Shepard, Judy with Jon Barrett.  The Meaning of Matthew:  My Son’s Murder in Laramie and a World Transformed. 2009.  273p.  Hudson/Penguin, $25.95.  (978-1-59463-057-6).  Gr. 9-12.

The day that a young student at the University of Wyoming was tied to a fence and left for dead outside Laramie was a turning point for glbt rights.  Eleven years after Matt (as his mother called him) died, this tragedy has become an icon for those demanding rights.  In her book, Matt’s mother tells about his growing up, his family, his coming out as a gay man, and his struggles that led up to the horrifying telephone call to his parents in Saudi Arabia about the savage beating.  In simple, straight-forward language, Shepard then recounts the aftermath—the memorial service picketed by those who despise glbtq people, the plea agreement of one and the trial of the other murderer, and her and her husband’s responses.  Her book culminates in a brief description of her gay rights activism, work which has helped pass the federal law criminalizing an assault on an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.