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Woodworking
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Debut Novel (2025)An unforgettable and heartwarming book-club debut following a trans high school teacher from a small town in South Dakota who befriends the only other trans woman she knows: one of her students.
Erica Skyberg is thirty-five years old, recently divorced—and trans. Not that she's told anyone yet. Mitchell, South Dakota, isn't exactly bursting with other trans women. Instead, she keeps to herself, teaching by day and directing community theater by night. That is, until Abigail Hawkes enters her orbit.
Abigail is seventeen, Mitchell High’s resident political dissident and Only Trans Girl. It’s a role she plays faultlessly, albeit a little reluctantly. She's also annoyed by the idea of spending her senior year secretly guiding her English teacher through her transition. But Abigail remembers the uncertainty—and loneliness—that comes with it. Besides, Erica isn’t the only one struggling to shed the weight of others’ expectations.
As their unlikely friendship evolves under the increasing scrutiny of their community, both women—and those closest to them—will come to realize that sometimes there is nothing more radical than letting the world see who you really are.
Detransition Baby meets Fleishman is in Trouble in this remarkable debut novel from an incisive contemporary voice. A story about the awkwardness of growing up and the greatest love story of all, that between us and our friends, Woodworking is a tonic for the moment and a celebration of womanhood in all its multifaceted joy.
Erica Skyberg is thirty-five years old, recently divorced—and trans. Not that she's told anyone yet. Mitchell, South Dakota, isn't exactly bursting with other trans women. Instead, she keeps to herself, teaching by day and directing community theater by night. That is, until Abigail Hawkes enters her orbit.
Abigail is seventeen, Mitchell High’s resident political dissident and Only Trans Girl. It’s a role she plays faultlessly, albeit a little reluctantly. She's also annoyed by the idea of spending her senior year secretly guiding her English teacher through her transition. But Abigail remembers the uncertainty—and loneliness—that comes with it. Besides, Erica isn’t the only one struggling to shed the weight of others’ expectations.
As their unlikely friendship evolves under the increasing scrutiny of their community, both women—and those closest to them—will come to realize that sometimes there is nothing more radical than letting the world see who you really are.
Detransition Baby meets Fleishman is in Trouble in this remarkable debut novel from an incisive contemporary voice. A story about the awkwardness of growing up and the greatest love story of all, that between us and our friends, Woodworking is a tonic for the moment and a celebration of womanhood in all its multifaceted joy.
12 pages, Audiobook
First published March 4, 2025
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July 16, 2025I wrote this book! I am very proud of it! Every time I went back to work on it, I found myself a little gladder to get to spend a few weeks/months with Erica and Abigail. I hope that you will feel similarly when you sit down to hang out with them, but if you don't, that's okay too. Not every book is for everybody.
What is most important is: I read this book in 2024, and therefore, it counts toward my 2024 READING CHALLENGE.
ETA: I listened to the audiobook in mid-2025! Really good, even if the author inserts herself in there in a way that reminds you why she's not a professional performer. The other readers are great!!
In all seriousness, listening to this was a very odd experience because it underlined for me why I don't like certain passages (I WILL NEVER TELL) and also helped me catch a tiny, tiny, tiny error I will fix if the book gets a second printing.
Also: I'm behind on my 2025 READING CHALLENGE, so this counts toward it. I don't make the rules. Goodreads does.
What is most important is: I read this book in 2024, and therefore, it counts toward my 2024 READING CHALLENGE.
ETA: I listened to the audiobook in mid-2025! Really good, even if the author inserts herself in there in a way that reminds you why she's not a professional performer. The other readers are great!!
In all seriousness, listening to this was a very odd experience because it underlined for me why I don't like certain passages (I WILL NEVER TELL) and also helped me catch a tiny, tiny, tiny error I will fix if the book gets a second printing.
Also: I'm behind on my 2025 READING CHALLENGE, so this counts toward it. I don't make the rules. Goodreads does.
April 4, 2025
Very likely my favorite book of the year. This was everything I want a book to be. A deep dive into characters, a story with real emotional heft, and a narrative brimming with plot. I never wanted to stop reading it. I cried a few times. I missed these characters when it was over. A++
It's funny because I know I have written a lot of reviews where I say things like "We don't really need more queer coming out narratives" and sometimes I approach books about coming out with skepticism. Do they actually have something interesting to say? Why tell this story when so many queer narratives are coming out stories? But there is always the exception that proves the rule, books that happen to be about coming out but that crack open into a much bigger story. And this is absolutely one of those. Especially because St. James smartly starts us when Erica is already out to herself. It is not self-determination that we are considering here, but the complexities of coming out late in life, especially when you are in a situation like Erica's--a high school teacher in a rural community where just coming out will possibly mean that you lose your job, your connections, everything. Especially when Erica has just blown up her life a few times already, she has to wonder if it is worth yet another reset.
Erica really tugged at my heart, but Abigail is what gives the book so much personality. Erica's sections are in 3rd person, but Abigail speaks to us directly, well aware that she has an audience watching her every move. Abigail is snarky and stubborn and contrary, she is going to put a wrench in the works any time she possibly can. She is deeply a teenager, and this generational divide between Abigail and Erica is part of what keeps the story interesting, what gives us all sorts of new plot twists, and what builds such a full narrative. It's also great to get to see the queer generational divide, how both sides see each other and misunderstand each other. And with trans stories in particular, this divide is striking. Abigail isn't the first teenager to transition, but she is one of the first who can socially transition at school and everyone knows about it and accepts it and uses the correct pronouns for her. She is one of the first to grow up with the understanding that trans people exist, with a set of steps to take. For Erica, this looks like strength and confidence. But the more we get to know Abigail the more we see that she has just as much inner struggle as Erica does, just in different ways.
This book is about so much more than trans-ness or queer identity. It's about putting on a play. It's about still being in love with your ex. It's about finding friends and how sometimes you click with someone even when it makes no sense. It's about politics and a small-town election. And it takes place in the fall of 2016, when we all know how things are about to change.
It is a really hopeful book. Even though it has this generational divide at its center, it also wants to show us how everything is cyclical. How woodworking--a term that describes how a trans person who can pass as cis will keep their trans identity a secret from everyone in their life, so they blend into the woodwork--is a desire that trans people had in the past for their own safety and that trans people can still have now to avoid the work of having to be trans and represent the trans community and be the vessel for both positive and negative attitudes towards the whole question of gender.
I listened to this on audio, which I really recommend. I love that there were trans readers for these characters, who really embodied them fully.
It's funny because I know I have written a lot of reviews where I say things like "We don't really need more queer coming out narratives" and sometimes I approach books about coming out with skepticism. Do they actually have something interesting to say? Why tell this story when so many queer narratives are coming out stories? But there is always the exception that proves the rule, books that happen to be about coming out but that crack open into a much bigger story. And this is absolutely one of those. Especially because St. James smartly starts us when Erica is already out to herself. It is not self-determination that we are considering here, but the complexities of coming out late in life, especially when you are in a situation like Erica's--a high school teacher in a rural community where just coming out will possibly mean that you lose your job, your connections, everything. Especially when Erica has just blown up her life a few times already, she has to wonder if it is worth yet another reset.
