A review by startjpw23
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense medium-paced

4.0

This is the memoir of a family. Wayne and Kelly Maines are a young, married couple who are unable to have children of their own. They arrange with a relative of Kelly's to have a child for them. They will essentially adopt the child at birth. The relative ends up having twin boys. Wayne and Kelly name them Wyatt and Jacob. Wayne is ex-military, an avid hunter and fisherman, and a conservative Republican. He had a good upbringing. Kelly had a difficult upbringing. Wayne looks forward to the time when he will be able to teach the boys hunting and fishing. They settle in Maine. Pretty much from the time Wyatt became aware, he knew he was a girl in a boy's body. Since the title is called "Becoming Nicole", it's not a spoiler to say that Wyatt becomes Nicole. The story tells how the family navigates all that this entails. There are supportive people along the way. And there are people who strongly resist Wyatt becoming Nicole. It focuses on all the family members including Jacob. The book can be hard to read in points because some people and entities have no compassion for a child. Ultimately, I am happy I read the book. I learned some stuff.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings