At the Broken Places Paperback by Mary Collins

Product Details

• Publisher: Beacon Press (2017-04-25)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 208 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780807088357
• Item Weight: 209.79 grams
• Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 cm

In this collaborative memoir, a parent and a transgender son recount wrestling with their differences as Donald Collins undertook medical-treatment options to better align his body with his gender identity.

As a parent, Mary Collins didn’t agree with her trans son’s decision to physically alter his body, although she supported his right to realize himself as a person. Raw and uncensored, each explains her or his emotional mindset at the time: Mary felt she had lost a daughter; Donald activated his “authentic self.” Both battled to assert their rights. A powerful memoir and resource, At the Broken Places offers a road map for families in transition.

About the Author

Mary Collins worked for twenty years as a freelance writer and editor for a range of clients, including the National Geographic Society and Smithsonian Institution. She is currently a professor of nonfiction at Central Connecticut State University.

Donald Collins is a trans advocate, writer, and recent cum laude graduate of Emerson College. His culture and commentary writing has appeared in PopMatters, Salon, and Next Magazine, among others.