grl2grl: Short fictions

I wanted to love this book, I really did. Julie Anne Peters wrote the first (to my knowledge) young adult novel about a transgendered character, and here she is producing a series of short stories about queer girls. I never expected to be blown away by the prose. Her Luna is a book which is important for its subject matter, but which reads like a paint by numbers problem novel. Nevertheless, I hoped she would really add to the canon of clear young adult fiction.

In some ways, grl2grl does exactly that. Of course there are a variety of short stories about lesbian teens. Some are traumatized about coming out, while others are comfortable with their sexuality and only worried about their individual romantic dramas (why is she cheating on show more me? why doesn't she love me?). There is, as anticipated, a story about a transgendered boi, though it upsettingly ends in a hate crime. Another protagonist finds herself attracted to a genderqueer girl in an almost nonsexual story. In one of the tales, a character who certainly seems to be gendered as male is romantically attracted to his teacher; I admit I'm not sure what the story is doing in this collection, as all of the other entries feature protagonists who are either gendered or biologically female.

I know that no book can be every book. I didn't fault Luna for only including the experiences of femme MTF youth, as that book was about that one particular character and only needed to represent her reality. However, an ideologically-based book of short stories has somewhat more over responsibility, if not to portray all experiences positively, then at least refraining from making its sole representations of certain queer sexualities as negative ones.

Grl2grl presents one asexual character, and shows that her clearly dysfunctional lack of sexuality is the result of extensive sexual abuse at home. The collection also presents no bisexual characters, although there is one offhand insult about a former girlfriend who thought she was bisexual but was actually heterosexual. In a collection with such a wide variety of presentations of youthful female sexuality, these two negative portrayals stand out with disturbing prominence.

These short stories are not high-quality enough fiction to stand on their own as fiction. Their excuse for existing is to fulfill an ideological project -- and don't get me wrong, it's an important ideological project. But given this limitation, the negative presentations of asexuality and bisexuality worry me. Plenty of adolescents are fighting with non-heteronormative sexualities as they come of age, and some of those non-heteronormative sexualities include a lack of desire for sex or romance (difficult for teens in a world which constantly throws messages of sex at teenagers and adults) or desire for individuals across the gender/sex spectrum (equally difficult given the hostility of many in the queer community toward bisexuality). I worry that a reader with bisexual or asexual tendencies, given this collection by a well-meaning librarian will see herself as excluded even by the queer and genderqueer communities.

It's not that I think this book needed to present all forms of potential female sexuality in a positive light. I just wish that it had chosen not to be negative about those forms of sexuality it was choosing not to present positively. show less

My sister read this book, then said that it had it's interesting parts but warned some of the stories were boring.
I loved it. It may have had a few slow parts, but I didn't find it boring.
I thought it was written well and had a lot of emotion, which made it hard to put down but hard to read at times.
I'm not sure which was my favorite, but I love that "Two Part Invention" was at the end. I think it tied up the book beautifully.

Because it was lbgt, I'm straight, and hadn't read a lot of lbgt before, I wasn't expecting to relate to it as much as I did
I'd recommend this to anyone who's felt hopeless or insecure when it comes to relationships

This book is a set of short stories with lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens as the main characters. Some are heartbreaking, some will make you laugh out loud, all of them will make you wish you had more time to spend with these interesting and unique characters. If you like stories that don't finch at showing real emotions, try this collection of stories about dating, love, and finding yourself.

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Julie Ann Peters has already distinguished herself as a master at writing full-length novels dealing with GLBQT issues. With GRL2GRL, she establishes that she's also good at writing short stories with great characters and in-depth storylines.

The book includes ten short stories, all dealing with girls and their feelings of love, loneliness, passion, and betrayal. There's a story about a girl on the subway, the object of another girl's affection, and the strength it takes to gather the courage to make that initial connection. There's the girl who, although she wants very badly to join in on a meeting of fellow gays and lesbians, isn't sure she'll ever be brave enough to do so. You can read about an show more online Internet relationship that progresses quickly, and falls apart amidst lies and betrayal. Or you can read the story TWO-PART INVENTION, my personal favorite, about two girls who have always been friends, and the love that grows from that friendship.

Whether you're a lesbian or not, a questioning teen or not, you'll find something satisfying in these stories. They're heartfelt and wonderful, whether you read them one at a time or all at once. show less

Short stories about disaffected & odd & alternative teen girls discovering self & sexuality & life its ownself. Well-done.

A collection of short stories about teen girls and their relationships with each other.