Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 11/01/2021 *Starred Review* “For as long as I could remember, I knew I was a boy,” a sweet-faced child (part white, part Black) tells the reader. But what will he tell his parents, who believe he is a girl? Why, his truth! After he makes his announcement, they reassure him, saying, “We love you if you are a girl, boy, neither, or both.” Next to find out are his grandparents, who accept him, too, without reservation. But with his new boys’ clothes and shorter haircut, what will he experience at (gulp) school? He needn’t have worried, for, happily, they universally embrace him. Not only that but his new name is everywhere—on his cubby, on the name tag on his table, on the lunch chart, and, well, everywhere! Finally, the denouement: he reveals that his name is, you guessed it, the same name as his beloved toy lion, Calvin! This is one happy book that reflects an idealized world, a way we all wish it could be, and that’s all right. Illustrator Harren’s softly colored, realistic pictures capture that world and Calvin’s look perfectly—he’s cute as the proverbial button. Finally, the coauthors write with gentle insight, for, as they share in an endnote, they have a trans child themselves. - Copyright 2021 Booklist.