The Best Boy Ever Made by Rachel Eliason follows transgender Sam on his journey from female to male, through the point of view of his best friend, Alecia. Alecia and Sam are high school students and country kids who are more comfortable with the animals than with a crowd of teenagers. They live in a small town in Iowa, making an already difficult situation even more so as Sam has to deal with small-town attitudes and stereotypes. I've read some of the reviews that said the writing in this book is terrible, but it is not. There are a few typos, but the worst mistake with the mechanics of the book is the switching from past to present tense and back again. That jolted me the first few times it happened, but the story was so interesting that I was able to overlook the tenses.The characters are written quite well and they are realistic - Sam and Alecia and their friends could have gone to school with me - and the situations they faced were genuine and relatable. I struggled a bit with the ending but I won't say more and give away anything. I truly enjoyed these characters, though, and would love to read another story about them a few years down the road. I really enjoyed this book though it was difficult to relate to Alecia at times, homophobia isn't something that comes naturally to me so to read about a character who harbours homophobic views for a good portion of the book was a little difficult. Some facts needed to be checked, homophobia isn't 2000 years old, a number taken from thin air (presumably because this is the age of Christianity). But it was a captivating read none the less, just wish Alecia hadn't been written as a "smart" girl when she clearly isn't that smart.
What do You think about The Best Boy Ever Made (2014)?
Overall a good read. interesting topic. not bad for YA and free
—britt
Not a bad story, though a little didactic.
—Sephraim
