Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality

by Sarah McBride Narrated by Sarah McBride

Overview

A captivating memoir that will change the way we look at identity and equality in this country

Before she became the first transgender person to speak at a national political convention in 2016 at the age of twenty-six, Sarah McBride struggled with the decision to come out—not just to her family but to the students of American University, where she was serving as student body president. She'd known she was a girl from her earliest memories, but it wasn't until the Facebook post announcing her truth went viral that she realized just how much impact her story could have on the country.

Four years later, McBride was one of the nation's most prominent transgender activists, walking the halls of the White House, advocating inclusive legislation, and addressing the country in the midst of a heated presidential election. She had also found her first love and future husband, Andy, a trans man and fellow activist, who complemented her in every way . . . until cancer tragically intervened.

Informative, heartbreaking, and profoundly empowering, Tomorrow Will Be Different is McBride's story of love and loss and a powerful entry point into the LGBTQ community's battle for equal rights and what it means to be openly transgender. From issues like bathroom access to health care to gender in America, McBride weaves the important political and cultural milestones into a personal journey that will open hearts and change minds.

As McBride urges: “We must never be a country that says there's only one way to love, only one way to look, and only one way to live.”

The fight for equality and freedom has only just begun.

Editorial Reviews

APRIL 2018 - AudioFile

Fear, conviction, and loss can be heard in Sarah McBride’s voice as she narrates her memoir, which recalls her coming out, her gender transition, and her political evolution, along with personal travails, including the loss of her husband. McBride’s story proves powerful because it represents a shift in trans memoirs. Her story is filled with radical acceptance and love, and, though tragic, it is not a tragedy of marginalization but of heartfelt loss to cancer. Her warm voice engages listeners, and even in her most intense moments, when it seems like she should be on the brink of crying, she maintains a consistent delivery, making sure her story is clearly heard and felt. Paul Boehmer reads a foreword by former vice president Joe Biden. L.E. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

The New York Times Book Review - Meredith Talusan

The most stirring moments in the memoir Tomorrow Will Be Different are not those in which Sarah McBride is making public history, whether as American University's first transgender student body president or the first openly trans person to speak before a major party convention. They are the private moments: when her mother tells her that she feels as if her son is dying; when she unexpectedly falls in love; when she realizes that this transgender man she plans to spend the rest of her life with will die. It is when McBride—having lived her entire adult life in public as a trans advocate and budding political figure—is finally able to shed her public persona that her narrative is most resonant. By becoming a nuanced character in her own book, she humanizes the impossibly competent, morally unsullied ideal she seems on the surface.

Publishers Weekly

02/05/2018
This moving account of an activist’s coming of age opens in 2012, on the day McBride came out as a trans woman. She was at the end of her term as student body president at American University in Washington, D.C. As a young person active in politics who had wrestled for years with a growing awareness of her gender identity, McBride knew her decision to come out at age 21 would “define the course of the rest of life,” and her candid memoir charts that whirlwind course in the subsequent five years. McBride writes of her internship in the Office of Public Engagement at the White House during the Obama administration, her work advocating for the passage of Delaware’s Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act of 2013, and her 2016 address before the Democratic National Convention: “It’s impossible to express the profound liberation of being able to do something as your true self when, for years, you’ve never been able to actually be yourself.” Inextricably linked to her work for LGBTQ rights is the story of the romance between her and her late husband, Andrew Cray, a fellow activist whom she met in 2012 and married in 2014—just four days before Cray’s death from cancer at the age of 28. McBride’s intimate story of fighting for social justice in the midst of heartbreak will resonate with many readers. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

McBride's story is touching, thought-provoking, at times tear-jerking, and absolutely worth the read for all who care about equality.”—Harper’s Bazaar

“Sarah McBride's memoir is a must-read, offering encouragement while showing that the fight for equality is just getting started.”—Paste

“In a world where the most vitriolic voices often sound the loudest, McBride's story reveals that most people are not prone to hate.”—The Washington Post

“Whatever the idea of a memoir from a still fresh-faced adult might connote, McBride subverts it: The past few years of her life contain more human experience than many lifetimes. . . . The tumult of these years—the affirming highs and the devastating lows—are chronicled in her vital and powerful new memoir, Tomorrow Will Be Different.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Sarah McBride is a force to be reckoned with. . . . And now, McBride is detailing her history-making journey in her new memoir, Tomorrow Will Be Different.”—HuffPost

“Sarah McBride's powerful memoir, Tomorrow Will Be Different, is a brave and moving story that will inspire and galvanize readers to join the urgent fight for LGBTQ rights. The energy and vigor Sarah has brought to the fight for equality is ever present in this book and she starkly defines what is at stake, and how we can do better to advocate on behalf of all people.”—Vice President Kamala Harris, New York Times bestselling author of The Truths We Hold

“Incredibly powerful.”—Hello Giggles

“Tomorrow Will Be Different is at once a memoir, a roadmap to liberation, and a love letter to anyone feeling the faint flicker of doubt as the fight for equality goes on.”—Ms.

