Across the Green Grass Fields

 Across the Green Grass Fields by  Seanan McGuire  174 pages

Summary from Goodreads: Regan loves, and is loved, though her school-friend situation has become complicated, of late. When she suddenly finds herself thrust through a doorway that asks her to "Be Sure" before swallowing her whole, Regan must learn to live in a world filled with centaurs, kelpies, and other magical equines―a world that expects its human visitors to step up and be heroes.  But after embracing her time with the herd, Regan discovers that not all forms of heroism are equal, and not all quests are as they seem…

And here's what I thought: This is the 6th book in the Wayward Children series. In this story, the main character is Regan, a girl who has just learned something very important about herself and who is now struggling with that information. And who she has just told.  

Growing up, Regan has a pretty normal life and while she doesn't have a lot of friends, she is best friends with Heather, one of the most popular girls at school. Heather's not really a very good friend. but because of her, Regan is able to navigate through many social situations pretty easily. However, as she gets older and other girls start to enter puberty, Regan stands out because she's not developing as quickly. As it turns out, Regan is intersex, something that her parents explain to her and that she does some research about on her own. And, as you might guess, she tells Heather . . . and that turns out to be a very bad decision.

But then Regan discovers a door in the woods, with "Be Sure" woven into the branches and steps through into The Hooflands, a place populated with centaurs, unicorns and other hoofed creatures. At first, it's terrifying but she soon finds a group of centaurs who accept her into their own family. But hanging over Regan's head the entire time is a prophecy that when a human enters the Hooflands, they must be given to the queen because whenever a human shows up, something bad is going to happen in this world.

There's a lot in this very short book about destiny and what that means and what you do with it. And how these expectations can be a heavy burden, but it's easier if you have family and friends to share it with.  I won't spoil the ending or what happens with Regan in this world. But, if you have read any other books in this series, you know about these magical doors: they always show up again and children can step through, back into their own world.

I did like that McGuire's main character is intersex and like the other books in this series, there is a lot of thoughtful commentary woven through the story about people and society and the expectations people have of one another (and how those social conventions really don't always mean very much).