Virgin : and Other Stories

Set mostly in the American South, at the crossroads of a world both secular and devoutly Christian, April Ayers Lawson's stories evoke the inner lives of young women and men navigating sexual, emotional, and spiritual awakenings. In 'The Negative Effects of Homeschooling', Conner, sixteen, accompanies his grieving mother to the funeral of her best friend Charlene, a woman who was once a man. In 'The Way You Must Play Always', Gretchen, a thirteen year old who looks even younger, heads into her