The meeting becomes very sour and conflicted very quickly, with Ben’s Dad becoming aggressive and authoritative, and both him and Ben’s Mom continually undermine Ben’s attempt to set boundaries and hold their parents accountable for their abusive actions. Ben decides to meet them in a restaurant, not telling Hannah their plan, but bringing Nathan as a secret witness. One day, they come across a missed Facebook message from their Mom asking to meet and talk things over. Taylor, Ben begins to expand their ability to talk about their parents and their complicated feelings about them as they feel both love and hate for their Mom and Dad. After Ben suffers a handful of panic attacks, they decide to begin mood-stabilizing medication to help treat their diagnosis of depression and anxiety.ĭuring their therapy sessions with Dr. Ben wavers in their ability to be completely emotionally available to their new friends, based primarily on the status of their mental health and the amount of support they receive and accept from Dr. Nathan introduces Ben to his friends Sophie and Meleika. Ben decides not to come out to Nathan, but despite their big secret, the two begin to forge a close bond. On Ben’s first day at North Wake High School, they meet Nathan Allan, who is instructed to show Ben around school. Taylor before they begin to open up about their emotions and thoughts.

Ben is still in shock after their parents’ violent reaction to their gender-identity and requires multiple sessions with Dr. She brings Ben to live with her and her husband Thomas in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the two of them set Ben up with a new school, new clothes, and a new therapist named Dr. Ben’s request is met with violence and misunderstanding, and their parents kick them out of the house into the cold winter night.īen is saved from the cold by their sister Hannah, who left home 10 years prior with no notice or communication. Ben asks their Mom and Dad to be called by their preferred pronouns, which are they/them/theirs, rather than being referenced in relation to their assigned male gender at birth. I Wish You All the Best begins with Ben de Backer, a nonbinary teenager living in Goldsboro, North Carolina, working up the courage to come out to their parents as nonbinary. The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Deaver, Mason.

I wish you all the best by mason deaver