Erica really tugged at my heart, but Abigail is what gives the book so much personality. Erica's sections are in 3rd person, but Abigail speaks to us directly, well aware that she has an audience watching her every move. Abigail is snarky and stubborn and contrary, she is going to put a wrench in the works any time she possibly can. She is deeply a teenager, and this generational divide between Abigail and Erica is part of what keeps the story interesting, what gives us all sorts of new plot twists, and what builds such a full narrative. It's also great to get to see the queer generational divide, how both sides see each other and misunderstand each other. And with trans stories in particular, this divide is striking. Abigail isn't the first teenager to transition, but she is one of the first who can socially transition at school and everyone knows about it and accepts it and uses the correct pronouns for her. She is one of the first to grow up with the understanding that trans people exist, with a set of steps to take. For Erica, this looks like strength and confidence. But the more we get to know Abigail the more we see that she has just as much inner struggle as Erica does, just in different ways.
This book is about so much more than trans-ness or queer identity. It's about putting on a play. It's about still being in love with your ex. It's about finding friends and how sometimes you click with someone even when it makes no sense. It's about politics and a small-town election. And it takes place in the fall of 2016, when we all know how things are about to change.
It is a really hopeful book. Even though it has this generational divide at its center, it also wants to show us how everything is cyclical. How woodworking--a term that describes how a trans person who can pass as cis will keep their trans identity a secret from everyone in their life, so they blend into the woodwork--is a desire that trans people had in the past for their own safety and that trans people can still have now to avoid the work of having to be trans and represent the trans community and be the vessel for both positive and negative attitudes towards the whole question of gender.
I listened to this on audio, which I really recommend. I love that there were trans readers for these characters, who really embodied them fully.
July 26, 2025
I liked the spirit of this book and how it portrayed the complexity of the trans experience, as well as trans femme solidarity. That said, the dialogue felt a bit forced to me and the plot seemed more about delivering a message (that I agreed with) than subtle/nuanced character development, even though the characters were overall solid. Not my favorite from a prose perspective though glad this book is out there in its emphatic support of trans rights.
October 27, 2024
so. fucking. good! mad I can't tell everyone to read it RIGHT NOW because it's not out for six months. what a scam (jk more time for me to shout about it from the mountain tops).
Woodworking follows Erica Skyberg, a recently divorced English teacher who is coming to terms with the fact that she is trans. This realization is ushered in by the presence of Abigail Hawkes, a spitfire 17 year old trans girl who has come out to the entire town of Mitchell, South Dakota via a newspaper ad. Despite the fact that Erica is still grappling with her transition and the fact that Abigail is not very interested in a trans-based friendship, Abigail and Erica give each other the gift of being seen-- a gift that becomes a life-raft as the town of Mitchell heads toward an election.
Emily St. James has a brilliant and adept understanding of how to wield the form of literature to her advantage. Both Erica and Abigail's dead names appear in the text under a fog of letters, echoing Erica's acknowledgement that when her dead name is used it feels as though she is very far away. There are several moments where various characters are dissociating from their selves and from their bodies and St. James uses a variety of POVs to mirror this experience.
However, the moment this book when from really good to fan-fucking-tastic is the moment we get the POV of a third transwoman,
Ultimately, Woodworking is a beautiful story about trans lineage and community.
Truly could talk about this book forever and I'm mad no one has read it yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ARC from Edelweiss+
Woodworking follows Erica Skyberg, a recently divorced English teacher who is coming to terms with the fact that she is trans. This realization is ushered in by the presence of Abigail Hawkes, a spitfire 17 year old trans girl who has come out to the entire town of Mitchell, South Dakota via a newspaper ad. Despite the fact that Erica is still grappling with her transition and the fact that Abigail is not very interested in a trans-based friendship, Abigail and Erica give each other the gift of being seen-- a gift that becomes a life-raft as the town of Mitchell heads toward an election.
Emily St. James has a brilliant and adept understanding of how to wield the form of literature to her advantage. Both Erica and Abigail's dead names appear in the text under a fog of letters, echoing Erica's acknowledgement that when her dead name is used it feels as though she is very far away. There are several moments where various characters are dissociating from their selves and from their bodies and St. James uses a variety of POVs to mirror this experience.
However, the moment this book when from really good to fan-fucking-tastic is the moment we get the POV of a third transwoman,
Ultimately, Woodworking is a beautiful story about trans lineage and community.
Truly could talk about this book forever and I'm mad no one has read it yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ARC from Edelweiss+
November 18, 2025
There is a lot to like about this debut. It is attempting to do a lot of things with voice and perspective. I liked the structure for the most part. I loved the characters and the way the book shows the complexities and nuances of trans-femme experiences. The book is too long and gets bogged down in plot that holds the book back -- it has lots of fits and starts. Overall it is a super solid debut.
February 16, 2025
I know it's only February but I'll be surprised if this isn't my favorite book of the year because it's already tied with Dayspring as my favorite book of all time.
Woodworking is about a high school English teacher (Erica Skyberg) accepting she's trans at 35. She lives in Mitchell, South Dakota. The year the novel takes place is 2016. It's also about Abigail Hawkes, a trans student at Mitchell High as she navigates her senior year as the only publicly out trans student. It also involves the play Our Town and Mitchell Community Theater. I normally don't get a background of the book in my reviews but I am this time because intersectionality is amazing. I'm a gay man that accepted that fact in 2017 just before I had turned 35. I was born in Mitchell, SD and lived there until I was 12 (I only moved ten miles east); almost all of my family still lives in Mitchell or nearby. I was in the first production that Mitchell Area Community Theater ever put on when I was 11. I played Emily's dad in my high school production of Our Town my senior year of high school (albeit at Hanson High and not Mitchell). So I'm not Erica Skyberg or Abigail Hawkes but the intersections between my own life and theirs (along with someone else in the novel) made this excellent novel hit me harder than almost anything else I've ever read in my life.
In the author's note at the end of the book, St. James says that she didn't set out to write a political book. And this is not political. Yes, there are politics mentioned but that's just part of the story. This is a story about women finding themselves on their own, in community, and pushing back against the things that keep that from happening. That shouldn't be political. That's just life. But this is 2025 and far too many people have been fine making trans issues political when they're people simply being people. That's what this book shows. Life is already hard enough, especially when you're born in a body that does not match who you know yourself to be, but making a group of people's lives political is utter bullshit.
In my view, St. James perfectly does what she set out to do with this book. I love these women. I want to know them and call them my friends. I could hear Abigail talking to me and knowing I'd be cracking up at how she said certain things because I was doing just that when I was reading the book. I wanted to be there with Erica as she grappled with the changes she was having to accept. St. James did such an amazing job bringing not only Erica and Abigail but her entire cast to life that I feel like I know them. It helps that St. James wrote Mitchell in such a familiar way I felt as if I was walking through the town as the story unfolded.
My words are doing a crap job of capturing what this novel means to me. Again, I'm not trans but St. James' writing captures things so critical to human experience, at least my experiences, that I felt this on a deep level. I had literal moments where I had to stop reading because I was crying because I felt what these women were feeling. In my review for Dayspring, I said that it was a book that I felt I could only read and connect with after going through the seven year period of being a born again Christian, which I shed before accepting I was gay. Woodworking is different. This is a book that I wish a younger me could have found so I would have some blueprint, some light showing me that it's okay to not be what society says you are. That it's okay to know a truth about yourself that the world around you is saying is wrong. A younger me, had he found this book and allowed himself to read it, would have seen this as the power that it was. We know who we are even if the world doesn't always want us to accept it. Even if we sometimes have that truth buried deep down inside of us where we only catch glimpses of it, we still know it's there. There's strength in that. There's strength there that I've forgotten since I came out in 2017. I needed this book when I was younger and I'm glad that I have this book now.
