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The Family Outing
The Family Outing: A Memoir | Jessi Hempel
6 posts | 6 read | 5 to read
Fascinating, funny, and wise, The Family Outing is an affirmation to all of us who know the pain and shame of hiding our truest self, and a stirring invitation into the courage, freedom, and joy of living our whole truth.Glennon Doyle, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Untamed, founder of Together Rising A striking and remarkable literary memoir about one familys transformation, with almost all of them embracing their queer identities. Jessi Hempel was raised in a seemingly picture-perfect, middle-class American family. But the truth was far from perfect. Her father was constantly away from home, traveling for work, while her stay-at-home mother became increasingly lonely and erratic. Growing up, Jessi and her two siblings struggled to make sense of their family, their world, their changing bodies, and the emotional turmoil each was experiencing. And each, in their own way, was hiding their true self from the world. By the time Jessi reached adulthood, everyone in her family had come out: Jessi as gay, her sister as bisexual, her father as gay, her brother as transgender, and her mother as a survivor of a traumatic experience with an alleged serial killer. Yet coming out was just the beginning, starting a chain reaction of other personal revelations and reckonings that caused each of them to question their place in the world in new and ultimately liberating ways.
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HeatherBookNerd
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Pickpick

In light of the executive order made by our uninformed new president, declaring that there are only two genders, I would like to help fellow readers become better educated. Here are six books written by and/or centering on the experiences of non-binary and transgender people. I wish I had a recommendation with some intersex representation, but I can‘t think of anything at the moment. Feel free to suggest other great books in the comments below.

AmyG Thank you. 2w
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian I use the hashtag #TransBooks when I post about books by trans authors, there are a lot of great books there. One of my favourite (trans) authors is Kai Cheng Thom. 2w
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian I'm going to tag a few recent books by intersex authors! 2w
See All 21 Comments
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian Not sure how much intersex content there is in this one, but the author is intersex so all eir work is worth checking out! 2w
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian For middle grade kids! 2w
WorldsOkayestStepMom An intersex book I read last year or the year before was 2w
CoffeeK8 Devon price‘s book is great! 2w
HeatherBookNerd Thank you @CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian especially for the intersex rep. I have read Born Both - forgot about that one! 2w
HeatherBookNerd Thanks @WorldsOkayestStepMom I forgot about Middlesex too. I read it years ago. 2w
HeatherBookNerd @coffeeK8 my neurodivergent trans kid suggested Autism Unmasked. Very helpful! 2w
HeatherBookNerd Thanks for reading @AmyG 2w
Suet624 Thank you for sharing this. 2w
HeatherBookNerd @Suet624 you‘re welcome! 2w
Amiable Great list —thanks for posting this! Here‘s one that I enjoyed: (edited) 2w
HeatherBookNerd @Amiable all excellent recommendations! 2w
Reggie I‘m always shocked when they say their party is about freedom but really it‘s only about guns cause they‘re all too happy to tell women and trans people what to think about their bodies. Thanks for the recs. 2w
HeatherBookNerd @Reggie yes, this administration seems to be making it a priority on day one to control as many non-male bodies as possible. It‘s been a hard few days. 2w
45 likes21 comments
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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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Bailedbailed

There's nothing wrong with this, per se, but it is not grabbing me. Too bad, as the story of 4 out of 5 of the author's family coming out as queer or trans later in life sounded so interesting!

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HeatherBookNerd
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Pickpick

Hempel tells the story of her entire family. 4 of the 5 come out as LGBT over the years. There is dysfunction and difficulty, reunion and understanding, confusion and clarity -- all in fits and starts over decades of lives lived both together and apart. It is wonderful to be able to track the growth and change in the parents and the children. Interesting how they each hide and then embrace the things that make them who they are.

Megabooks Yes! This was quite interesting. 2y
37 likes1 comment
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Chelsea.Poole
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This book is fabulous! @Megabooks — I may have to bring back our hashtag #theyearofthememoir if they continue to deliver as well as this and Tucci‘s! Jessi Hempel and her entire family (save her mother) came out as gay/bisexual or transgender within a short period of time. Though her mother DID undergo a transformation around the same time, between her husband‘s sexuality and coming to terms with crimes in her past. A fascinating read!

Deblovestoread Sounds fascinating! Stacked! 2y
Megabooks I loved this too! I really enjoyed this last week, but I haven‘t reviewed it yet. 2y
Chelsea.Poole @Megabooks tag me when you do! I‘ve seen this cover around often. Heading to place the hold now 😆 2y
Chelsea.Poole @Deblovestoread I was completely invested in this family. 2y
87 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Mpcacher
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Pickpick

This memoir follows a family that goes from 'picture perfect' and very religious through a transformation as all three children and the father come out as either gay, bisexual or transsexual. I enjoyed reading how they all navigated the huge changes the family underwent and how through humour and love managed to come out the other side in healthy relationships with both significant others and each other. The more I read, the more I understand! 4/5

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Megabooks
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Pickpick

Fascinating memoir! Jessi‘s life starts out unremarkable as the oldest of three girls with happily married parents. But soon her parents seem less happy and secure. She goes off to college and comes out as lesbian. In quick succession, her father comes out as gay, her brother comes out as trans, and her sister comes out as bi. There‘s also a storyline I couldn‘t figure out about her mom knowing a serial killer. 🤷🏻‍♀️ A very interesting family!

Cinfhen Real life is stranger than fiction- that‘s for sure!! Sounds like a memoir I‘d enjoy 😉 2y
Megabooks @Cinfhen i do think you‘d like this! Keep an 👀 out! 2y
Chelsea.Poole Oh yes 👏 added to my (super long and unmanageable) holds list. Thank you 😊 2y
72 likes4 stack adds3 comments