“From the beginning, McBride has been breaking barriers in politics, and in her memoir . . . she steps into the fullness of who she is. Tomorrow Will Be Different is absolutely phenomenal.”—Bitch Media

“One of the most prominent transgender activists of her time, McBride interweaves thoughtful analysis of contemporary political issues, such as bathroom access and trans health care, into her own triumphant journey.”—Washington Blade

“Tomorrow Will Be Different is a life-changing book. With equal measures revolutionary fervor and down-to-earth kindness, Sarah McBride tells the story of coming out as trans and of the terrain, both personal and political, for transgender people and those who love us. Urgent, gentle, and fierce, Sarah McBride makes me believe that the future will not only be different, but glorious—not just for LGBTQ people, but for everyone.”—Jennifer Finney Boylan, New York Times bestselling author of Long Black Veil and She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders
 
“Tomorrow Will Be Different is a book about falling in love, being true to yourself, and creating change. Sarah's journey is as relatable as it is inspiring — a powerful, compelling story, beautifully told by a fearless activist who has only just begun to make her mark on the world.”—Cecile Richards, New York Times bestselling author of Make Trouble and former president of Planned Parenthood 
 
“Sarah McBride, an inspiring political leader and one of the nation's most visible and tireless advocates for equality, has already broken barriers and made history. Mixing tragic heartache with unending hope, Tomorrow Will Be Different promises to be a seminal book at a critical moment for both the LGBTQ community and our country.”—Chad Griffin, former president of the Human Rights Campaign

“Part autobiography, part advocacy, [Tomorrow Will Be Different] succeeds beautifully on both counts. . . . Highly readable and beautifully written, [McBride’s] is an inarguably important book that deserves the widest possible readership.”—Booklist (starred review)

“A brave transgender woman experiences both triumph and tragedy in this memoir of transitioning and so much more. . . . Throughout, the author ably balances great accomplishments and strong emotions. Reading McBride's inspiring story will make it harder to ostracize or demonize others with similar stories to share.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“In her first book, activist McBride shows self-awareness and purpose. . . . All readers will find this book enlightening.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“McBride’s intimate story of fighting for social justice in the midst of heartbreak will resonate with many readers.”—Publishers Weekly

APRIL 2018 - AudioFile

Fear, conviction, and loss can be heard in Sarah McBride’s voice as she narrates her memoir, which recalls her coming out, her gender transition, and her political evolution, along with personal travails, including the loss of her husband. McBride’s story proves powerful because it represents a shift in trans memoirs. Her story is filled with radical acceptance and love, and, though tragic, it is not a tragedy of marginalization but of heartfelt loss to cancer. Her warm voice engages listeners, and even in her most intense moments, when it seems like she should be on the brink of crying, she maintains a consistent delivery, making sure her story is clearly heard and felt. Paul Boehmer reads a foreword by former vice president Joe Biden. L.E. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2018-01-09
A brave transgender woman experiences both triumph and tragedy in this memoir of transitioning and so much more.McBride, the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, was a high school political activist well before coming to terms with her gender identity, so this mix of policy discussion and personal revelation seems to come naturally to her. What she had never expected is that she would be a widow at 24 and, two years later, become the first transgender speaker at a national political convention. The author first came to national attention in college, when, as student body president of American University, she announced first through social media and then in the pages of the school newspaper that she was transgender. She had previously presented herself outwardly as male. She was scared of rejection or even ridicule from the campus culture, but she received "a total and overwhelming outpouring of love and joy." However, McBride's earlier experience coming out to her parents had been more traumatic. Even though they were progressive and supportive of her gay older brother, they had been blindsided by her declaration. "So you want to be a girl?" asked her tearful mother, who later said, "I feel like my life is over." "I didn't want to be a girl. I was a girl," thought the author, who had felt like a girl in a boy's body since she was 10 and who had since recognized that if this were in fact a choice, it was the only choice she could make. She became an activist and eloquent spokesperson for LGBTQ legislation, the first transgender intern to serve at the White House, and an inspirational speaker at the Democratic National Convention. She also fell deeply in love with another activist, who would soon succumb to cancer, but not before they had the chance to marry. Throughout, the author ably balances great accomplishments and strong emotions.Reading McBride's inspiring story will make it harder to ostracize or demonize others with similar stories to share.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169239720
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

It’s rare to know in real time that what you are about to do will define the course of the rest of your life. But as I sat at my laptop in the small office I had been given as student body president at American University, I knew that my world was about to turn upside down.  I was about to reveal my deepest secret and take a step that just a few months before would have seemed impossible and unimaginable.
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Tomorrow Will Be Different"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Sarah McBride.
Excerpted by permission of Crown/Archetype.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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