Two Spirits, One Heart
A Mother, Her Transgender Son, and Their Journey to Love and Acceptance
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“Marsha shares her journey from fear and uncertainty to acceptance, support, and unconditional love of Aiden as he reconciled his gender identity…I recommend their co-written memoir Two Spirits, One Heart.”—George Takei
In the first book of its kind, mother, educator, and LGBT activist Marsha Aizumi shares her compelling story of parenting a young woman who came out as a lesbian, then transitioned to male. Two Spirits, One Heart chronicles Marsha's personal journey from fear, uncertainty, and sadness to eventual unconditional love, acceptance, and support of her child who struggled to reconcile his gender identity. Told with honesty and warmth, this book is a must-read for parents and loved ones of LGBT individuals everywhere.
Praise for Two Spirits, One Heart
“Marsha and Aiden’s moving story of confronting and overcoming fear—and of the love and deeper bond that emerge between a mother and her son because of that profound journey—shows how all families can accept each other’s humanity. I was deeply inspired by the honesty, awareness, and healing found in these pages.”
—Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
About the authors: Marsha Aizumi is an educator, motivational speaker, and advocate for the LGBT community. She serves on the National Board of Directors of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). You can visit Marsha online at www.marshaaizumi.com. Aiden Takeo Aizumi is a committed activist for LGBT rights. In 2010, he was honored as a youth leader with the Paul A. Anderson award from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. He currently serves on the PFLAG National Transgender Gender Non-conforming Advisory Council. Aiden is also pursuing a bachelor's degree in education.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this witty, elegiac collection of linked stories, Magruder (Sugarless) traces the paths of two gay cousins, Tom Amelio and Elliott Biddler, as they grow up in the Midwest and eventually become wised-up, crisis-addled adults. Spanning 1971 to 1992, and set in cities ranging from Madison, Wis., to Paris, the collection captures a critical chapter in gay history. The innocent crushes and clumsy sexual forays we witness in early stories ("Tenochtitl n," "Use Your Head") give way to darker entries ("Elliott Biddler's Vie Boh me," "Elbows and Legs"), in which the cousins, entering adulthood in the '80s, begin to feel the threat of AIDS. Despite this occasionally morbid background, Magruder's tales are consistently light-footed. "Buccellati" finds Elliott, "the first to take his shirt off on the dance floor," and Tom, a "working stiff," navigating gay romance in New York, while "Mistress of the Revels," a perfect, acrid portrait of theater life, allows Magruder to put his experience as a playwright to use. Though each story can be read as a standalone, the collection works better as a chronological whole, bringing to light the finer nuances of the cousins' development. Magruder's poetic insights a gravely ill Elliott's face resembles "a battered wasps' nest" are offset by his tendency to bow tie stories with too-tidy conclusions. But this collection especially its final, tragic entry will leave readers moved.
