Why did I ever sacrifice my own happiness to keep my skin clear?I thought hard about that question when I first saw the cover art for my debut novel, Both Sides Now.
It’s a young adult romance about a trans boy, Finch, who finds himself forced to argue against trans rights at a national debating championship.
Some months ago, my editor at Penguin sent me a mock-up of the book’s cover. The trans YouTuber Miles McKenna portraying my roguish, redheaded Finch, poised nervously before a microphone. “[We’ll] Photoshop it all together to look totally smooth,” my editor promised.
I hesitated.When McKenna began taking testosterone, he developed “cystic, long-lasting, very bright red acne” all over his face, neck, and chest, he has said.