To the Facilitator:

Print these suggested stories. (Use single-sided printing!)

Each story suggestion tells where in the book to find it and has a starter discussion question for a small group.

Provide this handout to each breakout group, and then assign stories. Or, make one printout and cut the story suggestions into strips for youth to choose from a bowl.

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Angell Eve Castro

Start at page 12, "A few weeks after I told Grace, I sent the revised letter to my mom..." End on page 13 at "It was going to take some time until I was ready to do that."

Then read from "I'm not sure what direction I want to go..." on page 14 through page 17 in her mom's story which ends with "...sustenance through her liberation journey."

This breakout group should respond to the primary question of, "How do their stories demonstrate how Angell's mom accepting her and supporting her impacted them individually and as a family?"

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Ryan Michael Alexander

Read Ryan's story of his relationship with his mom and how she reacted beginning on page 56. This group can focus on his mother marrying a transgender man who becomes his stepfather: What does this story suggest about resiliency and the capacity we have to heal, adapt, and change?

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Jozeppi Angelo Morelli

Read pages 80 to 84 where he speaks of his chosen Hopi family and adoption, and then his biological family. Your group can consider his story through the lens of how resiliency sometimes means seeking and building new relationships. How does the ability to choose family teach us about resiliency?

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Bedaura Haseen

Read her story about how her twin's transition affected her and their relationship (pages 99-101). What can we learn about resilience and spirituality from her story of her twin's transition and how that affected their relationship? What strikes you first, or most, about Bedaura’s story?

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Rhett Bolen

Read Rhett's story of coming out as two-spirit and a trans man to his family, beginning on page 136 with "I came out to my mom..." through page 138 where he speaks of Miss Major and Marsha P. Johnson. Rhett speaks of how he found much wider acceptance among his Salish community and family then he did in the white communities around him. Focus on this question: How might a young person grow in resiliency if they were surrounded by love and acceptance from their immediate and wider family?

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Riley Lange

Read Riley's story of how his dad, Anna, transitioned and the effect it had on Riley’s life and how he was treated. What can we learn about resiliency when someone in our life comes out? How does Riley model learning to become loving to his dad and honor the relationship, even as it shifts and adapts to a new reality?

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Mack Thomas

Read his story from "Despite all my fears..." on page 226 through page 229 where Mack ends with feeling sorry for people losing out on loving so many great people. Mack's transition and his family accepting him led to his father leaving his work in their church as a minister. Rejection from churches is a common truth in many transgender people's lives. What can we learn about resiliency from how Mack's family responded to the bias they encountered, even though Mack's father was a religious leader?