Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite

Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite by Lianne Simon Genre: YA Literary with Fantasy elements Release: September 28, 2012 Price: $5.95 Words: 70113 ISBN: 978-1-77127-157-8

Editor: Tanja Cilia

Line Editor: Judy Roth

Back Cover:

Jamie was born with a testis, an ovary, and a pixie face. He can be a boy after minor surgery and a few years on testosterone. That’s what his parents always say, but he sees an elfin princess in the mirror. To become the man his parents expect, Jamie must leave behind a little girl’s dreams.

At sixteen, the four-foot-eleven soprano leaves home school for a boys’ dorm at college. The elfin princess can live in the books Jameson reads and nobody has to find out he isn’t like the other boys.

When a medical student tells Jamie he should have been raised female, he discovers the life he could have as a girl. The elfin princess can thrive, but will she risk losing her family and her education for a boyfriend who may desert her, or a toddler she may never be allowed to adopt?

Excerpt:

I didn't have any clothes fit for an elfin princess, so my cousin Kaylah let me borrow some hand-me-downs one of the Fair Folk had given her. She shook her head as she held a white velvet skirt up in front of me. "I don't care if that old book says the Kirkpatricks are faie. Your face is bean shìdh, but the rest of you is brùnaidh."

At five I was only a little taller than my two-year-old sister Alicia, so the clothes were way too big for me. "Please, Kaylah. The brownies are elves too. They're just not as tall."

"All right, then." Kaylah safety-pinned the white velvet skirt to my slip, so the waist stayed up under my arms and the hem brushed the floor. The satin sleeves of the woodland green blouse hung down past my fingertips. She wrapped a silver lace belt around my waist twice and made a bow in the back. A spider-silk flower went on my shoulder. I sat down so she could tie the ribbons of starlight ballet slippers around my ankles. "There you are!" She clapped her hands together. "Princess Grace herself doesn't dress any finer than that."

Fancy clothes weren't all an elfin princess needed to be dressed for a party, so I sat facing my reflection and waited for my maidservant to finish. She stood behind me in the wall mirror, intense concentration twisting her face. I grinned as she pulled the soft foam rollers out of my locks and fluffed, brushed, teased, and sprayed until my hair was perfect. It wasn't very long, but the color was pretty, somewhere between ripe pumpkin and the gold of the earrings she clipped on my ears.

Face full of wonder, Kaylah held a glass vial before my eyes. "There's a river so high in the Mountains of the Moon that the water turns silvery-blue." She pulled the stopper out of the shiny bottle and dipped a small brush into it. "I'm going to paint your nails with moonlight. Sit still until it dries."

In the mirror sat a beautiful elfin princess—golden hair aglow, large emerald eyes, small red mouth, and rosy cheeks sprinkled with freckles. She was the happiest elf-maiden of the realm. I stood, grabbed a handful of white velvet on each side, curtseyed to the lady in the mirror, and spun around so my skirt would fly.

"Pretty!" shouted Alicia, one finger in her mouth.

"Both my girls are beautiful." Kaylah bent down and kissed my little sister on the cheek.

"Are you ready, birthday girl?" She grabbed my hand and held it high. "Your court awaits you, my lady." I spun around on tiptoes, a lovely ballerina, my shoes sparkling like stardust in the night sky.

Jimmy the Pirate swaggered into the kitchen, wooden saber at his side and a black patch over one eye. Alicia danced in her little pink tutu and a pair of angel wings made from coat hanger wire and crinoline. ... Kaylah wore a tattered pair of bib overalls, a gingham blouse, and an old straw hat.

They had all chipped in and bought me a present. Kaylah must have wrapped the package because the edges and folds were all straight. I pulled the tape off, careful not to rip the paper. Inside was a new Raggedy Ann. A squeal of delight burst from my lips, and I hugged the doll to my breast. "Sofie! I'll name her Princess Sofie!" I scooted over on my throne, set her on the seat beside me, and straightened her dress.

Kaylah winked at me, set my birthday cake on the kitchen table, and lit the candles. I blew out all five with one breath and grinned at Jimmy. They say you shouldn't tell anybody your wish, but he already knew I wanted to be his wife.

The pirate grinned at me, eyes flashing, and waved a saber over his head. "Yar! Cut the cake!"

Kaylah was the one who baked my birthday cake. I think she got the recipe off a Hershey's Cocoa tin. Anyway, she made the yummiest chocolate cakes. I cut Jimmy a ragged chunk and passed him his plate.

"Princess, you're making a mess." My cousin, gentle as always, cleaned the frosting off my sleeve and cut slices for the rest of us.

I was halfway through eating mine when I heard the front door open. Ooh! Dad was home early. Seeing the little princess would make him sad. My fork hit my lap, chocolate cake and all, and bounced to the floor. Arms trembling, I sprang up, thinking to run away.

"No, Jamie. It's okay. Today's your birthday." Kaylah grabbed my arm and gently pushed me back down into my seat. "He should see how pretty you look."

Kaylah was only twelve, but she'd pretended to be my mom ever since she was seven. My real mom home schooled Kaylah, and me, and my brother Scott every morning. In the afternoon, while our moms worked, my cousin, and Alicia, and I played together. Scott didn't hang around with girls, so he went to his pal Joey's or played kick-the-can outside the old schoolhouse on Polk Street.

I didn't have a magic ring to make me invisible, so Dad found me as soon as he strode into the kitchen. His eyes, deep wells of disappointment, locked on the elfin princess and sucked the life out of her. "What's going on?"

