One of the most important roles books can play in our lives is to shine a light on a particular social or political issue.

We are hardwired to learn and absorb information through stories, so it is no surprise that they are the perfect vehicle to open our hearts and minds.

In the past two weeks I’ve had the pleasure of reading two YA novels:

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

The Girl Who Fell by S.M. Parker

Jeff’s book explores the world of gender fluidity, something which I wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about before I read the book, but which I was passionately supportive of by the end.

The tagline says it all: Boy or Girl? Yes.

Human Beings have a tendency to want to categorize things, and this categorization begins as soon as we are born and our parents are told we are male and female.

But what if you identify as both, depending on the day or even the time of day?

Garvin, and our protagonist Riley, help us understand gender fluidity in heart-warming and heart-wrenching ways. We walk in Riley’s shoes in this book and we are all the better for it.

I am convinced everyone, of all ages, should read this book. Garvin has found a way to educate us and entertain us, a fine balance to achieve and masterfully done here.

Likewise, Shannon Parker takes us into the world of intimate partner violence in The Girl Who Fell.

Zephyr Doyle seems like a girl who’s on top of the world when we meet her. But as is the case for many young girls, Zephyr is insecure and reeling from her father walking out on her 18th birthday. When cute new boy Alec wants to date her, she is swept off her feet.

Parker has done her homework: she builds Alec’s controlling tendencies slowly, and we watch in fear as he isolates and belittles Zephyr, feeding on her insecurities like a vampire.  This is exactly how these predators work and the book does a wonderful job of showing why Zephyr stays, until it is almost too late.

Every high school in the US and Canada needs copies of these books in their libraries and in the hands of their guidance counsellors.

Pretty impressive debuts and available in bookstores everywhere!