Credit: UNSW Press

"Is it a boy or a girl?" It's the question everyone asks as soon as a baby is born. In response, you have a choice of two correct answers and you must pick one - there are no other options. Making Girls and Boys questions why we restrict gender to only male or female and sensitively describes the ramifications for people who can't be so easily labelled.

Opening your eyes to the stories of girls who suddenly develop as men at puberty, or boys who have two X chromosomes, this book tells us our binary definition of gender is no longer sufficient.

McCredie doesn't just rehash the tired nature versus nurture debate but weaves in details of embryonic development, trends of societies past and shares the heartbreaking stories of the children and adults who can't reconcile their own sexual identity.

Thoughtful and touching, this book urges us to reconsider the rigid gender paradigm we have created for ourselves.