Riley is scared that someone will discover the blog and out Riley, but the community found there is too good to turn away from. The blog quickly gains traffic, especially after one of Riley’s replies to a reader goes viral when something unexpected happens. Riley starts an anonymous blog as a way to connect with “people like me,” a suggestion from Riley’s therapist. Riley makes two good friends, Solo (Jason Solomona) and Bec (self-named because of her prominent nose, “bec” being French for “beak”), though their friendships start out tenuously. It would appear that judgmental teenagers looking to figure out how they should categorize a person are all over the place. “Is that a girl, or a guy?” kids whisper in the hall. Riley hopes to start over at the new school, but is instantly called “it” or “tranny” and other slurs. Riley’s anxiety and panic attacks are still a constant, but medication and therapy are helping with that. Riley has recently attempted suicide and had a recovery stint in a psychiatric hospital. Riley’s father is a congressman, which matters because he’s up for re-election and needs Riley to attend fundraisers and help his campaign by not rocking the boat further. Readers who are unfamiliar with what being gender fluid means (or means to one person) will walk away with a pretty complex picture of this identity. We read the term “gender fluid” over and over again as we learn exactly what that means to Riley.

That fact is at the heart of every piece of this plot. This is 100% the story of a gender fluid teen. Well, that extremely thorough summary up there really hits most of the main pieces of this story.

From debut author Jeff Garvin comes a powerful and uplifting portrait of a modern teen struggling with high school, relationships, and what it means to be a person.

Symptoms of being human book