Sunday Salon: Struck Blogless

Ten days ago, my laptop forgot how to connect to the internet. I've been informed that the only hope for recovery is to perform radical surgery--wipe it clean and start again. I've done the prep (saved all my files) and am just waiting for . . . I'm not sure what I'm waiting for, actually. The stars to line up correctly? A miracle? Courage?

In any case, blogging without the internet is difficult. Yes, I can write posts on my computer, transfer them to another computer, and post them. That's what I'm doing now. But that extra step kind of takes the fun out of it. Also, I can't remember my Bloglines password, so the only way for me to read blogs is to type in each address one by one. And that's so twentieth century! What's the fun in that?

I have been reading, though, and the book I finished this morning was almost perfect. Heh heh, I crack myself up. The book was Almost Perfect, by Brian Katcher, which I found at the library after reading a review on Life in the Thumb.

Logan is a senior in a small-town Missouri high school, recovering from the break-up with his girlfriend of three years, when he meets a new student. Sage is uniquely attractive, funny, and gets along with Logan's friends in a way his ex-girlfriend never did. Logan is sure Sage is the right girl for him, until he learns that, while Sage identifies herself as a girl, her anatomy is male.

Katcher presents readers with very "real" and likeable characters, without glossing over the difficulties and complications Sage faces, as well as the confusion Logan wrestles with. I have no doubt that getting to know Sage from Logan's point of view will be an eye-opening experience for many teens. Just as most things in life aren't black-and-white, people can't always be neatly divided into males vs. females. I'll be passing this one on to my son in a year or two, and highly recommend it for high school aged teens.

I want to say this was the best book about a transgendered teen that I've ever read, but I can't think of any to compare it to. Are there others?

by Alison Jakel