At age 15, he becomes Dean. Amy Wagner names him--and she would know best. Amy knows all kinds of things that Dean doesn't understand--things about sex, music, and the darker side of life. All Dean knows is his safe suburban home with his parents, books, and imaginary games. Until now, he's been able to hide his true identity, even from himself. To the rest of the world, he is a teenage girl--an awkward, boyish teenage girl, but a girl nonetheless. Meeting Amy changes everything. Soon that protected world around him begins to fall apart, and he is left with no option but to face himself and the truth.
I Know Very Well How I Got My Name chronicles Dean's clumsy progression through the American public school system. It is the 90's and early 2000's, in suburban Syracuse, New York--a world in which LGBTQ bullying is not yet a hot topic in schools, and there is little tolerance for outsiders of any kind. A prequel to his critically-acclaimed novel Refuse, Elliott DeLine's second book is about the prevailing myths surrounding bullying and abuse, and the hardships of being young and transgender without a community or a roadmap.