Woodworking is about a high school English teacher (Erica Skyberg) accepting she's trans at 35. She lives in Mitchell, South Dakota. The year the novel takes place is 2016. It's also about Abigail Hawkes, a trans student at Mitchell High as she navigates her senior year as the only publicly out trans student. It also involves the play Our Town and Mitchell Community Theater. I normally don't get a background of the book in my reviews but I am this time because intersectionality is amazing. I'm a gay man that accepted that fact in 2017 just before I had turned 35. I was born in Mitchell, SD and lived there until I was 12 (I only moved ten miles east); almost all of my family still lives in Mitchell or nearby. I was in the first production that Mitchell Area Community Theater ever put on when I was 11. I played Emily's dad in my high school production of Our Town my senior year of high school (albeit at Hanson High and not Mitchell). So I'm not Erica Skyberg or Abigail Hawkes but the intersections between my own life and theirs (along with someone else in the novel) made this excellent novel hit me harder than almost anything else I've ever read in my life.
In the author's note at the end of the book, St. James says that she didn't set out to write a political book. And this is not political. Yes, there are politics mentioned but that's just part of the story. This is a story about women finding themselves on their own, in community, and pushing back against the things that keep that from happening. That shouldn't be political. That's just life. But this is 2025 and far too many people have been fine making trans issues political when they're people simply being people. That's what this book shows. Life is already hard enough, especially when you're born in a body that does not match who you know yourself to be, but making a group of people's lives political is utter bullshit.
In my view, St. James perfectly does what she set out to do with this book. I love these women. I want to know them and call them my friends. I could hear Abigail talking to me and knowing I'd be cracking up at how she said certain things because I was doing just that when I was reading the book. I wanted to be there with Erica as she grappled with the changes she was having to accept. St. James did such an amazing job bringing not only Erica and Abigail but her entire cast to life that I feel like I know them. It helps that St. James wrote Mitchell in such a familiar way I felt as if I was walking through the town as the story unfolded.
My words are doing a crap job of capturing what this novel means to me. Again, I'm not trans but St. James' writing captures things so critical to human experience, at least my experiences, that I felt this on a deep level. I had literal moments where I had to stop reading because I was crying because I felt what these women were feeling. In my review for Dayspring, I said that it was a book that I felt I could only read and connect with after going through the seven year period of being a born again Christian, which I shed before accepting I was gay. Woodworking is different. This is a book that I wish a younger me could have found so I would have some blueprint, some light showing me that it's okay to not be what society says you are. That it's okay to know a truth about yourself that the world around you is saying is wrong. A younger me, had he found this book and allowed himself to read it, would have seen this as the power that it was. We know who we are even if the world doesn't always want us to accept it. Even if we sometimes have that truth buried deep down inside of us where we only catch glimpses of it, we still know it's there. There's strength in that. There's strength there that I've forgotten since I came out in 2017. I needed this book when I was younger and I'm glad that I have this book now.
June 23, 2025
3.5/5
Yesterday, the US Supreme Court ruled against the federal rights of trans children, while keeping in place the surgeries, hormone treatments, and other gendered medical procedures, affirming or otherwise, allotted to (prospective) 'cis' children at cis parents' discretion. It's not a surprise, and the fact that the NY Times is trumpeting that this case will 'set the movement back a generation' says more about how that paper would love nothing more than to see me and my kind wiped out than any sociopolitical historical truth of the matter. For if you think that the court that ruled against abortion but never ruled against slavery has any legitimate control of the definition of justice, I'm afraid you've conflated the notion of legality with a safety blanket. To read this book in the midst of all that, then, a book with multiple trans characters and a happy ending is an exercise that certainly has more than a tinge of a hand reaching out from a raging river to grip the lip of a broken spar to it. And for a hundred to a hundred fifty pages, that was sufficient for me.
However, in the aftermath, I do have to say, this book is an exercise in liberal Americana. Sure, I'm a trans man, and much of this story gripped me in the very marrow of my being. However, I'm also white and live in the US, and this book, for all its focus on a very marginalized sector of this country's population, still felt noncommittally cookie cutter in its South Dakota setting. For South Dakota has the third-highest proportion of Native Americans of any state, and it seems like a wasted opportunity, if not outright negligence, to not factor that into the story, or at least give a side mention of the matter in the midst of (white) anxiety and (white) despair. Cause then one must ask the question of why South Dakota was chosen as the setting in the first place, rather than the LA that the author named as the location of the event that originally inspired this piece. If all there was to it was to rely on generic signifiers of white majority -> empty land -> hunting with guns -> conservative gridlock in order to save time on crafting characters and portraying community, it makes the hypernearnestness of the narrative exceedingly disingenuous. Perhaps not to the point of trans members of the military complaining when they get shut out of participating in the settler state complex, but of a similar breed.
All in all, I'm glad this book came out when it did, as it certainly served as a balm for my emotions. However, I'm not eager to watch the trans movement make the same mistakes that previous movements have when it came to presenting their whitewashed stories to the wider world. Sure, your white skin may enable your flight from one corner of a colonized land to another, depending on how your white politics fall out. But you're not free till we're all free, and flattening an entire state into a set piece so as to tell your 'oh woe is me :(' travail all the more uncontestedly is so 18th century.
P.S. To anyone reading this review in order to gather ammunition for your transphobia/'women's safety'/'think of the children': get fucked.
Yesterday, the US Supreme Court ruled against the federal rights of trans children, while keeping in place the surgeries, hormone treatments, and other gendered medical procedures, affirming or otherwise, allotted to (prospective) 'cis' children at cis parents' discretion. It's not a surprise, and the fact that the NY Times is trumpeting that this case will 'set the movement back a generation' says more about how that paper would love nothing more than to see me and my kind wiped out than any sociopolitical historical truth of the matter. For if you think that the court that ruled against abortion but never ruled against slavery has any legitimate control of the definition of justice, I'm afraid you've conflated the notion of legality with a safety blanket. To read this book in the midst of all that, then, a book with multiple trans characters and a happy ending is an exercise that certainly has more than a tinge of a hand reaching out from a raging river to grip the lip of a broken spar to it. And for a hundred to a hundred fifty pages, that was sufficient for me.
However, in the aftermath, I do have to say, this book is an exercise in liberal Americana. Sure, I'm a trans man, and much of this story gripped me in the very marrow of my being. However, I'm also white and live in the US, and this book, for all its focus on a very marginalized sector of this country's population, still felt noncommittally cookie cutter in its South Dakota setting. For South Dakota has the third-highest proportion of Native Americans of any state, and it seems like a wasted opportunity, if not outright negligence, to not factor that into the story, or at least give a side mention of the matter in the midst of (white) anxiety and (white) despair. Cause then one must ask the question of why South Dakota was chosen as the setting in the first place, rather than the LA that the author named as the location of the event that originally inspired this piece. If all there was to it was to rely on generic signifiers of white majority -> empty land -> hunting with guns -> conservative gridlock in order to save time on crafting characters and portraying community, it makes the hypernearnestness of the narrative exceedingly disingenuous. Perhaps not to the point of trans members of the military complaining when they get shut out of participating in the settler state complex, but of a similar breed.
All in all, I'm glad this book came out when it did, as it certainly served as a balm for my emotions. However, I'm not eager to watch the trans movement make the same mistakes that previous movements have when it came to presenting their whitewashed stories to the wider world. Sure, your white skin may enable your flight from one corner of a colonized land to another, depending on how your white politics fall out. But you're not free till we're all free, and flattening an entire state into a set piece so as to tell your 'oh woe is me :(' travail all the more uncontestedly is so 18th century.
P.S. To anyone reading this review in order to gather ammunition for your transphobia/'women's safety'/'think of the children': get fucked.
