actually facing this in their family.
I received an e-ARC of this book from publisher The Experiment via NetGalley, in return for reading it & offering my own fair/honest review.