Spotlight and Giveaway: This is How it Always Is

We're pleased to feature Laurie Frankel's latest novel, This Is How It Always Is. The subject matter is relevant in this day and age and Laurie writes from personal experience. 

Thanks to Flatiron Books, we have TWO copies to give away!

When it comes to being different and standing out, stories are the key to opening minds and winning hearts. Laurie Frankel’s novel THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS IS (Flatiron; January 24, 2017) does just that. Everyone from bestselling writer Maria Semple to beloved librarian Nancy Pearl to Man Booker Prize finalist Ruth Ozeki to Bustle to Publishers Weekly has already singled out Laurie’s novel as a breakout book, and they’re all falling for the little girl at the center of the story: Poppy.

When Rosie and Penn and their four sons welcome the newest member of their family, no one is surprised that it’s yet another baby boy. At least their large, loving, chaotic family knows what to expect. But Claude is not like his brothers. One day he puts on a dress and refuses to take it off. He wants to bring a purse to kindergarten. He wants hair long enough to sit on. When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.

Rosie and Penn try to take the news in stride. They alert teachers. They do their research. But for Poppy—as Claude now wants to be called—and her family, the journey is only just beginning. It takes them from Wisconsin to Seattle to Thailand, and somewhere along the way Rosie and Penn start to see that the fairy tale ending doesn’t always look the way it does in stories, that no family conforms perfectly to the cookie cutter model, and that in many ways, this is how it always is.

In the tradition of The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg and Little Miss Sunshine, THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS IS reminds us all that family means protecting each other’s secrets, and standing united when those secrets find their way out.

Laurie has a very personal connection to this story. Check out her New York Times Modern Love column about her own daughter, who is transgender. Laurie has drawn on her own experiences as a parent to write a novel for anyone who has to toss out the best laid plans in the face of the unexpected, for anyone who finds change both terrifying and miraculous, and for anyone who delights in watching their loved ones grow and change.

Laurie Frankel is the author of two previous novels, The Atlas of Love and Goodbye for Now. She lives in Seattle with her daughter and husband.

Find Laurie online:
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How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends February 20th at midnight EST.