May 11, 2025
This is probably closer-ish to a four star and perhaps I will put it there eventually, but it wrecked something I liked so, so much that it made me mad enough to stop reading for a while and that's not a four star experience, so at three it lands.
I liked neither Erica nor Abigail, but I kept reading primarily because it was funny and secondarily because I thought having Abigail, who is embodying an authentic version of herself, narrate in first person and Erica, who has not yet begun to do the same, narrate in third person, was an extremely lovely and clever rhetorical device which made the writing really feel fresh and skillful, but then the story decided to quite literally bludgeon us over the head with a monologued metaphor about it and it absolutely ruined everything artful the book had been doing up to that point and bummed me out so bad -- are we really so bad at reading now that this was an authorial choice that needed to be made? that no early reader or editor said, 'Hey, maybe you should let your readers get this one on their own?' -- that I had to take a break from it.
I liked the complicated nature of this and the way it did not get less complicated as it went on, that it was honest about life in small towns and for the trans people in them, and that though it was often bleak, it wasn't without hope, but I'm just never going to recover from that rhetorical device being so badly fumbled.
ETA: Shocking, as always with queer books, there are people in the low ratings being fucking weird. In this case it's about the "inappropriate teacher-student relationship" that former teacher Angela Schaffer and others simply cannot "condone" which is lucky because you don't have to condone or condemn the behavior of pretend people in a book someone made up! And also because the book repeatedly (to the point of tedium!) points out that the relationship is inappropriate! I know it's a wild and crazy idea that fiction doesn't actually have to be moral to exist, but if you can't handle that perhaps you should stick to books written for toddlers.
I liked neither Erica nor Abigail, but I kept reading primarily because it was funny and secondarily because I thought having Abigail, who is embodying an authentic version of herself, narrate in first person and Erica, who has not yet begun to do the same, narrate in third person, was an extremely lovely and clever rhetorical device which made the writing really feel fresh and skillful, but then the story decided to quite literally bludgeon us over the head with a monologued metaphor about it and it absolutely ruined everything artful the book had been doing up to that point and bummed me out so bad -- are we really so bad at reading now that this was an authorial choice that needed to be made? that no early reader or editor said, 'Hey, maybe you should let your readers get this one on their own?' -- that I had to take a break from it.
I liked the complicated nature of this and the way it did not get less complicated as it went on, that it was honest about life in small towns and for the trans people in them, and that though it was often bleak, it wasn't without hope, but I'm just never going to recover from that rhetorical device being so badly fumbled.
ETA: Shocking, as always with queer books, there are people in the low ratings being fucking weird. In this case it's about the "inappropriate teacher-student relationship" that former teacher Angela Schaffer and others simply cannot "condone" which is lucky because you don't have to condone or condemn the behavior of pretend people in a book someone made up! And also because the book repeatedly (to the point of tedium!) points out that the relationship is inappropriate! I know it's a wild and crazy idea that fiction doesn't actually have to be moral to exist, but if you can't handle that perhaps you should stick to books written for toddlers.
April 28, 2025
oh man i'm so sad i'm done this 😭
June 13, 2025
my heart is very full. and i love every trans woman alive. don't let the bastards get you down, they're not going to win. they can't. trans and queer people are going to exist forever.
how beautiful.
how beautiful.
January 27, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Media Reads for this ARC!
Rating: 4.5 Stars rounded up.
Woodworking tells the stories of Erica, a 35 year old English teacher in a town in South Dakota, as well as her student Abigail, who is the first openly transgender person in their town. They form an unlikely friendship, based on the One Big Thing they have in common, and we follow their lives over the course of the next few weeks as they both try to figure out what they want – and need – their futures to look like.
This was a wonderful, extremely emotional read, but also one that I would personally say is told in an often light-hearted, very "inner voice" type of tone. You can really tell the age difference between Erica and Abigail when you read their POVs, which is very well-done if you ask me. I will admit that in the beginning I struggled a little with the very millennial writing tone that was chosen for Abigail, but once you've gotten used to that it feels like something to give the character a more real-life feeling.
There is one element of this I really would like to say more about but as I don't like putting spoilers in ARC reviews I will stick to what is immediately known; I thoroughly enjoyed reading from the perspectives of two trans women who are at completely different points in their lives and their transitions, and getting to join them as they figure things out together (and for themselves). I honestly really liked this sort of subversion of the "trans/queer elder" trope, with Abigail being the one further in her transition and publicly out, while at the start of the book Erica has only just admitted to herself that she is transgender. In general I felt like this book did a very good job of showing a variety of different ways of life for transgender women, and the ways in which they choose to handle their trans-ness. Obviously one book can never show the full spectrum of ways trans people choose to live, transition, love, but I do think that this is a very good representation of what the experience for many is likely like, although I did also enjoy the (somewhat) focus on older trans women who often transitioned later in life.
I've seen some other reviewers stating that they thought the friendship dynamic between Erica and Abigail was odd, but I find it perfectly reflective of the way that us people in the LGBT+ community will often latch onto others like us, even if our queerness is the only thing we have in common, especially when you live in an area where it is dangerous to be yourself, and therefore not many people choose to show who they are and who they love publicly. As someone who has had many friendships of the sort, this seemed like a very typical, mildly codependent and dysfunctional queer friendship, which is very relatable and was therefore enjoyable to read about.
As the world gets ever more dangerous for transgender people, but especially for transgender women, I think this is a very important read, and one I truly wish I could force every transphobe to read so that maybe they will see: Transgender people are people just like you!
This book is one with a message of hope, love, and how to care for each other at its heart. I truly can only wish that this book finds the right people, both those who need it to better understand themselves and those trying to understand those who are different to them.
Rating: 4.5 Stars rounded up.
Woodworking tells the stories of Erica, a 35 year old English teacher in a town in South Dakota, as well as her student Abigail, who is the first openly transgender person in their town. They form an unlikely friendship, based on the One Big Thing they have in common, and we follow their lives over the course of the next few weeks as they both try to figure out what they want – and need – their futures to look like.
This was a wonderful, extremely emotional read, but also one that I would personally say is told in an often light-hearted, very "inner voice" type of tone. You can really tell the age difference between Erica and Abigail when you read their POVs, which is very well-done if you ask me. I will admit that in the beginning I struggled a little with the very millennial writing tone that was chosen for Abigail, but once you've gotten used to that it feels like something to give the character a more real-life feeling.
There is one element of this I really would like to say more about but as I don't like putting spoilers in ARC reviews I will stick to what is immediately known; I thoroughly enjoyed reading from the perspectives of two trans women who are at completely different points in their lives and their transitions, and getting to join them as they figure things out together (and for themselves). I honestly really liked this sort of subversion of the "trans/queer elder" trope, with Abigail being the one further in her transition and publicly out, while at the start of the book Erica has only just admitted to herself that she is transgender. In general I felt like this book did a very good job of showing a variety of different ways of life for transgender women, and the ways in which they choose to handle their trans-ness. Obviously one book can never show the full spectrum of ways trans people choose to live, transition, love, but I do think that this is a very good representation of what the experience for many is likely like, although I did also enjoy the (somewhat) focus on older trans women who often transitioned later in life.
I've seen some other reviewers stating that they thought the friendship dynamic between Erica and Abigail was odd, but I find it perfectly reflective of the way that us people in the LGBT+ community will often latch onto others like us, even if our queerness is the only thing we have in common, especially when you live in an area where it is dangerous to be yourself, and therefore not many people choose to show who they are and who they love publicly. As someone who has had many friendships of the sort, this seemed like a very typical, mildly codependent and dysfunctional queer friendship, which is very relatable and was therefore enjoyable to read about.
