Simon’s world is finally turning around. He’s at last gotten his very first real job, working at a local pet store in Grafton, Massachusetts. He’s out of the reach of his overbearing older brother who somehow manages to do everything perfectly. Captain of the football team. Captain of the baseball team. In comparison, Simon is a failure. Nothing in his life ever seems to be right. Even when Cindy starts hanging out at the pet shop, too, it’s not her beautiful blonde hair or her porcelain skin which draws in Simon. It’s the clothes she wears. The delightfully flowing dresses and skirts. The a new boy, Marcus, arrives from New York City and an accidental slip of the tongue reveals a secret that Simon can barely comprehend. Suddenly Simon realizes that it’s not that he’s a boy who is made all wrong. He realizes that maybe, just maybe, he’s a girl who is finding her new path in life.
Sophia the Pet Shop Boy – a Transgender Coming of Age Story (A High School Gender Diverse Transformation Novelette)
By Lisa Shea, 2019