
Symptoms of Being Human
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.69
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Tom Phelan
-
By:
-
Jeff Garvin
About this listen
Starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist
YALSA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers
ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults List
2017 Rainbow
A sharply honest and moving debut perfect for fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Ask the Passengers.
Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. But Riley isn't exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for re-election in über-conservative Orange County, the pressure - media and otherwise - is building up in Riley's life.
On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it's really like to be a gender fluid teenager. But just as Riley's starting to settle in at school - even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast - the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley's real identity, threatening exposure. And Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created - a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in - or stand up, come out, and risk everything.
From debut author Jeff Garvin comes a powerful and uplifting portrait of a modern teen struggling with high school, relationships, and what it means to be a person.
©2016 Jeff Garvin (P)2016 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
- By: Benjamin Alire Saenz
- Narrated by: Lin-Manuel Miranda
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship - the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
-
-
One of the best novels I've listened to in years.
- By Nyx on 10-27-13
-
Both Can Be True
- By: Jules Machias
- Narrated by: MW Cartozian Wilson, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ash is no stranger to feeling like an outcast. For someone who cycles through genders, it’s a daily struggle to feel in control of how people perceive you. Some days Ash is undoubtedly girl, but other times, 100 percent guy. Daniel lacks control too—of his emotions. He’s been told he’s overly sensitive more times than he can count. He can’t help the way he is, and he sure wishes someone would accept him for it.
-
-
A book worth a read
- By Tyson House on 04-14-22
By: Jules Machias
-
Pageboy
- A Memoir
- By: Elliot Page
- Narrated by: Elliot Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Can I kiss you?” It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously unfathomable experience. Here he was on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he’d carried for so long. But for Elliot, two steps forward had always come with one step back.
-
-
Ah, I wish this were better. I'm disappointed.
- By Jackson Theofore Keys on 06-07-23
By: Elliot Page
-
Concrete Rose
- By: Angie Thomas
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If there's one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it's that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad's in prison. Life's not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav's got everything under control. Until, that is, Maverick finds out he's a father. But it's not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child.
-
-
Five Starr!
- By Dayna on 01-18-21
By: Angie Thomas
-
This Is How It Always Is
- A Novel
- By: Laurie Frankel
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Rosie and Penn and their four boys welcome the newest member of their family, no one is surprised it's another baby boy. At least their large, loving, chaotic family knows what to expect. But Claude is not like his brothers. One day he puts on a dress and refuses to take it off. He wants to bring a purse to kindergarten. He wants hair long enough to sit on. When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.
-
-
Story mirrors our life -- to a point -- spoilers
- By 1mom3kids on 11-14-17
By: Laurie Frankel
-
I Wish You All the Best
- By: Mason Deaver
- Narrated by: MW Cartozian Wilson
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli, Mason Deaver's groundbreaking debut will rip your heart out before showing you how to heal from tragedy and celebrate life in the process. When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.
-
-
What a huge disappointment
- By M J S on 12-09-19
By: Mason Deaver
-
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
- By: Benjamin Alire Saenz
- Narrated by: Lin-Manuel Miranda
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship - the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
-
-
One of the best novels I've listened to in years.
- By Nyx on 10-27-13
-
Both Can Be True
- By: Jules Machias
- Narrated by: MW Cartozian Wilson, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ash is no stranger to feeling like an outcast. For someone who cycles through genders, it’s a daily struggle to feel in control of how people perceive you. Some days Ash is undoubtedly girl, but other times, 100 percent guy. Daniel lacks control too—of his emotions. He’s been told he’s overly sensitive more times than he can count. He can’t help the way he is, and he sure wishes someone would accept him for it.
-
-
A book worth a read
- By Tyson House on 04-14-22
By: Jules Machias
-
Pageboy
- A Memoir
- By: Elliot Page
- Narrated by: Elliot Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Can I kiss you?” It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously unfathomable experience. Here he was on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he’d carried for so long. But for Elliot, two steps forward had always come with one step back.
-
-
Ah, I wish this were better. I'm disappointed.
- By Jackson Theofore Keys on 06-07-23
By: Elliot Page
-
Concrete Rose
- By: Angie Thomas
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If there's one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it's that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad's in prison. Life's not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav's got everything under control. Until, that is, Maverick finds out he's a father. But it's not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child.
-
-
Five Starr!
- By Dayna on 01-18-21
By: Angie Thomas
-
This Is How It Always Is
- A Novel
- By: Laurie Frankel
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Rosie and Penn and their four boys welcome the newest member of their family, no one is surprised it's another baby boy. At least their large, loving, chaotic family knows what to expect. But Claude is not like his brothers. One day he puts on a dress and refuses to take it off. He wants to bring a purse to kindergarten. He wants hair long enough to sit on. When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.
-
-
Story mirrors our life -- to a point -- spoilers
- By 1mom3kids on 11-14-17
By: Laurie Frankel
-
I Wish You All the Best
- By: Mason Deaver
- Narrated by: MW Cartozian Wilson
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli, Mason Deaver's groundbreaking debut will rip your heart out before showing you how to heal from tragedy and celebrate life in the process. When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.
-
-
What a huge disappointment
- By M J S on 12-09-19
By: Mason Deaver
-
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- By: Stephen Chbosky
- Narrated by: Noah Galvin
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant "wallflower" Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
-
-
You're Not Too Old To Read This
- By Anonymous User on 08-06-18
By: Stephen Chbosky
-
Don't Ask Me Where I'm From
- By: Jennifer De Leon
- Narrated by: Inés del Castillo
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First-generation American LatinX Liliana Cruz does what it takes to fit in at her new nearly all-white school. But when family secrets spill out and racism at school ramps up, she must decide what she believes in and take a stand.
