Description

By living with seven families of transgender and genderfluid teens, and drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews with the teens, their families, and the people in their communities, author Nico Lang paints a stunning portrait of growing up trans today. Unlike the whitewashed, monolithic vignettes we regularly see, Nico leans into the complexity and nuance of their lives. It takes mental strength for these teens to focus on schoolwork while being barraged with headlines about how their existence is an abomination or experiencing the deep pain of losing family after coming out. But Nico also documents the resiliency of their support systems, the daily moments of joy, and the hope that a better future is possible. From isolated rural Florida to vibrant queer communities in California, Texan churches to mosques in Illinois, American Teenager gives readers a window into the lives of Wyatt Williams, Rhydian Gonzalez-Herrero, Mykah Smith, Charlie Ahearn, Clara Carnes, Jack Crane, and Kylie Uradomo, seven teens who, despite what some lawmakers might want us to believe, are truly just kids doing the best they can.