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Birthday

A Novel

by Meredith Russo

Narrator Dana Aliya Levinson

This audiobook uses AI narration.

We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.

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Length 7 hours 58 minutes

Language English

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Bookseller recommendation

“Loved this YA novel of gender alignment! Two babies "meet" at birth in the hospital and grow up as close friends with a special bond. One of them is a "typical" male; the other realizes with more and more clarity that, though born male, she is female. Predictably, she has lots of difficulties and traumas as she matures -- the "normal" growing pains plus the increasing conviction that her body just doesn't match her insides. Through the chronicling of the friends' lives (every year, from birthday to birthday, told in their alternating voices) runs the constant thread of the soulmates' lifelong friendship. Spoiler alert: it turns out well in the end! The extensive conversation at the end between the author and the audiobook narrator [who are both trans women] is worth the price of the audiobook. Open, honest, soul-baring, and replete with valuable support and resources, the interview itself could be a life-changing resource for someone with gender questions and confusions.”
— Cathy • Tattered Cover

Summary
About the author

"An emotional, winning touchdown." — Kirkus

This program includes a bonus interview with the author.

Two best friends. A shared birthday. Six years...

ERIC: There was the day we were born. There was the minute Morgan and I decided we were best friends for life. The years where we stuck by each other’s side—as Morgan’s mom died, as he moved across town, as I joined the football team, as my parents started fighting. But sometimes I worry that Morgan and I won’t be best friends forever. That there’ll be a day, a minute, a second, where it all falls apart and there’s no turning back the clock.

MORGAN: I know that every birthday should feel like a new beginning, but I’m trapped in this mixed-up body, in this wrong life, in Nowheresville, Tennessee, on repeat. With a dad who cares about his football team more than me, a mom I miss more than anything, and a best friend who can never know my biggest secret. Maybe one day I’ll be ready to become the person I am inside. To become her. To tell the world. To tell Eric. But when?

Six years of birthdays reveal Eric and Morgan’s destiny as they come together, drift apart, fall in love, and discover who they’re meant to be—and if they’re meant to be together. From the award-winning author of If I Was Your Girl, Meredith Russo, comes a heart-wrenching and universal story of identity, first love, and fate.

Praise for Birthday:

"In addition to being exquisitely written, BIRTHDAY showcases the best of YA: Its ability to instill empathy in readers. Written by a trans author, BIRTHDAY gives an essential perspective into the trans experience." — Refinery29

Romance LGBTQIA+ Fiction YA Fiction

MEREDITH RUSSO was born, raised, and lives in Tennessee. She started living as her true self in late 2013 and never looked back. If I Was Your Girl was partially inspired by her experiences as a trans woman. Like Amanda, Meredith is a gigantic nerd who spends a lot of her time obsessing over video games and Star Wars.