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Cover of How Beautiful the Ordinary

How Beautiful the Ordinary

Michael Cart, Francesca Lia Block, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Emma Donoghue, Ron Koertge (2009)

SubgenreContemporary Romance
Age groupAdult 18+
Content ratingPG
Pages ()
SettingContemporary

Content levels

ViolenceNot rated
Sexual contentNone
LanguageNot rated

Trigger warnings

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Positive tags

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Tropes

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Themes

Self-Discovery

Synopsis

A girl thought to be a boy steals her sister's skirt, while a boy thought to be a girl refuses to wear a cornflower blue dress. One boy's love of a soldier leads to the death of a stranger. The present takes a bittersweet journey into the past when a man revisits the summer school where he had "an accidental romance." And a forgotten mother writes a poignant letter to the teenage daughter she hasn't seen for fourteen years.Poised between the past and the future are the stories of now. In nontraditional narratives, short stories, and brief graphics, tales of anticipation and regret, eagerness and confusion present distinctively modern views of love, sexuality, and gender identification. Together, they reflect the vibrant possibilities available for young people learning to love others-and themselves-in today's multifaceted and quickly changing world.