In this "New York Times" bestseller--the first transgender memoir written by an African American--an extraordinary young woman recounts her coming-of-age. "Undercurrents of strong emotion swirl throughout this well-written book...An enlightening, much-needed perspective on transgender identity" ("Kirkus Reviews"). 

In 2011, "Marie Claire" magazine published a profile of Janet Mock in which she stepped forward for the first time as a trans woman. Those twenty-three hundred words were life-altering for the People.com editor, turning her into an influential and outspoken public figure and a desperately needed voice for an often voiceless community. In these pages, she offers a bold and inspiring perspective on being young, multicultural, economically challenged, and transgender in America.

This "heart-rending autobiography of love, longing, and fulfillment" (bell hooks, author of "All About Love") follows Mock's quest for identity, from an early, unwavering conviction about her gender to a turbulent adolescence in Honolulu that saw her transitioning during the tender years of high school, self-medicating with hormones at fifteen, and flying across the world alone for sex reassignment surgery at just eighteen. Despite the hurdles, Mock received a scholarship to college and moved to New York City, where she earned a master's degree and enjoyed the success of an enviable career. Now, with unflinching honesty, Mock uses her own experience to impart vital insight about the unique challenges and vulnerabilities of trans youth and brave girls like herself.

A profound statement of affirmation from a courageous woman, "Redefining Realness" provides a whole new outlook on what it means to be a woman today, and shows as never before how to be authentic, unapologetic, and wholly yourself.