Hung in the Middle

In this engaging memoir, author Alana Nicole Sholar shares her life journey as a transgendered individual growing up in 20th century rural America. Born as Alan, the second of three ‘pure bred’ Kentucky boys, Sholar dreamed of becoming a jockey…and nearly made it. One of Sholar’s earliest childhood memories is of trying on her mother’s clothes and discovering, not only that it felt good…but that it just seemed right. However, in that place (rural central Kentucky) and at that time (the 1960’s), this was not something to be admitted, or talked about—ever. As Alan, Sholar is a fast-driving, hard-drinking, guitar-playing horse whisperer. After a formal name change, the emerging Alana is recognized as a star pupil while learning to drive over-the-road eighteen wheel trucks—meanwhile, she is also learning to walk in high heels and apply her makeup correctly.

In the end, Hung in the Middle is a love story. It is about learning to love yourself. It is also one of those familiar—but always irresistible—tales about falling in love with someone who is at first inaccessible, but never giving up the pursuit. It is about finding your soul mate…and finally, it is a personal story about 21st century America’s evolution toward the acceptance and celebration of gender diversity.