If I Was Your Girl

By: Meredith Russo

Narrated by: Samia Mounts

Length: 7 hrs

Publisher's Summary

A new kind of bighearted audiobook about being seen for who you really are.

Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret, and she's determined not to get too close to anyone.

But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can't help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past. But Amanda's terrified that once she tells him the truth, he won't be able to see past it. Because the secret that Amanda's been keeping? It's that at her old school, she used to be Andrew. Will the truth cost Amanda her new life and her new love?

If I Was Your Girl is a universal story about feeling different - and a love story that everyone will root for.

©2016 Alloy Entertainment (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

Critic Reviews

"[Narrator Samia] Mounts eloquently depicts the changes that take place after Andrew’s surgery - when he becomes Amanda.... Mounts expresses the delight Amanda feels as girlfriends accept her and gentle, thoughtful Grant falls in love with her. Mounts provides a bittersweet tone as Amanda blossoms with the tender feelings of first love even as she fears revealing her secret. Her feelings are juxtaposed with her father’s fear for her safety amid the narrow-mindedness of the small Southern town where they live, which Mounts suggests through the judicious use of regional accents." (AudioFile)

Absolutely Amazing

Coming from a transgender girl of 23, this book just captures the feelings and emotions I feel and have felt for so many years, so perfectly. It doesn't fit every trans persons story exactly, but I do think many people can still really connect to it. For me, having transitioned and had surgery, and living "stealth", it literally felt like Amanda could have been me had I come out a few years earlier than I did. This was one of the first times I've actually felt like the author was speaking to me. The audio performance was amazing. Samia captured who Amanda was, and throughout many parts you can feel her emotion come through as she sat behind that microphone narrating the book. Absolutely an incredible story and listen, I highly recommend. And I just want to say thank you to the author Meredith Russo for writing this. It really means a lot. Thank you.

All together wonderful

If nothing else, chapter 34 a word from the author is worth 5 stars; however I enjoyed every moment of this story.

Great Book!

It help me deal with my prejudices through a really engaging story, read by a terrific narrator. This is a book that lots of young people should read and a lot of educators as well. I was forced to grapple with, and I am still grappling with what I would have done if I were any of the characters: amazingly complicated.

The middle

Would you try another book from Meredith Russo and/or Samia Mounts?

Maybe

Would you recommend If I Was Your Girl to your friends? Why or why not?

The V/o work was unstoppable.
But as a trans woman I really don't see much of a conflict in the story. I get that she had a troubled passed and as a character the story did what it could to show me that. But by the time the story first started . She already over came everything. She had a surgery, she's apparently gorgeous,has new accepting friends, and has a hard bodied jock for a boyfriend girls oogle at .Every one she did tell was supportive by the time the story reached the beginning none of the things she already beat mattered because she did it already. I know it jumped time but i thought was disappointing .

Which character – as performed by Samia Mounts – was your favorite?

I guess the boyfriend

Could you see If I Was Your Girl being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I don't because Hollywood screws up any trans thing.

Love it!

This is a beautiful story that needs to be read far and wide. Tell everyone!

I enjoyed this book!

All people deserve to be who they believe they are and to live a happy life! Every persons normal is different and thats Okay-Everyone needs to read or listen to this book and they will understand that. The narrator was amazing.

If I Was Your Girl

This was a really good audiobook! I felt that I could really understand the emotional struggle the main character went through. I felt that I could understand her pain, her fear, and her desire to be loved and accepted for who she is. I also felt that I could understand her growth and strength in accepting who she is and how the support and love her parents helped as well. I like how the book can't be engaged and thirsting to want to know what would happen next! I am thankful for Meredith Russo sharing this story!

Wow! I wasn't expecting to be so moved.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend this book to any friend from the LGBTQ community. It also gives an interesting perspective for allies. Part of me wanted to listen in one sitting. Other times, I found myself walking away from this title from getting too much of the feels associated with being a teenager at a new school, with new friends (some less trustworthy than others), etc. Like Amanda, I found myself not wanting to fall too hard into the love story part of the book. I definitely felt my heart breaking and healing while listening to this book.

Finished in one sitting!!

Hope to raise my children to be like the girls whom were Amandas friends, that they would stand beside and protect thier friends NO MATTER their life choices! Wish that this story, for the most part, were the reality for those who are LGBTG and that those of us whom aren't could be loving and accepting of them because everyone deserves at least that!!

pretty good story but lackluster ending

I feel like this book needed an epilogue for something to really bring it to completion. I was a bit of a field by the end but the overall story was decent.