Laurie Frankel is an American novelist, essayist, and public speaker. She has written several novels including This is How it Always Is, which received generally positive reviews, despite stirring controversy of its subject matter of a child's gender transition. Frankel is an advocate for transgender rights.
![Laurie Frankel sits on a bench in a park. She has short white hair, and wears glasses.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Laurie_Frankel.jpg/220px-Laurie_Frankel.jpg)
Writings
editThough she had already published two novels to critical acclaim,[1][2] Frankel rose to notoriety when her essay, "From He To She In First Grade" was published in the New York Times' Modern Love column in 2016.[3] The essay, which chronicled Frankel's daughter's transition from male to female at age six, provoked angry reactions from many readers who thought allowing her young child to choose a different gender than the one she was assigned at birth was "ruining this country". "A lot of people wrote wishing for my death, and that of my kid," she told WBUR in an interview.[4] The essay was followed by the publication of her novel This Is How It Always Is in 2016. The novel, a fictional account of a large family of five boys, the youngest of whom becomes a girl, garnered Frankel rave reviews[5][6][7] and bestseller status.[8] Her fifth novel, Family Family, is scheduled for release by Henry Holt and Company on January 23, 2024.[9]
Advocacy of transgender rights
editFrankel is an outspoken advocate for transgender rights;[10] she has also written openly about adoption as a choice she and her husband willingly made rather than as a last resort for parents who cannot beget their own children.[11]
Awards
editShe has won the Washington State Book Award[12] and the Endeavour Award for Science Fiction.
Novels
edit- The Atlas Of Love (2009)
- Goodbye For Now (2012)
- This Is How It Always Is (2017)
- One, Two, Three (2021)
- Family Family (2024)
References
edit- ^ Marler, Regina (2012-10-19). "Fiction Chronicle". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
- ^ "'Goodbye for Now': Laurie Frankel's novel of love, grief and digital resurrection". The Seattle Times. 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
- ^ Frankel, Laurie (2016-09-16). "From He to She in First Grade". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
- ^ "From He To She In First Grade | With Jennifer Beals". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
- ^ Rosin, Hanna (2017-02-10). "In Transition: A Novel About What Happens When a Son Becomes a Daughter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
- ^ "This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
- ^ THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS IS | Kirkus Reviews.
- ^ "This Is How It Always Is". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
- ^ https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250236807/family-family
- ^ "Laurie Frankel on Transgender Protections and Bathroom Bills". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
- ^ Frankel, Laurie (2017-03-18). "Laurie Frankel: We adopted by choice not necessity". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
- ^ "Winners and Finalists 2006 – 2022 – Washington Center for the Book". Retrieved 2023-09-04.