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Boy2Girl Terence Blacker Books

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Boy2Girl Terence Blacker Books

This book is one of the few books about gender a teenager will pick up and like. Granted I had read it as an adult with a lens that is much more, refined then the target reader of Boy2Girl. That is not to say that if this book is read by more teenagers then the little box known as gender will change.

Also it is a fresh take on a gender-bender story that does not use many of the tropes a such a story relies on. I am happy it even exists.


Tags : Amazon.com: Boy2Girl (9780374309268): Terence Blacker: Books,Terence Blacker,Boy2Girl,Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR),0374309264,School & Education - General,Social Themes - Friendship,Social Themes - General (see also headings under Family),Cousins;Fiction.,Death;Fiction.,Schools;Fiction.,Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Cousins,Death,Fiction,Humorous Stories,Juvenile Fiction Boys & Men,Schools,Social Issues - General,Social IssuesAdolescence,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,Young Adult Fiction School & Education General,Young Adult Fiction Social Themes Friendship,Young Adult Fiction Social Themes General (see also headings under Family),School stories

Boy2Girl Terence Blacker Books Reviews

Matt is your typical thirteen year-old British boy, whose life is shaken up by the arrival of his American cousin, Sam. Sam's mother has recently died and with his father presumed to be in jail Sam is understandably angry at his life. This anger causes Matt's group of friends, who call themselves the Sheds, to reject Sam. In order to regain their acceptance Sam agrees to a dare of having him dress as a girl for the first week of school so that Sam can spy on a group of girls who are the Shed's enemies. Sam proves to be remarkably successful in his role as a girl. Primarily using humor, Blacker successfully examines gender roles through such situations as Sam receiving a training bra, or teaching the girls how to intimidate a boy by looking at him. Blacker chooses to use multiple narrators, some who only narrate for a paragraph, to further show how the same event can be interpreted in different ways. This style could easily have been a gimmick, but instead works remarkably well in furthering the story and the humor. The book's madcap conclusion, involving Sam's dad who has returned in order to get Sam, and the previously unknown riches left to him, will leave readers smiling, but also thinking more about how boys and girls really act, and how those actions are perceived.
At first glance, the premise of this novel reads like a silly, adolescent comedy film (think Sorority Boys, e.g.). But as you read into it deeper and more resonant themes surface.

In order to get into a gang of youths he’s offended, Sam Lopez has to play at being a girl for five days at the school he’s enlisted. The reasons are a tad convoluted.

Sam attacked one of the English boys who inadvertently insulted his father and, before they let him back into their crowd, he’s got to be a girl as penance. Also, the boys are engaged in an ongoing squabble with a group of girls called The Bitches, a petty war that’s mostly a battle of insults that both sides have been caught up in since they were all kids. So Sam’s got to play at being a girl, infiltrate the Bitches and learn their secrets so the boys can retaliate.

Sam is the ultimate outsider, an American who’s been transported to England. He doesn’t understand why the Brits don’t let the attack go; fighting is simply one of the ways American guys bond with each other. The politeness of the British is something he can’t handle and he retaliates in mean-spirited fashion—from the sloppy way he eats to his sullen, verbally abusive attitude to his repudiation of British living (according to him, everything English sucks)—and it’s wearing on the nerves of his English cousin, Matthew.

The events of the novel touch on a wide variety of issues sexism, nationalism, crime, gender reversal and culture clashes. Sam’s gender switch is actually the least jarring aspect of his presence in English society since only he and Matthew’s friends are aware of it in the beginning. It’s funny and startling to see the way he acts upon the English girls he meets. From influencing their fashions to the way they act around boys—Sam brings a jaw-dropping jolt of fresh air to his new English gal pals. The whole society is set topsy-turvy by Sam’s pretense, which is wholly convincing and discomfits the boys who initially proposed it as revenge.

The novel is told via the various viewpoints of everyone around Sam and the author is masterful at letting us into everyone’s heads. The voices are spot-on—they really do seem like different people with differing thoughts and agendas. We get to see how the various girls are moved, charmed or irritated by Sam’s behavior. Sam himself grows more and more “feminine”, becoming quieter, introspective and girly in his mannerisms, much to the puzzlement of the boys.

Sam’s growing attachment to both his male and female friends forces the reader to question just what is male and female behavior and whether both genders don’t have something positive to learn from the other. The girls grow more forthright in their opinions, belching and breaking wind without apology, speaking up more boldly in class. The boys discover that there’s nothing wrong in sharing feelings and that it can be a wonderful relief to let your mates know just what is going on inside your head.

The only glaring omission in this novel is the subject of Sam’s sexual identity. Sam’s sexual preference isn’t touched upon, perhaps because he’s a teenager still. The girls don’t ask him if he’s a lesbian and the boys don’t ask if he’s queer, even when he wears his skirt outside of class. (Then again, it could be typical British reticence that keeps everyone from asking “is s/he or isn’t s/he?”) Perhaps this is something the reader is meant to guess about, too. The whole novel raises questions but in gentle ways rather than as scathing social commentary.

The action snowballs riotously as, through a series of misadventures and mistaken identities, Sam becomes a “girlfriend” for three different boys, takes the helm as the leader of an all-girl band and has to dodge the return of his volatile ex-convict father, Anthony “Crash” Lopez, who’s sniffing around for Sam’s inheritance. Ye gads. This is one waggish novel, insightful, amusing and a genuine delight. It’s far more than the sum of its parts and head and shoulders above many an adolescent comedy movie. Then again, maybe it should be made into a teen comedy. Heck, I’d pay to see it!

Whether you’re American, British, male, female, straight, gay or bi, trans or “whatever”, as Sam would put it, “Boy 2 Girl” is the kind of novel that will appeal right across the board. Cheers, mate.
This is one of my favorite books of all time. But when it came in there were a few more folds in the book than I would have liked to be in there. But overall pretty good.
This book is one of the few books about gender a teenager will pick up and like. Granted I had read it as an adult with a lens that is much more, refined then the target reader of Boy2Girl. That is not to say that if this book is read by more teenagers then the little box known as gender will change.

Also it is a fresh take on a gender-bender story that does not use many of the tropes a such a story relies on. I am happy it even exists.