By: Jeffrey EugenesPlot: The (long) story of Cal(liope) being born a hermaphrodite. The story begins two generations before our main character but is told through Cal's perspective.
Thoughts: This was one of those books that I've heard (read) people say that it was good, but didn't really look into what it was actually about. I've had it for years but was finally inspired to read it when Georgia said it was her favorite book and I'd already read Karen's favorite(s). Anyways I finally read it and it was not my cup of tea. It immediately reminded me of that one episode of Grey's Anatomy where the girl finds out she has testes and can be a boy if she chooses. So the premise actually wasn't that strange to me, I think it was more some of the other aspects of the plot and the writing that made it not my favorite.
It was kind of weird how there was SO much backstory. It was almost halfway into the book before we get to the main character. I mean, it was good, and I almost enjoyed reading about the parents and grandparents more than Cal, but still. I also didn't buy that Cal would know so much information about the backstory. It just didn't seem believable, especially knowing the intimate thoughts and details of his grandparent's relationship. I honestly thought maybe it'd be revealed at the end that it was all just a story that Cal made up because he wanted to be an author. It was just weird. I didn't buy it.
Towards the end of the book the rambling got to me. I just don't need this much information or backstory into a character that doesn't even really matter in the scheme of things. I don't care! It got to the point I was just skimming and that's never good. There was just so much detail into inconsequential things and that annoyed me. Also the lack of information given to Cal when in New York and doing all these tests was just infuriating. It's not like she was 7 or 8 years old and probably wouldn't have understood. She was a freaking teenager! I know it was to just build up to the whole "I'm a boy and I'm running away" scene but it was dumb. The whole hermaphrodite thing was never even explained to Cal. It was basically Cal just thinking, "I'm a boy now" and to deal with that shocking information meant just running away.
The whole 'running away' thing and everything that transpired after that just seemed very out of place. Let me get this straight, Cal goes to New York for a doctor's appointment, runs away, gets on a bus, hitchhikes with who knows how many people, ends up homeless in California and during all that time still manages to hold onto his high school student ID card?? Why would he even take it to New York in the first place?? I couldn't, with that whole scenario. The only part I really liked at the end of the book was the ransom money/car chase scene. That was pretty awesome and was as ridiculous as the whole book was getting. I was also glad grandma came back into the picture, because I hadn't forgotten about her and wondered what the heck happened to her.
Favorite Quote: "...that to be happy you have to find variety in repetition; that to go forward you have to come back where you began."
Rating: 2/5 Overall this book was just ugh. The first half was much better than the second half for sure. I feel like I could have liked it, if it was maybe a hundred pages shorter.