"Lily & Dunkin" by Donna Gephart
Gephart, Donna. (2016). Lily & Dunkin. New York, NY: Delacorte
Press. ISBN: 978-0-553-53674-4
The
first word that comes to mind after reading this book is: sweet. It deals with
some pretty heavy subjects and still manages to feel sweet! The two protagonists,
Lily and Dunkin (neither kid’s birth name) don’t seem to have a lot in common
at first, but as we read, it becomes more and more obvious that they are not on
the inside, what they seem on the outside.
Lily
was born Timothy and Dunkin was born Norbert. They both feel that those names
do not represent who they really are though and they struggle with that
throughout the storyline. The development of their identities is followed into
troubled households, stressful school situations and the offices of various
types of medical professionals. One struggles with gender identity and the
other fights schizophrenia. If you think about it, they both have multiple
people inside them and are trying to narrow their identity down to one. They
both have fairly supportive families at home, so that helps them out, but eventually
they both have to sink a little before they can push up from the bottom.
In the
end, Lily and Duncan realize that they need each other. Struggling with issues so
huge is a lot to try and deal with by yourself and it is downright necessary to
have someone who truly understands by your side.
I felt
that the ending of this, along with some of the negative events like bullying
and mental breakdowns, were a little bit downplayed. They weren’t depicted as
bad as they often are and because of that I feel that this book is more
appropriate for a younger, curious, audience. It won’t be emotionally damaging
like some other books on the same topics might be. Like I said, it’s sweet but
also very valuable for its mild experiences on the topics of mental illness and
gender dysphoria.
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