As the world gets ever more dangerous for transgender people, but especially for transgender women, I think this is a very important read, and one I truly wish I could force every transphobe to read so that maybe they will see: Transgender people are people just like you!
This book is one with a message of hope, love, and how to care for each other at its heart. I truly can only wish that this book finds the right people, both those who need it to better understand themselves and those trying to understand those who are different to them.
June 5, 2025
"But a person's life is their own. Few sins are greater than trying to squeeze someone into the shape you require them to be."
This was one eyeopening novel.
The first half of the novel I found choppy and if not for this being a read for book club I might have not read the entire book. That would have been a mistake on my part as the second half was so very heartwarming, endearing and one of the most emotionally moving books I have ever read.
When the discussion of transgender individuals came up in the past I found myself not engaging, even though I consider myself a liberal individual and one who stands up for individual's rights.
This book opened my eyes to the decisions a transgender person has to make in their lives… do they change their bodies to match how they feel, do they continue to hide in their birth bodies, who do they trust to tell their secrets/feelings with especially in the early days of discovering their transgender feelings.
It was tough to follow along with the two main protagonists one in high school and one a high school teacher as their families, friends and their small town and see how people mistreated them.
I find myself tearing up as I write. In the author's acknowledgements we find out that the characters in this book were based on those in her own life.
It was a bit uncomfortable that the school teacher was being “mentored” through her transition by her high school student. But who am I to say what is appropriate for them.
This book was a great read for me and I hope you might consider reading it.
I truly wish that the first half was not so rocky as I would have liked to give the author 5 stars rather than 4 as it was such a great effort on her part.
This was one eyeopening novel.
The first half of the novel I found choppy and if not for this being a read for book club I might have not read the entire book. That would have been a mistake on my part as the second half was so very heartwarming, endearing and one of the most emotionally moving books I have ever read.
When the discussion of transgender individuals came up in the past I found myself not engaging, even though I consider myself a liberal individual and one who stands up for individual's rights.
This book opened my eyes to the decisions a transgender person has to make in their lives… do they change their bodies to match how they feel, do they continue to hide in their birth bodies, who do they trust to tell their secrets/feelings with especially in the early days of discovering their transgender feelings.
It was tough to follow along with the two main protagonists one in high school and one a high school teacher as their families, friends and their small town and see how people mistreated them.
I find myself tearing up as I write. In the author's acknowledgements we find out that the characters in this book were based on those in her own life.
It was a bit uncomfortable that the school teacher was being “mentored” through her transition by her high school student. But who am I to say what is appropriate for them.
This book was a great read for me and I hope you might consider reading it.
I truly wish that the first half was not so rocky as I would have liked to give the author 5 stars rather than 4 as it was such a great effort on her part.
July 4, 2025
I am so grateful for this book. It helped me to understand something that wasn’t my experience in a new way. All humans should read this book, to better understand the experience of our trans neighbors and friends. This book was a gift to me. It helped me better understand the experience of being trans in our world. I’m a better person for having read this and I hope more people read this book. This book does what good literature should do! Highly recommend in all the ways!
October 25, 2025
how dare goodreads make me read a “cozy”, “feel good” book to get the “heart warmers” reading challenge award? where’s the “tear jerker” challenge award? the “you will feel horrible after reading” award? i have rights, you know!!
honestly, it wasn’t even that cozy and feel-good (but still too cozy and feel-good for my taste). i found the characters very bland and the entire experience could have been cut down to literally two chapters from the third character’s pov which were the only ones i felt were worth my time and inspired actual feelings besides pure boredom.
i don’t think this is a bad book, it’s just an uneventful one, and while i like my books to be uneventful most of the time they still should have some vibes - and this simply didn’t.
honestly, it wasn’t even that cozy and feel-good (but still too cozy and feel-good for my taste). i found the characters very bland and the entire experience could have been cut down to literally two chapters from the third character’s pov which were the only ones i felt were worth my time and inspired actual feelings besides pure boredom.
i don’t think this is a bad book, it’s just an uneventful one, and while i like my books to be uneventful most of the time they still should have some vibes - and this simply didn’t.
April 25, 2025
This was a hard one. I really wanted to like it, but it just didn't work for me. To begin, Abigail was a rather awful person. I pushed myself to move beyond this because I think it challenged my expectations that transgender characters should be inspiring - and it was hard to be inspired by Abigail because she was such a bitch. It was good to confront this because marginalized groups should be accepted regardless of whether they're exceptional, productive human beings or not. I actually appreciated that challenge, but the part I couldn't get on board with was Abigail's relationship with her transgender teacher. it's great that they could be supportive of one another, but too many professional boundaries were crossed. No student should have a teacher's personal cell phone. No student should speak to a teacher as Abigail did. As a former teacher, I couldn't condone their interactions. There should not be exceptions because they were both transgender - they're still student and teacher and way too many lines got blurred and boundaries crossed. This is too bad because the book had potential.
August 2, 2025
Imagine having to hide yourself for fear of your life. Think about that, truly. I don’t know what that feels like. Reading builds empathy. You don’t have to understand gender identity in order to be respectful and kind to others. People who aren’t exactly like you don’t have to be a threat. They are just living, too. This is a very thoughtful, and thought-provoking read.
Four and a half, rounding up.
Four and a half, rounding up.
April 14, 2025
Don't know if I'm up to reviewing this right now, but I absolutely loved this book.
Read Harder Challenge 2025: Read literary fiction by a BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled author.
Read Harder Challenge 2025: Read literary fiction by a BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled author.
June 10, 2025
Humorous and heartfelt story. I felt like I learned something new along the way while enjoying reading this book.
May 10, 2025
"Woodworking" follows two trans women living in a small town in South Dakota in 2016. Abigail is a 17 year old who lives with her sister. She takes female hormones and views herself as a teen aged girl. Erica is Abigail's 35 year old English teacher who is closeted with regards to her gender identity. She presents to the outside world as a 6 foot 2 inch man, known to her students as Mr. Skyberg.
Both Abigail and Erica are in the process of transitioning. The author goes into detail about what this means. Abigail is bolder and more reckless. Her parents are evangelical Christians who cannot countenance their son Justin (AKA Abigail) as female. They think that Abigail needs to be forced to be male. Much of the small town agrees with them. Abigail pushes every constraint which gets in her way, while being fully a teen. She manages to dress in a feminine way and has a boyfriend who thinks she's hot. She peppers her speech with f-bombs. Her outside demeanor is tough, while hiding the caring and sensitive sides of herself.
Erica AKA Skyborg is hesitant to transition. As a man, she is accepted in her community. Erica knows that her career as a teacher would be put into jeopardy should she transition. Yet, she feels miserable living as a man and hiding her true self-identity. Erica first approaches Abigail in order to meet and talk with someone who is like herself. The two form an unlikely friendship. Erica's first outward step of transitioning is wearing pink nail polish to school, a very brave act.
My Reactions: Trans is a word that is thrown around a lot in today's world. The author describes in a comprehensive way what is involved in transitioning. She herself is a trans woman. I found the novel to be ground breaking. The story is told with warmth, humor and honesty. I thought it was a wonderful book!
Rating: All the stars.
Here is a link to the author discussing her book in a podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Both Abigail and Erica are in the process of transitioning. The author goes into detail about what this means. Abigail is bolder and more reckless. Her parents are evangelical Christians who cannot countenance their son Justin (AKA Abigail) as female. They think that Abigail needs to be forced to be male. Much of the small town agrees with them. Abigail pushes every constraint which gets in her way, while being fully a teen. She manages to dress in a feminine way and has a boyfriend who thinks she's hot. She peppers her speech with f-bombs. Her outside demeanor is tough, while hiding the caring and sensitive sides of herself.
