August 21, 2023
Brookes’s debut memoir gives an honest, sometimes heart-wrenching, often heart-warming account of her family’s journey through the transition of one of her twin sons becoming the girl he knew she was meant to be. His entire life, Gideon’s parents knew he wanted to be a girl. He loved Barbies, princesses, and pink, all his friends were girls and he loved styling their hair, and as soon as he could, started wearing his mom’s clothes around the house. Meanwhile, his twin brother, Jacob, was all about sports and worried that his brother wasn’t “normal.” But when Gideon was eight years old and told his mom he thought he was a “transister," he and his entire family began the transition of Gideon becoming Gabriella.
An experience that few have been through to be able to share, Brookes holds nothing back, telling her daughter’s story from birth to nine years old. Not only does she shine a light on how difficult it was for Gabriella to be Gideon, and clear it was that she wasn’t meant to be a boy, Brookes gives equal time to the struggles the rest of the family went through; being honest about her and her husband’s fears, all while being loving, supportive parents, and especially how painful it was for Gabriella’s twin brother. Jacob makes it clear he’s going through the transition too, but not by choice.
Brookes teaches readers details they likely wouldn’t know without having gone through it themselves, while also creating a captivating story that pulls them in. She explains the process they went through from helping Gideon become Gabriella, the counselors she was taken to, the separate counselors for her parents and for her twin brother, meetings with schools, and how they slowly introduced the world to Gabriella. Every personal story shared is shown beautifully through the eyes of each person involved, leaving readers with important information while falling in love with this sweet family.
Takeaway: A mother’s moving memoir of a twin son becoming a daughter.
Comparable Titles: Amy Ellis Nutt’s Becoming Nicole, Lori Duron’s Raising My Rainbow.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: B+
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
Brookes describes mothering young twins, one cis, one trans, in this debut memoir. The author, a television journalist-turned-filmmaker, author, and activist, was thrilled when she learned she was pregnant with twin boys. Her complicated relationship with her own mentally ill mother had convinced her that girls would be way more trouble. Boys would be easy--or so she thought. Their individual personalities were apparent right from the beginning: "Jacob seemed soft and chill," remembers Brookes. "Gideon looked like he was ready to battle the world. In retrospect, he probably was." When, at the age of 8, Gideon informed Brookes and her husband, Mike, that he thought he might be "transister," the author wasn't surprised. Gideon had been gender non-conforming his entire life, playing with Barbies and requesting spa-themed birthday parties. Even before this confession, Brookes had attended meetings of a support group for the parents of LGBTQ children. She was fully prepared to be the best mother she could be for her daughter, who soon chose the name Gabriella, and resolved to ensure that she had as healthy and happy a childhood as possible. As the family moved into uncharted territory, however, growing pains proved unavoidable--particularly when it became apparent that the family member least willing to accept Gabriella's gender was her twin brother, Jacob. Brookes is a skilled storyteller, fleshing out her family's dynamic with the detailed prose of a novelist. Here the twins draw self-portraits on their bedroom wall: "Whereas Jacob had added a football to his portrait, Gideon had transformed his body entirely. Gone were his legs, and in their place was a huge green mermaid tail, with elaborate fins drawn in. Toward the top of the portrait, he had added a wavy mane of blond hair that offset his bright blue eyes." There's something universal in the author's tireless attempts to do things right: she handles Gabriella's coming out with the same maternal determination exhibited during earlier attempts to diagnose the children's learning disorders and get them into the best day school. People from families of all stripes are bound to see something of themselves in this tale. A big-hearted account of one family's trans story.
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