All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will post on my site on May 16, 2019.
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Morgan and Eric are born on the same day in the same hospital during a freak September snowstorm, thus beginning their bond for life. Birthday is told from both Morgan and Eric’s point of view every year on their birthday from ages 13-18. Neither boy has had an easy life for various reasons, and Birthday shows both Morgan and Eric coming into who they will become, with Morgan coming to terms in finding her true self.

You can’t help but adore and root for both Morgan and Eric as they discover who they are. They face various individual challenges, including living in small town Tennessee where the only way you may get to leave is through a football scholarship and Morgan’s dad is the high school football coach. Everything about Birthday including Morgan’s anguish and Eric’s confusion felt real. The characters are so well written, yet Birthday is a very easy and quick read.

Meredith Russo brings these characters to life in a way she knows as she is transgender. As with reading If I Was Your Girl, I felt Russo put herself in the character of Morgan. Some of Morgan’s emotions must have been hers as she went through her transition. Thank you for bringing these stories to the page. They are important stories that those who are transgender may need and will help those of us who are not transgender understand what it is like.

There are some tough scenes in Birthday including a suicide attempt but the ending is a good one. There are touching moments throughout dealing with Morgan’s mom. I actually finished reading Birthday on Mother’s Day and that was perfect timing on my part! I would love to read continuing stories for Morgan and Eric.

I feel I can’t give the book a good enough review, this book is that important and powerful. Give Birthday a chance and read it on May 21st.

Many thanks to the publisher Flatiron Books for sending me an arc copy.