Overview

Born into poverty and raised in a world that tried to define her before she could define herself, Maria Kim (formerly Kenneth Bongabong) grew up fighting battles most people never see-inside her home, inside her heart, and inside her identity. From a difficult childhood marked by hardship and discipline, to academic excellence that became her escape, Maria Kim's life unfolds as a journey of relentless resilience. As she navigates adolescence, first loves, silent heartbreaks, and the pressure to succeed, she learns that survival often demands sacrifice. Teaching becomes her calling-first in the Philippines, then in the United States-yet even success cannot shield her from betrayal, financial ruin, and emotional devastation. At the lowest point of her life-homeless, broken, and stripped of dignity-Maria Kim rebuilds from nothing. What follows is a powerful transformation: a rediscovery of purpose, a rebirth of identity, and the courage to finally live as her authentic self. As she transitions into womanhood and into Maria Kim, she faces love again-first through painful illusions, then through a love that finally chooses her back. This memoir traces her real-life journey through: poverty and achievement discipline and rebellion wrong love and true love shame and self-acceptance invisibility and visibility survival and becoming At its core, this is not only a story about being transgender-it is a story about becoming human without apology. Written with raw honesty, emotional depth, and cinematic storytelling, this book is a testament to the truth that no matter how many times you are broken, you can still rise whole. This is not just a story of falling in love with another person. This is the story of falling in love with yourself-after the world tried to teach you not to.

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9781965951415

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