Erica AKA Skyborg is hesitant to transition. As a man, she is accepted in her community. Erica knows that her career as a teacher would be put into jeopardy should she transition. Yet, she feels miserable living as a man and hiding her true self-identity. Erica first approaches Abigail in order to meet and talk with someone who is like herself. The two form an unlikely friendship. Erica's first outward step of transitioning is wearing pink nail polish to school, a very brave act.
My Reactions: Trans is a word that is thrown around a lot in today's world. The author describes in a comprehensive way what is involved in transitioning. She herself is a trans woman. I found the novel to be ground breaking. The story is told with warmth, humor and honesty. I thought it was a wonderful book!
Rating: All the stars.
Here is a link to the author discussing her book in a podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
April 7, 2025
I finished this yesterday, and I still can't come up with an adequate review. Woodworking is a story about trans women of different generations (primarily Abigail and Ericka) coming together to support one another. It takes place in a very conservative area of South Dakota, amidst both a local election in which trans people are being targeted, and the presidential race of 2016.
I don't know how St. James managed this. It is so tender and touching, and also hysterically funny. She writes the teenagers so perfectly that I actually did a deep dive on her to see if she was a high school teacher! She gets it all: the painful insecurity and vulnerability, the earnestness, the confusion, and the utter eye-rolling derisiveness of anyone trying to love them, while at the same desperately needing that love. For some of these kids, and Abigail in particular, there are precious added layers to this.
Somehow, while being incredibly empathetic, heartbreaking, and eye-opening, it is not heavy handed. It's a story about people wanting to live their lives authentically, and how for some, that means losing and giving up so much, and experiencing so much hurt, in order to gain their true selves. All while asking the question- and why are people so threatened by that?
This book is full of grace, love, loyalty, mistakes, and good humor. It's my top contemporary fiction book of the year, and I cannot possibly more highly recommend it. And note- the audio is perfection. I can't imagine experiencing Abigail's voice any other way.
I don't know how St. James managed this. It is so tender and touching, and also hysterically funny. She writes the teenagers so perfectly that I actually did a deep dive on her to see if she was a high school teacher! She gets it all: the painful insecurity and vulnerability, the earnestness, the confusion, and the utter eye-rolling derisiveness of anyone trying to love them, while at the same desperately needing that love. For some of these kids, and Abigail in particular, there are precious added layers to this.
Somehow, while being incredibly empathetic, heartbreaking, and eye-opening, it is not heavy handed. It's a story about people wanting to live their lives authentically, and how for some, that means losing and giving up so much, and experiencing so much hurt, in order to gain their true selves. All while asking the question- and why are people so threatened by that?
This book is full of grace, love, loyalty, mistakes, and good humor. It's my top contemporary fiction book of the year, and I cannot possibly more highly recommend it. And note- the audio is perfection. I can't imagine experiencing Abigail's voice any other way.
November 21, 2025
Unfortunately I think the people who would get the most out of this book will never read it, which is a real fucking paradox
May 17, 2025
Though written with a great deal of heart, the writing of this novel skews too YA for my taste. The drama level is always very high, the characterization not very nuanced.
I was longing for the complexity, depth, and quality of writing that I found in This Body I Wore: A Memoir - and recommend to those who wish to read about the life journey of a trans woman.
I was longing for the complexity, depth, and quality of writing that I found in This Body I Wore: A Memoir - and recommend to those who wish to read about the life journey of a trans woman.
May 24, 2025
I need to calm down, been crying for the last half hour of reading the book.
This is for sure my favorite piece of Emily St. James's writing, even if I've been reading her work in one form or another for the past 15 years (okay, haven't seen the Yellowjackets episodes yet, because I read too much, lol). I can't say how much I loved this and how it soothed my heart (and trust me, my heart needs a lot of soothing).
Woodworking is that book that you know you will love from the very beginning, and oh boy, you really do, and it holds so many things you love inside that you are not even expecting! It is super messy (yes!!), but somehow very satisfying, the writing is beautiful and alllll of the characters are great. For real! There are so many of them. Starting with Abigail, who is the type of character I'd protect at all costs, Erica, Megan, Constance, Brooke, Helen, Jennifer, even sweet boy Caleb. I just really loved all these people showing up for each other?!?! It was so nice to see a gesture like holding out your palms for someone to meet them with theirs move from character to character, to show how love and support is learned and spread.
Also, one of my favorite things about this book is what Emily St. James does with narrative voice, perspective and POV. I will not say any more about it, because I loved how it hit for me when it happened, but fuck yeah, brilliant.
I will stop here, cause I'm a bit emotionally drained - I felt so much while reading this. Cannot wait to discuss tomorrow at queer book club!
This is for sure my favorite piece of Emily St. James's writing, even if I've been reading her work in one form or another for the past 15 years (okay, haven't seen the Yellowjackets episodes yet, because I read too much, lol). I can't say how much I loved this and how it soothed my heart (and trust me, my heart needs a lot of soothing).
Woodworking is that book that you know you will love from the very beginning, and oh boy, you really do, and it holds so many things you love inside that you are not even expecting! It is super messy (yes!!), but somehow very satisfying, the writing is beautiful and alllll of the characters are great. For real! There are so many of them. Starting with Abigail, who is the type of character I'd protect at all costs, Erica, Megan, Constance, Brooke, Helen, Jennifer, even sweet boy Caleb. I just really loved all these people showing up for each other?!?! It was so nice to see a gesture like holding out your palms for someone to meet them with theirs move from character to character, to show how love and support is learned and spread.
Also, one of my favorite things about this book is what Emily St. James does with narrative voice, perspective and POV. I will not say any more about it, because I loved how it hit for me when it happened, but fuck yeah, brilliant.
I will stop here, cause I'm a bit emotionally drained - I felt so much while reading this. Cannot wait to discuss tomorrow at queer book club!
December 6, 2024
*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*
"Woodworking" is a life-affirming book about trans people. Erika, a mid 30s closeted trans English teacher befriends her trans student Abigail in small town South Dakota. Both have to navigate (family) relationships and their identities so many political forces seek to destroy. It's a celebration of womanhood (yes trans women are women) and friendship as well as found family.
However, I found some of the choices a bit weird. Even though the story never went in that direction, the 'friendship' between a teacher and a student on such a personal level made me uncomfortable. It plays into the fears and narratives of transphobic people. I also absolutely hated Erika's relationship with her pregnant ex-wife (now newly married) and also found that the story of the two of them was super problematic. This is why it is only a 3.5 star rating from me. I really didn't like Erika being so needy when it comes to Abigail & I found Erika's relationship with her ex-wife terrible. I am pro-abortion, but the entire storyline felt overly dramatic and did not convince me at all. In general, the relationships in the book could've been handled with more nuance. They were sometimes a bit extreme.
I liked how the book played with the idea of woodworking & that queer lives are not as obvious as people might think. That was sweet.
"Woodworking" is a life-affirming book about trans people. Erika, a mid 30s closeted trans English teacher befriends her trans student Abigail in small town South Dakota. Both have to navigate (family) relationships and their identities so many political forces seek to destroy. It's a celebration of womanhood (yes trans women are women) and friendship as well as found family.
However, I found some of the choices a bit weird. Even though the story never went in that direction, the 'friendship' between a teacher and a student on such a personal level made me uncomfortable. It plays into the fears and narratives of transphobic people. I also absolutely hated Erika's relationship with her pregnant ex-wife (now newly married) and also found that the story of the two of them was super problematic. This is why it is only a 3.5 star rating from me. I really didn't like Erika being so needy when it comes to Abigail & I found Erika's relationship with her ex-wife terrible. I am pro-abortion, but the entire storyline felt overly dramatic and did not convince me at all. In general, the relationships in the book could've been handled with more nuance. They were sometimes a bit extreme.
