specific groups

Donna's story is both typical and atypical at the same time of the Transsexual experience. Her experiences serve to provide real life examples of "how to" and "how not to" regarding gender transition. As another traveler on the transitioning journey, Donna's honest revelations of her experiences and feelings were refreshing, joyful and yet often so painful to read. I was captivated from the beginning and couldn't put the book down. There were times when I caught myself saying things out loud, trying to warn her that what she was about to do was obviously the wrong thing, wanting desperately to remove the pains and struggles that I so related to.

I highly recommed this book to any male-to-female transsexual, as well as to their friends and family members. Although Donna doesn't capture every single aspect that any transsexual might experience, she touches on so many that anyone can benefit from reading her life story.

Thank you Donna for being so brave and courageous to survive long enough to be living your life fully and for sharing that journey with us all.

Donna Rose has documented, in "Wrapped In Blue", her journey through the maze of emotional and physical pain created by a physical gender that is inconsistant with the person she has truely been since birth. Written in a style all her own, Ms Rose brings her readers along on her journey with emotionally honest details of her life and her decision to surgically consolidate her emotional and physical gender into the woman she was born to be. "Wrapped In Blue" should be on everyone's "Must Read" list, transgendered or not, for all to better understand those feelings we all have to one degree or another but can neither define or explain to anyone, not even ourselves.

For those of us out there wandering and wondering their way through life, dealing with or refusing to face the innermost issues of the self, Wrapped in Blue can be a wonderful and useful tool in our journey of self discovery and hopefully, of self acceptance. I truly thank whatever powers lead me to find such a work at the time when I did.

Donna's honest and detailed account of her struggles and methods toward achieving true inner peace are nothing short of amazing. As we worry and face issues in our lives that seem so big we cannot even begin to grasp them, we tend to get wrapped up in our ever-churning minds and can become paralyzed by the enormity of it all. Wrapped in Blue reminds us that we each can face the challenge of self-discovery, regardless of the monumental hurdles we think life is placing before us.

Although as a slowly blossoming transsexual this book resonates profound chords of hope within my soul, I also feel this book tells a wonderful story for anyone from any walk of life who struggles with issues they feel are so enormous and heavy that no hope exists for true inner peace. Agree or disagree, understand or cringe in revulsion at the thought that there are human beings who face the issues of transsexualism, if one keeps an open mind, he or she may just find that this is not merely the story of a man becoming a woman, but a tale of self-discovery, self-acceptance, courage and perseverance. For myself, Donna's tale has provided an emotional release the likes of which I had never before known, both positive and negative: swelling joy and ringing triumph that us humans can indeed achieve the impossible; deep sorrow and dire fear of that which such achievement can and often does unleash upon ourselves and the ones we love.

As Donna said in the text, "I had a lifetime of questions and frustrations to unload and I felt I would find no comfort or peace until I had some answers." Wrapped in Blue will not provide us with our answers, but maybe, just maybe, it can help us on our journey to seek them.