George

George

Juvenile fiction
"If George were there, she would fit right in, giggling and
linking her arms in theirs. She would wear a bright-pink bikini, and
she would have long hair that her new friends would love to braid.
They would ask her name, and she would tell them, my name is Melissa.
Melissa was the name she called herself in the mirror when no one was
watching and she could brush her flat reddish-brown hair to the front
of her head, as if she had bangs."
As you've probably guessed, George, protagonist of Alex Gino's
George, is transgender. Her magazine collection, which she hides from
her mother and older brother, is her prized possession. When she's
sure she's alone she studies the pictures, imagining herself into them
as Melissa.
School is a challenge for George to navigate. Bullies pick on
her. Her teacher sees her becoming a "fine young man." And then
there's the bathroom.
"...the whole room was about being a boy, and when boys were in
there, they liked to talk about what was between their legs. George
tried never to use it when there were any boys inside. She never
drank from the water fountains at school, even if she was thirsty, and
some days she could make it through without having to go once."
It's a school tradition for the fourth graders to put on a play
version of Charlotte's Web. After much practice George auditions for
the part of Charlotte. Only her teacher thinks she is playing a prank.
Then George's mother finds her magazine stash and reacts very
badly. "'George, I don't want to find you wearing my clothes. Or my
shoes. That kind of thing was cute when you were three. You're not
three anymore...'"
Only there may be hope for George. Read the book to see.
I believe that George is an important addition to transgender
literature. There are amazing picture books and insightful reads for
the YA crowd. But in that early reader limbo known as chapter books
there is almost nothing. Kids who know in their heart of hearts they
are not their assigned genders will find inspiration and hope.
On a purrrsonal note, I had an amazing weekend. The 600 Lisa Frank
stickers Eugene ordered for me arrived. I was finally able to
decorate Mathilda (my laptop). I was also able to start
scrapbooking. I have a lot of family photos in boxes. I'd shied away
from scrapbooking because I knew I wouldn't do it nearly as well as
Amber. But when I tried I had fun and liked my pages. That will be
one more thing to put on my list of coronavirus achievements. I went
for walks. I saw my first crocuses of the year--dear little yellow
and purple ones. And on Sunday evening I participated in a family
zoom. All my kids and their fiancées, Eugene, and I talked as the
four family cats made appearances. We talked over 2 hours. It was
great to spend time together. It was the first time they saw Tobago.
They think she's beautiful. They also like my scrapbook. So it was
an amazing weekend. (Jules)
There was a moth in the house. I tried my best to catch it. It
stayed near the ceiling. I guess it can tell who the preditor is
around here. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to my growing family. They're the
cats' pajamas.
Oh, yeah, my daughter, Amber, has some cool spring crafts on her blog:
amberscraftaweek.blogspot.com
If you're in need of creative ideas why not check it out?
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



Sent from my iPod