A Safe Girl to Love

Lambda winner Plett (Little Fish) made her debut with this impressive collection, which now returns to print. “Twenty Hot Tips to Shopping Success” is framed as a darkly satirical guide for a woman who’s just transitioned. In “How Old Are You Anyway?” cam girl Lisa, 27, tries to avoid her ex’s transphobic cousin and has a rough sexual encounter with a neighbor. In the excellent “Not Bleak,” Carla and her boyfriend Liam’s housemates suspect Zeke, a newly transitioning Mennonite woman, of stealing Carla’s hormone treatments. Later, Carla agrees to pose as Zeke’s girlfriend on a visit to her grandfather, where Zeke passes as a man in her traditional community. The episodic “Winning” follows Zoe, 24, back to her hometown of Eugene, Ore., where she hangs out with old friends, finds new crushes, has an uneasy sexual encounter with her boss (who doesn’t know she’s trans), and deals with her strained relationship with her mother, Sandy, who is also trans. Plett has a knack for cracking open her characters’ messy, conflicted feelings with punchy lines, as in “A Carried Ocean Breeze,” when the narrator reflects on her and her friends: “I don’t want to be brave. I want us to be okay.” These character studies are thoughtful and gorgeous. (Apr.)