I liked how the book played with the idea of woodworking & that queer lives are not as obvious as people might think. That was sweet.
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July 14, 2025
A look at the lives of three trans women in 2015, when the hopes of a woman president were high.
It's going to be hard for me to rate this one, as it's such an intense slice of life/coming of self novel about Erica, a freshly divorced teacher coming to terms with her trans identity, and Abigail, the only other openly trans woman (or trans person at all) at her school. The issue is that Abigail is a student.
Anywho, this is a lovely book about trans solidarity and women supporting other women.
The horrible thing is that life for trans people, particularly trans girls like Abigail, has gotten a LOT worse since 2015.
It's going to be hard for me to rate this one, as it's such an intense slice of life/coming of self novel about Erica, a freshly divorced teacher coming to terms with her trans identity, and Abigail, the only other openly trans woman (or trans person at all) at her school. The issue is that Abigail is a student.
Anywho, this is a lovely book about trans solidarity and women supporting other women.
The horrible thing is that life for trans people, particularly trans girls like Abigail, has gotten a LOT worse since 2015.
June 30, 2025
4.5 stars
Okay I don't even remember how I stumbled upon this book, but I am SO glad I did because this was easily one of the best reading experiences I've had all year and it's exactly what my heart and soul needed at the moment. So powerful, so funny, so real, so honest, so big-hearted, and so loudly and gloriously queer!!
The entire plot can basically be summed up as: a struggling (and closeted to the world) trans high school teacher from a small-town in South Dakota befriends the only other trans woman in her life, who just so happens to be one of the most bold, snarky and audacious students at her school. And you know what, I was SO here for all the drama and beautiful messiness that followed.
Erica's journey was so incredibly powerful, especially because it is so flawed and unflattering and not-perfect. She's already out to herself at the start of the book, so it's all about finding the courage to live as your true self instead of doing your best to placate others and disappear into the woodwork.
But for me, the real showstopper was my spitfire badass Abigail with her unfiltered, hysterical and deeply sarcastic first person narration, which often felt like she was speaking directly to the reader; she presents herself as if she knows she has an audience, and she is damn well going to steal the show. Somehow, she is both deeply teenager and way too mature for her age, and I loved how she was able to help Erica in her journey with her outward confidence while she is also struggling so much with herself on the inside.
This story is just so raw and real and has so much heart, and I loved how the inner journeys and the powerful development of all the complex interpersonal relationships were the driving force behind this whole narrative. Some are heartwarming, some are heartbreaking, but they are all so damn real.
Of course the (reluctant) friendship between Erica and Abigail is the highlight of the story, but then we've also got complicated romances (hello being in love with your ex-wife and hello high school puppy love with all the drama), even more complicated family dynamics (fuck Abigail's parents), and some very unexpected (female) friendships that are full of shocking revelations, unexpected support and so much beautiful emotional turmoil.
Now, I will never truly understand what being trans is like myself, but reading this book is probably one of the most eye-opening and illuminating stories about the trans experience I have ever had, and I am so grateful to St. James for sharing it. These characters (or should I say people?) can live rent-free in my heart until eternity, what a journey.
Just do yourself a favour and pick up Woodworking already (especially on audio if you have the chance). This is not just one hell of a glorious debut, it's a masterclass in human storytelling, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Okay I don't even remember how I stumbled upon this book, but I am SO glad I did because this was easily one of the best reading experiences I've had all year and it's exactly what my heart and soul needed at the moment. So powerful, so funny, so real, so honest, so big-hearted, and so loudly and gloriously queer!!
The entire plot can basically be summed up as: a struggling (and closeted to the world) trans high school teacher from a small-town in South Dakota befriends the only other trans woman in her life, who just so happens to be one of the most bold, snarky and audacious students at her school. And you know what, I was SO here for all the drama and beautiful messiness that followed.
Erica's journey was so incredibly powerful, especially because it is so flawed and unflattering and not-perfect. She's already out to herself at the start of the book, so it's all about finding the courage to live as your true self instead of doing your best to placate others and disappear into the woodwork.
But for me, the real showstopper was my spitfire badass Abigail with her unfiltered, hysterical and deeply sarcastic first person narration, which often felt like she was speaking directly to the reader; she presents herself as if she knows she has an audience, and she is damn well going to steal the show. Somehow, she is both deeply teenager and way too mature for her age, and I loved how she was able to help Erica in her journey with her outward confidence while she is also struggling so much with herself on the inside.
This story is just so raw and real and has so much heart, and I loved how the inner journeys and the powerful development of all the complex interpersonal relationships were the driving force behind this whole narrative. Some are heartwarming, some are heartbreaking, but they are all so damn real.
Of course the (reluctant) friendship between Erica and Abigail is the highlight of the story, but then we've also got complicated romances (hello being in love with your ex-wife and hello high school puppy love with all the drama), even more complicated family dynamics (fuck Abigail's parents), and some very unexpected (female) friendships that are full of shocking revelations, unexpected support and so much beautiful emotional turmoil.
Now, I will never truly understand what being trans is like myself, but reading this book is probably one of the most eye-opening and illuminating stories about the trans experience I have ever had, and I am so grateful to St. James for sharing it. These characters (or should I say people?) can live rent-free in my heart until eternity, what a journey.
Just do yourself a favour and pick up Woodworking already (especially on audio if you have the chance). This is not just one hell of a glorious debut, it's a masterclass in human storytelling, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
June 2, 2025
St. James is a respected tv writer so this fiction debut is really propulsive. I feel like it's got the chops to be more popular than it is. A lot happens to a lot of people in a small town in a short amount of time!
We had a very small book club meeting about this book and we enjoyed it. I know some reviewers have questioned the power dynamic between Erica (a teacher) and Abigail (a student) but I thought it all worked and was explained in the context of the book.
My only quibble is at times this feels like there is a Lesson on every page but it's a small complaint for a book that is rich in complicated characters with a big diversity of experiences. Recommend!
We had a very small book club meeting about this book and we enjoyed it. I know some reviewers have questioned the power dynamic between Erica (a teacher) and Abigail (a student) but I thought it all worked and was explained in the context of the book.
My only quibble is at times this feels like there is a Lesson on every page but it's a small complaint for a book that is rich in complicated characters with a big diversity of experiences. Recommend!
April 2, 2025
Wow what a great book. I loved it from the beginning to the end. No notes.
"Woodworking" follows Abigail, a 17 year old teen trans girl living in Mitchell, South Dakota. She keeps focusing on when she becomes 18 she can get away from her family and do what she considers "woodworking" meaning she will be able to do what she needs to for her to be fully Abigail and be like every other girl out there. Her plans are thrown into the trash though due to her falling in love as well as dealing with her unlikely friendship with her school teacher, Erica Skyberg, a trans woman who is struggling with still being in love with her ex-wife as well as fully being herself and going through the steps necessary to transition. Abigail does not want to become Erica's "mom" and yet, she ends up doing that. She's not afraid to fully be herself and though their friendship (and hiding of it) is an issue, they both can't let the other one go. And I get why they did it. I have friends who are gay and trans. And as one put it, you want to be around others like you, because it's safe.
The book takes place during 2016 and a local race as well as the looming Presidential race between Trump and Hillary Clinton going on. We all know how that ended up. And yet, St. James shows the hope that tons of people had for Hillary and the fear that many had rightfully so of Donald Trump and what it would mean to not be Christian and white.
