Now I want donuts..(Lily and Dunkin)

Gephart, D. (2016) Lily and Dunkin. New York , NY: Delacorte Press

Tim isn’t like most other boys.  Tim though physically a boy, feels he is a girl.  His chosen name is Lily.  He’s trying on one of his mother’s dresses when his father comes home with groceries.  Lily runs out to the car to help her dad.  Her dad tries to shoo her inside, worrying someone might see her.  Someone does.  A boy with a Dunkin Donuts bag is walking down the sidewalk and sees them.  Lily waves.  The boy smiles and waves back. 

The boy’s name is Norbert, but he doesn’t like that name.  He’s just moved to South Florida with his Mom and is living with Bubbie, his grandmother.  His Dad is elsewhere. Moving is tough.  Florida is hotter than Hades, especially compared to New Jersey.  Norbert is also worried about school.  He’s giant and Hairy, and with a name like Norbert, he’s afraid to get picked on.   It’s not all bad though, his mom said that she would trust him to take his own medicines from then on.  Also, when he went to get an ice coffee from Dunkin Donuts, a girl with pretty blue eyes waved at him.  Bubbie is a health and fitness nut, so Norbert has to go to Dunkin Donuts to get his ice coffee.  When he is walking to Dunkin Donuts again,  a voice, seemingly out of nowhere, says “Hey!”.  At first he is worried about it, then he realizes the voice came from a boy in a tree.  The boy introduces himself as Tim, but Norbert doesn’t want to say his name.  So Tim dubs him Dunkin.  He likes that name, Dunkin it is.  Dunkin and Tim hang out a bit more and become friends.

When school starts, it’s the same old torture for Tim.  The Neanderthals that always made fun of and pick on him continue to do so.  At least he has his friend, Dare, to comfort him.  Dunkin seems to have thrown his lot in with the Neanderthals.  Tim/ Lily really wants to get hormone blockers before his body starts to change and become more masculine.  His dad seems pretty against it.  The rest of his family is on board though; they are already calling him Lily.  Eventually, they do visit a doctor, who manages to convince her dad to let her get them.   It seems like Dunkin wants to be friends, but never seems to quite get there.  He does help them out during Halloween though, by tripping his basketball buddies, causing them not to see Lily in her mermaid outfit. 

Dunkin saw Tim at school when it started.  When he started heading towards him, a big guy started picking on Tim and Dunkin chickened out.  Later, that same big guy, Vasquez, started being buddy buddy with him and asked him to join the basketball team.  Dunkin knows nothing about basketball, but he’s desperate to fit in.  Bubbie teaches him the basics and he works hard.  He makes the team!  But he seems too excited about it.  He hasn’t been taking his medicines regurlarly and his mom notices.  He thinks it helps him be better at basketball.  The basketball season continues, and his mental situation does as well.  He starts talking to his friend Phineas again.  Phineas doesn’t exist.  After one basketball game, where he has too much energy to contain, he runs home.

Lily is in a tree.  The tree’s name is Bob, named for her grandfather.  She’s been up there all day.  The tree is scheduled to be taken down, and she’s determined to make it stay.  This tree is very important to her.  The tree cutters, a policeman, firemen, and even the mayor can’t get her down.  Her family finds her, and understanding how important it is to her, sets up camp underneath the tree.  Dunkin finds them while heading home, and climbs the tree too.  Lily confesses to him about being a girl.  Dunkin seems cool with it, and stays with her in the tree for the night. When she wakes up the next morning, he still isn’t sleeping.

Dunkin feels great!  He’s has more energy than ever.  He can’t get his brain to shut off though.  At least he has his friend Phineas. He has a mental break during a game and his taken to a mental facility.  There he finally accepts what he couldn’t before, his father is dead. He says goodbye to Phineas for good.   He gets out just in time for the 8^th grade winter formal.

Lily has decided to be what she is.  She dresses up nice and pretty and goes to the dance.  Sure she gets some looks but doesn’t really care.  She’s worried about Dunkin.  Then he shows up!  He’s getting a lot of looks too of course.  They ignore the looks, and have fun together.  They even share a dance.

This book was written well.  It had a compelling story that made you care about the characters.  I laughed, I teared up, and got mad at all the right moments.  Even so, It was still difficult for me to read at times due to one issue.  It’s the same issue I had with another book, George.  I don’t think children should be given hormone blockers.  The book proclaims, “be who you are!”  What I don’t get is how allowing children to take drugs to alter their internal chemistry for the result of permanently hindering their growth and development exemplifies that slogan.  It’s not the transgender thing that bothers me, it’s the permanent alteration of a child’s body that does.  If you really want someone to be who they are, I feel the 1^st stage of that is acceptance of what they are.  Then they can be whoever they want after that.
I read this book because it is one of my required readings.