First, my book has a different cover that shows an androgynous child with an eerie grin... this cover is MUCH more appropriate. Second, this was a good book about a child born as a hermaphrodite and how both the child and her father cope with her fluid gender identity. I enjoyed the book, but I thought that it was part a critique of a gender dichotomy, part a story about a father dealing with his loss of a
"son," and part a book about a child dealing with society's confusion of who and what she is. My problem with it is that neither of three themes gained ENOUGH traction. The father was a great character, but developed minimally in the first half of the book, while we didnt get nearly the depth of emotion of the main character that we could have given Winter's excellent settings.

However, the world Winter created was palpably dark and lonely at times, and hopeful like a breath of fresh air in the forest at others. The rich lyricism of the book was excellent as well.