Abigail was fierce. I felt like each chapter with her POV was the clearest part of the book for me. I felt at times she was sitting right there talking to me and the way it is written it shows that St. James was evoking that. It felt a bit like sitting down with a friend who is telling you all of the ugly, the great, the in between of their lives. I was worried throughout that something was going to happen to her. She's dealing with a boy she loves being ashamed of her. Her parents, some siblings refusing to call her by her name and wanting her to go back to being something she is not.
Erica was a mess. You will want to shake her. But I get it. The book shows the scariness of what she is about to do and wants to do. To fully admit who she was all this time and the mask she had on by trying to be something she was not. I loved that St. James I think never showed what Erica's prior name was. Instead you get the text redacted when someone calls her by it. I hated though there is a dead naming plot point with Abigail and I get why she reacted the way she did.
The other characters in this book are fantastic. There's a huge spoiler about something, I won't reveal, I want you to get to it and just scream like I did. I found it telling that person's POV was in the second person, but I get why after you get through the book.
But the other characters like Caleb, Constance, Megan, and Abigail's sister and her boyfriend, and the trans support group leader felt real to me throughout the book.
The plot and flow of the book worked great throughout even with the addition of the other person I am not going to spoil.
And then the ending. Ah the ending.
"Woodworking" follows Abigail, a 17 year old teen trans girl living in Mitchell, South Dakota. She keeps focusing on when she becomes 18 she can get away from her family and do what she considers "woodworking" meaning she will be able to do what she needs to for her to be fully Abigail and be like every other girl out there. Her plans are thrown into the trash though due to her falling in love as well as dealing with her unlikely friendship with her school teacher, Erica Skyberg, a trans woman who is struggling with still being in love with her ex-wife as well as fully being herself and going through the steps necessary to transition. Abigail does not want to become Erica's "mom" and yet, she ends up doing that. She's not afraid to fully be herself and though their friendship (and hiding of it) is an issue, they both can't let the other one go. And I get why they did it. I have friends who are gay and trans. And as one put it, you want to be around others like you, because it's safe.
The book takes place during 2016 and a local race as well as the looming Presidential race between Trump and Hillary Clinton going on. We all know how that ended up. And yet, St. James shows the hope that tons of people had for Hillary and the fear that many had rightfully so of Donald Trump and what it would mean to not be Christian and white.
Abigail was fierce. I felt like each chapter with her POV was the clearest part of the book for me. I felt at times she was sitting right there talking to me and the way it is written it shows that St. James was evoking that. It felt a bit like sitting down with a friend who is telling you all of the ugly, the great, the in between of their lives. I was worried throughout that something was going to happen to her. She's dealing with a boy she loves being ashamed of her. Her parents, some siblings refusing to call her by her name and wanting her to go back to being something she is not.
Erica was a mess. You will want to shake her. But I get it. The book shows the scariness of what she is about to do and wants to do. To fully admit who she was all this time and the mask she had on by trying to be something she was not. I loved that St. James I think never showed what Erica's prior name was. Instead you get the text redacted when someone calls her by it. I hated though there is a dead naming plot point with Abigail and I get why she reacted the way she did.
The other characters in this book are fantastic. There's a huge spoiler about something, I won't reveal, I want you to get to it and just scream like I did. I found it telling that person's POV was in the second person, but I get why after you get through the book.
But the other characters like Caleb, Constance, Megan, and Abigail's sister and her boyfriend, and the trans support group leader felt real to me throughout the book.
The plot and flow of the book worked great throughout even with the addition of the other person I am not going to spoil.
And then the ending. Ah the ending.
April 11, 2025
Originally I bought this purely to support the author, crooked media, and trans people. To my surprise, I adored the characters and story, especially the chapters with Abigail (teen) as the narrator.
4.25 stars 🎧 on audible
This is my last review here on Goodreads. I have so appreciated the many likes and comments my reviews have gotten over the years — thank you!
For those who, like me, are ready to “deactivate” from billionaire oligarchs, story graph is an outstanding app to keep track of your books and you can transfer your GR data so you lose nothing
Unfortunately someone already took my widely known internet handle there so i wont have a public facing account. I also am finding i prefer documentary podcasts over books these days. ✌️
Update: you can find me @lindsaynixon on StoryGraph
4.25 stars 🎧 on audible
This is my last review here on Goodreads. I have so appreciated the many likes and comments my reviews have gotten over the years — thank you!
For those who, like me, are ready to “deactivate” from billionaire oligarchs, story graph is an outstanding app to keep track of your books and you can transfer your GR data so you lose nothing
Unfortunately someone already took my widely known internet handle there so i wont have a public facing account. I also am finding i prefer documentary podcasts over books these days. ✌️
Update: you can find me @lindsaynixon on StoryGraph
December 11, 2025
Another stunning debut. What a voice!
I’ve been sitting with my thoughts about this book for a while and still find it challenging to put into words how profoundly it affected me. WOODWORKING is a powerful and moving novel that brings to the forefront the humanity of the trans community; a group that’s been demonized for purely political purposes by extremists who are looking for someone to hate.
The novel features two main characters: Erika, a recently divorced middle school teacher who identifies but is not publicly out as a trans woman, and Abigail, a teenage student who is proudly living life as a trans woman. While Erika is learning to accept the truth about herself, Abigail is turning to activism to protest local efforts to restrict bathroom usage. In an unusual reversal of roles, it is Abigail who helps Erika find the courage she needs to move forward with living her truth.
There is so much packed into this stellar debut novel, but what struck me was the complete simplicity of what both Erika and Abigail want for themselves. They long for acceptance and to be treated with kindness. They seek the ability to love and be loved. They want a life filled with friends, family, and ordinary moments. They wanted to be just like everyone else.
There’s a powerful message here about treating people with dignity simply because they are human. It is the most basic, generous, and life affirming gift we can give.
The audiobook is read by L Morgan Lee and Saoirse Ni Shúilleabháin, with a note read by the author, Emily St. James. I cannot overstate how moving it was to hear THESE voices tell THIS story. Their exceptional performances elevated this novel to another level.
I highly recommend this book. It opened my mind and my heart, and I am a better person as a result.
I’ve been sitting with my thoughts about this book for a while and still find it challenging to put into words how profoundly it affected me. WOODWORKING is a powerful and moving novel that brings to the forefront the humanity of the trans community; a group that’s been demonized for purely political purposes by extremists who are looking for someone to hate.
The novel features two main characters: Erika, a recently divorced middle school teacher who identifies but is not publicly out as a trans woman, and Abigail, a teenage student who is proudly living life as a trans woman. While Erika is learning to accept the truth about herself, Abigail is turning to activism to protest local efforts to restrict bathroom usage. In an unusual reversal of roles, it is Abigail who helps Erika find the courage she needs to move forward with living her truth.
There is so much packed into this stellar debut novel, but what struck me was the complete simplicity of what both Erika and Abigail want for themselves. They long for acceptance and to be treated with kindness. They seek the ability to love and be loved. They want a life filled with friends, family, and ordinary moments. They wanted to be just like everyone else.
There’s a powerful message here about treating people with dignity simply because they are human. It is the most basic, generous, and life affirming gift we can give.
The audiobook is read by L Morgan Lee and Saoirse Ni Shúilleabháin, with a note read by the author, Emily St. James. I cannot overstate how moving it was to hear THESE voices tell THIS story. Their exceptional performances elevated this novel to another level.
I highly recommend this book. It opened my mind and my heart, and I am a better person as a result.
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