SCPL Teens discussion

Middlesex is a nicely written book about a young person whose family history fundamentally changes their personal identity. It also somehow manages to provide a unique perspective on the American story.

While the protagonist's main character arc is about their identity, change and rebirth are overarching themes throughout the book. This is why I believe that the author started the story with the statement "I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974."

Interestingly, the title of the novel does not refer to the main character being intersex, but rather to the street their family moves to later in the story.

I would recommend this novel to someone who is looking for more mature themes in a coming-of-age story.