Both Sides Now by Peyton Thomas is a contemporary young adult novel that focuses on LGBTQ+ issues. Finch is about to go to the debate National Championships in Washington D.C., but the debate topic is transgender rights. Finch is a trans man that dreams of becoming the first transgender member of Congress, but his financial and emotional turmoil may keep him from his dream of Washington D.C.
Told from the point-of-view of 10-year-old Kenny, it's really his big brother Byron who's the hero of this funny, emotional sucker-punch of a novel. Byron, thirteen, is a juvenile delinquent--a black sheep--according to Kenny, and pretty much everyone else in the so-called "Weird Watsons" family. But in the end it's Kenny who helps Byron overcome his depression over witnessing tragic events during a trip to visit their grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama during the height of the struggle for Civil Rights.