Kaylah stepped between me and Dad, saving me from certain doom. "It's Jamie's birthday, remember? The kids are all wearing costumes for his party. We were reading Old Scottish Fairy Tales and he wanted to dress like an elfin princess."

I peeked around Kaylah's waist, hiding Sofie behind my back. The air around my father seemed to crackle with lightning, but he only nodded and smiled at me. "I got you a new softball. After your party, let's play catch. Okay, sport?"

Testimonials:

”I’ve never read such a deep emotional book. . .”  Young Adult Book Reviews by Liz Winn

”. . .an enlightening, eye-opening experience. . .” The Paige-Turner

"So emotional and well-written" I'd So Rather Be Reading

"You’ll enjoy this book and, at the same time, you’ll learn a great deal about these marginalized members of our society" Shelly's LGBT Book Review Blog

"effortless prose and authentic characters” -A Battalion Of Words: Book Reviews...READ FULL REVIEW

”Simon takes great care with her writing and the result is a gentle novel about a strong girl” -Christi the Teen Librarian...READ FULL REVIEW

"Read this book!! It's awesomely unique, you have never read anything like it before and it's just wonderful. I loved it." -Lost in Y.A. Wonderland...READ FULL REVIEW

"The writing is strong, the characters are likeable, and with a love story to carry the reader through, everything comes together nicely in the end.” -Rainbow Book Reviews...READ FULL REVIEW

 "Lianne Simon is as much a poet as she is a prose author. This exceptionally sensitive book sings, and in making that choice in her writing Simon has created something far more than a study of gender conflict: she has created a hymn to all young teenagers who face some of the most impossibly difficult decisions and life choices imaginable." Amazon - Top 50 Reviewer - Grady Harp

About the Author:

Lianne's father was a dairy farmer and an engineer, her mother a nurse. She grew up in an environment filled with love and good books. Frail and tiny, she shared toys and clothes with a sister three years her junior.

While seeking answers to her own genetic anomalies, Lianne met a family whose daughter was born with one testis and one ovary. As a result of that encounter she spent more than ten years answering inquiries on behalf of a support group for the parents of such children.

Lianne and her husband live in the suburbs outside Atlanta, where she writes, tutors, and performs volunteer work.

Customer Reviews:

How many books have you read over the years you couldn't put down until you'd read the last line?rnrnThe first time I saw this title I knew I HAD to read it. Ms. Simon has written a book that will touch every person alive because I have never met a single human being who has not suffered with doubts about who they were born to be...or worse, who they think they were meant to be and who those who should love us demand we pretend to be for them.rnrnI am not going to steal any of the powerful thunder of this book by giving away the story of Jamie/Jameson, but I will share this...I was born to an alcoholic mother. Right after I was born they had to rush me to burn off blood tumors her drinking created on my body with dry ice between each of my fingers and toes and one really spectacular one across the right cheek of my buttock.rnrnThe scar across my butt didn't disappear..it grew.rnrnOne of my most hated memories from my childhood is when company would come over, my parents would call me out to where the booze was flowing, and my parents would make me turn around, pull down my pants and bend over to show the devil's mark across my bottom...proving I was born the Devil's Spawn.rnrnComing to terms with being "different" is never easy. Ms. Simon delves into the raw emotions so well I spent much of this past weekend in tears, remembering my own pain at not being accepted for who God chose to make me, and having to figure out this difficult world without the support of those who SHOULD have loved me.rnrnJamie/Jameson in some ways, was more fortunate because (s)he found herself, once her brilliant mind allowed her to escape into college at an earlier age than most young people, surrounded by people who finally DID understand her unique genomes.rnrnI guarantee you will not walk away from this book without feeling the same reverence for Jamie/Jameson's courage and capacity to give the deepest levels of real love that I feel.rnrn

Two words - utterly beautiful! I bought the book out of curiosity and found the loveliest story. Gender issues are dealt with sensitively and there's nothing freak show about it. Thank you, Lianne, for such a moving story. If you don't win an award for this, I'll be most surprised. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Set against the perfect backdrop of the most traumatic events in modern American Culture, Confessions of a Teenaged Hermaphrodite is one of those unforgettable novels that make you want to DO something. You just don’t know what.rnrnConfessions, set during the volatile Vietnam War era, is about secrets, but not ones you’d guess at. Sure, we’ve all wondered at the athletes that seemed pumped on testosterone, the effeminate men and women who we feel the right to “know” in the media; the giggling, the jokes…but what if that person is you?rnrnLianne Simon is truly the bravest author I know. Maybe sexual orientation is no longer the fad joke of modern society, but that doesn’t mean a person ever gets used to it. Simon gathered several stories from people she’s met and novelized the rarely discussed androgen syndrome. It’s not sexual orientation – it’s not a choice. It’s a fact of biology. rnrnHomeschooled during the sixties, Jamie feels like a girl inside – always has – but Dad wants a son. Mom goes along with Dad during this cultural frame of fifties Americana; but perhaps her dithering is one of the issues that causes so much confusion in Jamie’s life. The sexual condition was always there. Jamie is smaller than most of his/her peers and siblings. Early completion of high school let Jamie experience college life at sixteen, but living as a male just wasn’t cutting it. In the summer of a lifetime, Jamie is allowed to live out her dream of being a girl and knows for sure that’s who she is. Getting engaged to a man about to be shipped out who knows her story and loves her anyway, is just gravy. But summers end. Jamie obeys Dad and quells the woman inside – at what cost?rnrnThis unique story opens a whole new dimension in literary works for today’s culture. Not only is Simon a brave author in fictionalizing a puzzling and true condition, she’s a true word lyricist who makes Jamie’s story sing across society, time, and gender.rnrn