Lori Duron

Raising My Rainbow is a groundbreaking book and should be read by everyone, especially parents and teachers. I particularly found the stories of schoolyard bullying to be upsetting. No parent should have to live in fear that their child will commit suicide some day because of what people say to or about them. Lori Duron raises vital questions about the way our current society pushes children into gender stereotypes so fiercely. It is life affirming to see how she and her whole family have show more grown in their understanding of their delightful son, who just happens to be gender non-conforming. show less

A book based on a blog isn’t typically my favorite format, but this author has a great tone and voice, and I think I would really like her as a person. Some people can just write like that – you get a sense of who they are, how they struggle, and how at the end of the day they just are doing the best they can to be a good person.

So couple that with the fact that I am for some reason drawn to stories of intersexed, transgendered, and “gender creative” individuals, and I guess I was show more bound to love this book.

Honestly, I stink at reviews, so all I can really do is tell you how I felt as I read it. I was encouraged that there are people out there letting their kids be who they are born to be. In this case, it seems like that’s a boy born to be a girl. But really the story is bigger than that. Lots of kids live in families that want them to be something other than what they are, and above all else, this is a story of how a parent slowly accepts and supports her children regardless of what she wants, her family wants, or others think about their decisions. It’s encouraging and hopeful and I wish the whole world would adopt this mindset.

I also felt a new appreciation for the struggles parents have trying to do the best job they can for their kids. There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all guidebook for parenting, and the author is honest about her struggles and mistakes. It’s refreshing and I would imagine takes the pressure off parents reading the book.

Will this book give you information you didn’t know before? Absolutely. Is it just about a gender creative boy as he cries for dolls and pink pajamas? No. It’s much more than that. It’s a lesson for all of us on appreciating others and even appreciating ourselves for the unique differences we bring to the world. show less

I was quite excited to get this book as an Early Reviewer for LibraryThing, and it lived up to my hopes. Written by the blogger of RaisingMyRainbow.com, this is the story of a typical American family that finds itself with a gender-nonconforming child. [I am going to use male pronouns for this review because that is what the author has done.]

The child in question, C.J., their youngest, had not been interested in any of the toys the parents bought him, until he discovered Barbie and the pink show more aisle of the toy store. Is he gay? Is he transgender? Is he going to suddenly like the color blue? Is he going to grow up to be a new age sensitive man? No one knows, and the question is how to help C.J. grow up happy, well adjusted, and true to himself.

This book tells the story of the parents as they try to figure out how to support their child in being who he is, while dealing with their own internal concerns about a boy who wears pink and loves princesses, and how to deal with the outside world. The author is honest about decisions they made that in retrospect were bad ideas, and about the joys of finding support, sometimes from unexpected people. The book is sometimes a bit uneven, but it has a goodly amount of information and tells the story well, a story that needs to be more available to more people, and is especially valuable for other parents in similar situations. show less

"Amemoir about raising a gender-creative child.

Like most parents, Duron and her husband had certain expectations about who their sons would grow up to be, but when their younger son, C.J., discovered and fell in love with Barbie, they had to slowly begin changing their ideas. C.J. liked dolls, his favorite colors were pink and purple, and he enjoyed dressing up in girls’ clothes—all atypical behaviors for a 3-year-old male. Having grown up with a brother who is homosexual, Duron was on show more the lookout for potentially gay behavior in C.J. It was only as C.J. continued to cross-dress and then announced one day to his father that when he grew up, he was going to be a girl, that Duron realized she might have a gender-nonconforming child. The author honestly and humorously expresses the delight and dismay her family lived through as they watched and adjusted to the increasingly interesting and sometimes very awkward moments of life with C.J. Like all good parents, Duron and her husband didn't squelch C.J's desires but encouraged him to become who he was meant to be, allowing him to have princess-themed birthday parties and "girl" toys from Santa Claus while ignoring the looks and comments of neighbors and the parents of classroom friends. As the first few years passed and C.J.'s behavior continued on the gender-nonconforming spectrum, Duron searched for information on how to safely raise an LGBTQ child. When she couldn't find as much help as she needed, she decided to blog about her experiences in order to connect with and help others in this same situation. Many decisions still lie ahead—for example, hormone therapy and/or surgery for C.J., as well as the need to address the bullying both sons have received—and the author tackles these issues head-on with intelligence and compassion.

A heartfelt examination of raising a boy who wants to be a girl." www.kirkusreviews.com show less