Is there one aspect of the book that particularly resonated with you?

The author touches on many themes throughout the book – immigration and racism, small town life, childhood friendships, sibling interactions, relationships between parents and children, gender identity, etc. Is there one aspect of the book that particularly resonated with you?

I'm an only child, so the sibling aspect isn't something to which I can relate. But I can relate with feeling like you don't fit in with your family, and that your parent(s) are stifling your personality. My political/social views are the exact opposite of those of one of my parents. It feels as though, on the rare occasions when we do speak, it's only because we're related and we have a sense of familial obligation. In choosing friends, I tend not to associate with people whose beliefs are so radically different from mine, as there's little we have in common. The same is true for my parent. When the crux of your fundamental beliefs are the opposite of someone else's, it's difficult to have even a lighthearted conversation about a movie or a TV show without offending that person.

I think one aspect of the book that resonated with me the most was that Peter would play with his sisters dolls and make pretend they were his own family. I was really struck that Peter did this at home, behind closed doors. And then it made me think that even though we may see the same people everyday, we have no idea what is going on at home. I could tell that Peter experienced great pain and longing to be something different. How many people struggle with this everyday? I desperately wanted him to have a friend that understood him. How much of the population is that alone or experiences that kind of loneliness?

Yes, many aspects resonated with me: small town life (I grew up in one), fitting in to groups at school (I always felt outside the group even when I wasn't), sibling rivalry, parents wanting you to be aligned with them (I was on certain issues and also wanted my freedom) and parental friction. I really felt for Peter and what he endured in the name of loyalty and trying to conform. I felt the writer did an excellent job of letting the story and secrets unfold in a quiet way.

I would like for people to share their favorite quotes from the book. I thought there were so many lines that caused me to stop reading and just cinsider the words. One of my favorites was on page 114 "it was the first mouthful after numbing starvation, the one that gives your stomach a voice." What are other great lines?

The aspect that resonated the most with me was Peter's feelings of not fitting in. Whether you do or you don't fit in; it is the feeling that is created inside of you --one that you are somehow different

Peter sought a career that allowed him to immerse himself, to lose himself in a creative endeavor. He filled his days in order to divert himself from what troubled him -- inability to meet his father's expectations, cultural biases, smalltown small-mindedness. It's a coming of age narrative I "get."

Not much in the book resonated with me personally. However, I felt the author did a good job of depicting life in a small town and children wanting to belong.

That feeling of not fitting in, no matter where you are, is so real for me. It has crippled me for my entire life and an the burden of trying to blend in unnoticed, not wanting to draw attention, is exhausting. I have depression and I know that feeling of so different and not realizing that there are others that feel just like me. My reasons are different, but when he met John and realized that there were others like him, he was just blown over. When I found someone going through the same thing I was, I felt the same way.

It has taken me most of my life (I am 72) to realize that no one is as self-confident as they appear to be. We all have that feeling of anxiety about fitting in and yet being who we are. These anxieties really resonated with me in this story.

I remember growing up in a small town and being the person everyone expected you to be. I am sure that if Peter and I had grown up in more cosmopolitan cities our lives would have been very different

No.

Peter's aloneness & playing with his "family" behind the closed doors resonated with me.

"Go and be reborn". The novel explores Peter's slow re-birth to become the person he was meant to be. His journey, the people he meets, his family, all contribute to his transformation. To read his story was very moving for me.

Yes, there were several things that resonated with me, but one that really stood out in my mind is how much time we as people spend wanting others to fit into a mold and how conventional our thinking is regarding what is "normal" sexuality and how a person's sexuality is too often all others see about a person.
Also thought this book showed how class and status can often affect how bold one can be in finding and accepting their sexuality.

I think probably the aspect that resonated the most with me was the fact that the siblings were all so different, and none of them really traveled the path laid out for them by their parents. There's only me & my sister, but we're less than two years apart in age - and I can't understand how we can be so completely different. My parents were pretty great about not trying to force us into a mold, but we both studied music in college -- and both ended up in completely unrelated fields. So I do have to wonder what kind of subtle influence our mother had over our initial career choices.

I felt for Peter. He felt so lost, torn and unhappy with being a boy. I kept hoping he could be what he truly wanted to be. I appreciated the fact his father acknowledge knowing Peter's 'secret' and thanked him for not dis honoring him. Peter gave of himself but I kept thinking how empty he felt all along.

I was struck by how all the kids except the lawyer were stuck in dead-end jobs. I was a teacher and never considered myself stuck, but I see a lot of my former students in that situation, and it makes me feel really sad for them

There is one scene in the early part of the book where Adele and Helen are brushing Peter's hair and their father catches them. Peter cries that he wants to be pretty like Adele. Helen answers, "You can't, Peter. You can be handsome like father or Bruce Lee." For much of his life, Peter believed his sisters.

Reene and I have the same thing resonating with us. Peter feeling that he never fit in. I am 62 and I always feel a little uncomfortable in a group feeling that I don't fit in this feeling has been since childhood. Peter really didn't fit in. If he had acknowledged his transgender status early in life he could have found groups to help him see he was not alone.

The dysfunctional family aspects were very well depicted as was the sense of not belonging and trying to fit in but not quite succeeding. I also thought that Peter's hair loss made it even more difficult for him.