There are important & insightful reviews of Sarah Hagger-Holt's, 'Nothing Ever Happens Here' from the perspectives of women & children impacted by late transitioning adult males within the family.
CHILDRENOFTRANSITIONERS
'Your childhood, now freshly whitewashed! (Reviewing 'Nothing Ever Happens Here)'
(extract)
"Of course, in the 1980s, when I was Izzy’s age, there were hardly any children in the UK with trans parents. Today it seems to be a phenomena that warrants a children’s novel. I am very glad it wasn’t around for me then as it seems to be priming children to accept emotional abuse.
The thing I wanted to address the most in this blog was what I called ‘The Pressure to Pretend It’s All OK’. It was the first thing I wrote here and the most urgent. If we can talk at all about our experiences, if they are to be honest, they have to be made without a censor. I feel my feelings. I don’t need a filter. I loved my Dad and wanted to make him happy, but bottling up my feelings left me with an eating disorder and a lot of anger. Sure, I am a happy middle-aged woman these days, but you should have seen the mess I was in during my twenties!!
I found this on the website for Relate, the UK relationship support organisation: (see screenshot)
I wish I had understood about emotional abuse at Izzy’s age. Perhaps I would have recognised what was happening to me as wrong. It’s important to recognise the pressures placed on children in all kinds of contexts. Having a trans parent shouldn’t be any different."
childrenoftransitioners.org/2020/01/31/your-childhood-now-freshly-whitewashed-reviewing-nothing-ever-happens-here/
Make More Noise 'Some dads are trans. Get over it!'
(extract)
An expectation that trans widows have to counter with depressing regularity, is that we should have not only welcomed, but celebrated our ex-husband’s transition and treated it as the first step on a stunning and brave rainbow adventure that we would embark on together. Our concern should always have been for how difficult it would be for him and we shouldn’t have had any feelings or concerns other than joy and pride.
I really didn’t want to read this book. I feared a book about a parent’s transition, written by a Stonewall advocate would place a similar expectation on children
I was right to be worried, because it does.
This book goes through the motions of allowing the child protagonists to have their own misgivings about their Dad’s transition but these feelings are only allowed to be short lived. By the end of the book, the children (12/13 year old Izzy and her siblings) are shown not only accepting the situation, but being grateful that is has improved their lives. It gives a wholly unrealistic standard of acceptance and celebration for any real child to live up to." (continues)
makemorenoisemanc.wixsite.com/mysite/post/some-dads-are-trans-get-over-it
Teachers & school librarians would do well to ensure they have read & considered both articles as they raise specific Safeguarding concerns.