In The Moonstone Girls, award-winning author Brooke Skipstone unravels a story about seventeen-year-old Tracy Franks. Tracy has a secret that in 1968 could have deadly consequences. You see, Tracy is gay.
In her hometown of San Antonio, Tracy is forced to hide behind the “girl next door” facade, never allowing her true identity to emerge. Her only confidante is her brother, Spencer. He understands her turmoil exactly because Spencer is also gay.
Neither teenager feels free to talk about their true feelings with their family, especially their father, Art. Art constantly scolds his son for his feminine behavior, his desire to become a pianist instead of joining the military. Though he also shows his displeasure with Tracy, she, unlike her brother, fights back, but only in the privacy of their home.
Tracy keeps her secret from everyone–until the night she is kissed by her friend Ava at a party.
Ava and Tracy decide their relationship is worth exploring, but the two must do so in secrecy, and Tracy decides to pass as a boy whenever she and Ava go out in public. However, their charade is soon discovered, and Tracy’s life becomes a great deal more complicated.
Before long, Tracy will make decisions that will be life-changing and impact her entire family.
The uplifting theme of perseverance in this coming-of-age novel is a treasure. Tracy’s astounding bravery comes from wisdom beyond her seventeen years. She wields immense courage against every challenge, even though she sometimes doubts her abilities.
When Tracy can no longer play on the girls’ basketball team, she immediately plans to join the boys. Despite her frequent and painful injuries, she overcomes and, more importantly, never complains. She refuses to allow the stereotypical beliefs about the mental and physical limitations of her gender stop her dreams and ambitions.
Later, when Tracy plans a solo trip to Alaska, she buckles down and does what she must to reach her destination, a destination that also shapes who she truly is.
This emotional flexibility strengthens her character. Tracy “goes with the flow,” never allowing obstacles to remain obstacles. She chooses instead to make these stumbling blocks into life lessons that pair nicely with her already indestructible self-will.
Tracy and Spencer’s relationship juxtaposes them, in heartwarming and heartbreaking ways.
The two have much in common, but their differences become even more defining. Tracy stays strong under their father’s cruelty. At eighteen, the older of the two, has aspirations of Juilliard. Playing is the only time he feels secure and accomplished.
Their father’s harsh criticism weighs heavily on Spencer in a way only a parent’s disappointment can. To please his father, he must deny his self. Unlike his formidable sister, Spencer cares about his father’s approval. He will go to extreme lengths to chase Art’s blessing. He might even disregard his dreams and give up his chance at real love to please a man who refuses to acknowledge reality.
Though Tracy admits feeling awkward in her own skin, she never allows that to impede her desires. Especially when her father pushes her toward a lifestyle she can never maintain.
The Moonstone Girls reveals the innumerable difficulties faced by young gay people, male and female, in our society today – and in the past. By witnessing these two young people – so diverse in their coping mechanisms – allows readers to understand more deeply the struggles towards authenticity that many in the LGBTQ+ community share.
Like a high wire performer working without a net, Dana Ridenour’s captivating and provocative yarn, Behind the Mask, carefully treads that fine line between fact and fiction and does it with aplomb. 
