Book Summary and Reviews of The Handsome Girl & Her Beautiful Boy by B. T. Gottfred

The Handsome Girl & Her Beautiful Boy by B. T. Gottfred

The Handsome Girl & Her Beautiful Boy

by B. T. Gottfred

  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Published:
  • May 2018, 432 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Two teens defy gender norms to discover their own kind of love.

Everyone assumes that Zee is a lesbian. Her classmates, her gym buddies, even her so-called best friend. Even Zee is starting to wonder. Could they be onto something?

Everyone assumes that Art is gay. They take one look at his nice clothes and his pretty face and think: well, obviously.

But there's more to Zee and Art than anyone realizes. What develops is a powerful connection between two people who are beautiful in all the ways they've been told are strange. As they explore their own complex relationships to gender, sexuality, and identity, they fall for the complexities they find in each other. With his trademark frankness, B. T. Gottfred delves inside both characters' heads in this story about love and living authentically.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. In this big-hearted novel, Gottfred explores the fluidity of gender and sexuality ... and the many nuances of attraction." - Publishers Weekly

"Suitable for fans of non-mainstream romances with larger-than-life characters." - Kirkus

"The potential of the premise of two nonconforming teens finding each other is overshadowed by the repeated linking of nontraditional gender roles with homosexuality combined with the sudden and convenient same-sex exploration late in the story. The result is a one-dimensional contemplation on stereotypical gender roles and sexuality that lacks a sense of thoughtfulness on a sensitive topic, even within the fun, provocative tone the author aims for. Grades 10 and up." - School Library Journal

This information about The Handsome Girl & Her Beautiful Boy was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

B. T. Gottfred

B. T. Gottfred is a playwright and director. He is the author of Forever for a Year and The Nerdy and the Dirty.

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