Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in This Is How It Always Is, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gender and Binaries
Secrets and Misunderstanding
Violence and Discrimination
Storytelling
Family
Summary
Analysis
Rosie and Penn still keep in contact with Mr. Tongo, and they always use video chat instead of the phone so they can see each other as they talk. On one call, Mr. Tongo asks Rosie and Penn if they have started talking to Poppy about puberty and hormone blockers. Poppy is only nine, Rosie says, and they haven’t even thought about hormone blockers since the talk with Frank and Marginny at Dueling Dinners. It is too early, Rosie says, for Poppy to take hormone blockers. Mr. Tongo agrees. It is too early to take hormone blockers, but it isn’t too early to talk about hormone blockers. Puberty is difficult for kids like Poppy, he says, and the rate of suicide for such kids is over 40%.
The staggering rate of suicide for transgender teens that Mr. Tongo reports again underscores the extreme amount of stress, rejection, and discrimination the transgender community faces in American society. According to recent studies, up to one-third of transgender teens report having attempted suicide at least once. Mr. Tongo clearly thinks it is never too early to begin preparing Poppy for what lies ahead as her body continues to grow and mature.
Themes
