title: How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity
author: Michael Cart
description: Grade 9 Up&mdash;This collection's refreshing perspective&mdash;that gay, lesbian, and transgendered lives simply are, as Cart states in the introduction, "as wonderfully various, diverse, and gloriously complex as any other lives,"&mdash;distinguishes it. Twelve acclaimed authors contribute stories ranging from sweet and nostalgic to lyrical and desperate, capturing the blissful/painful process of self-discovery. Highlights include Margo Lanagan's retelling of "The Highwayman" from a voyeuristic stable boy's point of view and Gregory Maguire's story told from different points in time, in which an 18-year-old Iranian-American boy discovers the impact a summer of accidental love can have on his entire life. The formats and settings of the stories are as varied as the characters. Graphic novelist Ariel Schrag's "San Francisco Dyke March" gives funny tourist observations, and in "Happily Ever After," Eric Shanower illustrates how love, not genies, fixes troubled relationships. William Sleator's compelling Thai character finds a dangerous love. Francesca Lia Block, David Levithan, and Emma Donoghue customize the epistolary story. Julie Anne Peters skillfully voices two teen girls' trepidation and ecstasy during their first sexual encounter. Ron Koertge's "My Life as a Dog" is an ingenious metaphor for coming out, and in "Trev" Jacqueline Woodson gently allows Trev to accept his gender identity. This collection, with some detailed sexual descriptions, is sure to find its intended teen audience.&mdash;<I>Amy J. Chow, The Brearley School, New York City</I> END
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  # Out in the Field
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Lane Hayes
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![Lane Hayes](../Images/image00135.jpeg)
  
  
  ![Lane Hayes](../Images/image00134.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2019 by Lane Hayes
  
  
  All rights reserved.
  
  
  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
  mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
  written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in
  a book review.
  
  
  This book is a work of fiction. Places, names, characters and events are
  either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any
  resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or deceased, is
  purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
  
  
  Cover Design by Reese Dante
  
  
  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted on the
  cover is a model.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For Zack...words can’t express how proud I am of you. Thank you for letting me
  be p