Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart

Gephart, D. (2016). Lily and Dunkin. NY: Delacorte. 

Summary: Lily and Dunkin are both kids who are very different form their peers. Lily is a boy who identifies with being a girl. She wants so badly to be accepted by her peers and is often made fun of or harassed by her classmates. Lily is very kind and treats everyone nicely. Although Lily wants to keep a low profile, she can't wait for the day when she is able to legally change her name from Timmy to Lily. Lily's day doe snot accept Lily and makes her life more difficult. Dunkin is a young boy is facing struggles with Bipolar Disorder. Dunkin has a hard time making friends as he just recently moved into town. Unfortunately the only boys who are his friends are the ones who give Lily a hard time. Dunkin in turn believes that this isn't right but he does not want to be alone and friendless, so he stays friends with the boys. Both students face many issues along their way. Lily asks for hormone replacement therapy but her dad refuses to allow it. Lily's friend Dare become distant and Lily believes that she is a lesbian, which she is but isn't ready to admit it to Lily. Lily also still dresses like Tim when she is at school and dresses as Lily outside of school. Eventually Dunkin meets Lily outside of school and does not recognize that she is Tim from school. Lily tells Dunkin who she is and accepts her for who she is. They both begin to truly understand each other and tell each other to accept them for who they are. Dunkin joins the basketball team and is told to dump Lily and Dunkin refuses accepting the fact that they are who they are and he likes her. 

Strengths: Lily and Dunkin deal with themes that are extremely prevalent in the time we are living in now. Lily is a transgender girl and Dunkin is dealing with Bipolar Disorder and other mental illness. The books does a great job of showing the struggle that can come with being different and how these young people navigate through life and friendships. 

Author Book Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07KniLJp7q4

Similar Books: 

• The Other Boy by M.G. Hennesey
• Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky
• Falling Over Sideways by Jordan Sonnenblick

Other books by Donna Gephart:

• In Your Shoes
• Death by Toilet Paper
• How to Survive Middle School
• Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen
• The Project Paris

LSSL 5385 Requirement Met: Read Lily and Dunkin