-
-
Stunning, funny, inspiring
- By Customer on 08-27-20
By: Jennifer De Leon
-
Detransition, Baby
- A Novel
- By: Torrey Peters
- Narrated by: Renata Friedman
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn't hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.
-
-
Emotional Torture
- By Teh Micha on 04-27-21
By: Torrey Peters
-
Girl in Pieces
- By: Kathleen Glasgow
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kathleen Glasgow
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At 17 she's already lost more than most people do in a lifetime. But she's learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don't have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you. Every new scar hardens Charlie's heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.
-
-
Touching, Sobering, Fascinating
- By Wendi on 05-31-17
By: Kathleen Glasgow
-
It's Kind of a Funny Story
- By: Ned Vizzini
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life-which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.
-
-
Really bad story
- By Nora on 08-20-18
By: Ned Vizzini
-
Loveless
- By: Alice Oseman
- Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown, Elizabeth Schenk, Imogen Church
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the marvelous author of Heartstopper comes an exceptional YA novel about discovering that it's okay if you don't have sexual or romantic feelings for anyone...since there are plenty of other ways to find love and connection.
-
-
This is my favorite book
- By Charlie Woodside on 03-08-22
By: Alice Oseman
-
How It Feels to Float
- By: Helena Fox
- Narrated by: Candice Moll
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Biz knows how to float. She has her people, her posse, her mom, and the twins. She has Grace. And she has her dad, who tells her about the little kid she was, and who shouldn't be here but is. So Biz doesn't tell anyone anything. Not about her dark, runaway thoughts, not about kissing Grace or noticing Jasper, the new boy. And she doesn't tell anyone about her dad. Because her dad died when she was seven. And Biz knows how to float, right there on the surface - normal, okay, regular, fine.
-
-
Fantastic!
- By Melanie on 12-18-23
By: Helena Fox
-
Mad Honey
- A Novel
- By: Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan
- Narrated by: Carrie Coon, Key Taw, Jodi Picoult, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined that she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in and taking over her father’s beekeeping business. Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.
-
-
Good writing but...
- By Suzanna on 10-08-22
By: Jodi Picoult, and others
-
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Anne Frank
- Narrated by: Selma Blair
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic - a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a 13-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building.
-
-
First review I've written - Had to write it
- By Cynthianna on 12-21-10
By: Anne Frank
-
If I Was Your Girl
- By: Meredith Russo
- Narrated by: Samia Mounts
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret, and she's determined not to get too close to anyone. But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can't help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past.
-
-
The middle
- By Kirah on 06-02-16
By: Meredith Russo
-
Gabi, a Girl in Pieces
- By: Isabel Quintero
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My mother named me Gabriella, after my grandmother who, coincidentally, didn't want to meet me when I was born because my mother was unmarried, and therefore living in sin. My mom has told me the story many, many, many, times of how, when she confessed to my grandmother that she was pregnant with me, her mother beat her. BEAT HER! She was 25. That story is the basis of my sexual education and has reiterated why it's important to wait until you're married to give it up.
-
-
Very good YA
- By Sunshine on 02-25-18
By: Isabel Quintero
-
Shrill
- Notes from a Loud Woman
- By: Lindy West
- Narrated by: Lindy West
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shrill is an uproarious memoir, a feminist rallying cry in a world that thinks gender politics are tedious and that women, especially feminists, can't be funny. Coming of age in a culture that demands women be as small, quiet, and compliant as possible - like a porcelain dove that will also have sex with you - writer and humorist Lindy West quickly discovered that she was anything but. With inimitable good humor, vulnerability, and boundless charm, Lindy boldly shares how to survive in a world where not all stories are created equal.
-
-
Bookclub or no bookclub?
- By Dan Mulligan on 06-17-16
By: Lindy West
incredible story. raw real relatable
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Awesome book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
YESSS
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Now, I know you noticed I said “their'' when referring to Riley. This is because Riley (on top of everything else), is Gender Fluid. In simple terms, being Gender Fluid means sometimes Riley sometimes feels like a girl, and sometimes they feel like a boy. As they refer to it in their own words, their gender is like a dial. The needle sometimes points closer to “girl” and sometimes points closer to “boy”. I'll be posting a more in-depth blog post about non-binary genders on Friday.
Riley, from the advice of their counselor, starts an anonymous blog under the username “Alix”. This blog unexpectedly explodes in popularity after Riley gives a suicidal trans girl advice that saves her life, but sends her back home where she's almost beaten to death by her father.
Riley now not only has to deal with the issues mentioned earlier but now they have to deal with the guilt of their blog causing that girl harm. Its mentioned in the story that the girl is not only alive, but she also thanked Riley for the advice. Even though the girl is ok with everything and even encourages other trans people to come out, Riley still feels guilty.
This would all be overwhelming if it weren't for Riley's two new friends, Solo and Bec.
Riley tries to stay anonymous and in the closet as long as they can but can Riley manage to stay that way?
Symptoms of Being Human is the first book I've ever read with a non-binary main character. As a non-binary writer/person, this was refreshing. The only problem I had with this book is the lack of “they/them” pronouns. Using “they” are a pronoun is extremely common for non-binary people (this isn't the ONLY pronouns used, but the most common).
This book was written by a cis male (which is another problem I had, but he at least did a decent job representing the community). The other issue I saw was the main character reinforces the stereotype that non-binary people are teenagers who run a blog (all too familiar to the stereotype of non-binary people being SJW Tumblr users). I'm 28 years old, married with a child, and proudly non-binary.
If you're non-binary or want to change up your usual cis, white male reading list, give Symptoms of Being Human a try.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
Non-binary reader
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A must listen!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I laughed, I cried, I learned
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Kuddos to Jeff Garvin .
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A perfect story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very informative re: gender fluid
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am so happy with this book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.