NAMED A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2021 BY THE TIMES 'Abigail Shrier does something simple yet devastating: she rigorously lays out the facts' The Times Groups of female friends in schools across the world are coming out as 'transgender'. Most are girls who have never expressed any discomfort in their biological sex until they hear a coming out story from a speaker at a school assembly or discover the internet community of trans influencers. 'Gender-affirming' therapists now recommend medical interventions for them. Abigail Shrier, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, investigates this phenomenon. Shrier has talked to the girls, their agonised parents, and the therapists and doctors who enable gender transitions, as well as to 'detransitioners' - young women who regret what they have done to themselves. Shrier concludes that far too much of the discourse around being female is negative, and offers a series of steps parents can take to enhance their daughters' well-being. 'Every parent needs to read this' Helen Joyce