Includes bibliographical references (p. [301]-320)

"When Cris Beam first moved to Los Angeles, she thought she might put in a few hours volunteering at a school for gay and transgender kids while she got settled. Instead, she found herself drawn more deeply than she could have ever imagined into the pained and powerful group of transgirls she discovered." "In Transparent she introduces four of them - Christina, Domineque, Foxxjazell, and Ariel. As she earns their trust she shows us their world, a dizzying mix of familiar teenage drama and far less familiar challenges like how to morph your body on a few dollars a day. Funny, heartbreaking, defiant, and sometimes defeated, the girls form a singular community. But they struggle valiantly to resolve the gap between the way they feel inside and the way the world sees them - and who among us can't identify with that?"--BOOK JACKET

Lambda Literary Award, 2008