Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars
"George stopped. It was such a short, little question, but she couldn't make her mouth form the sounds.
'Mom, what if I'm a girl?'”
GEORGE is the work of author Alex Gino. After someone reportedly said to him, "There should be a book about a trans kid!' Gino took that quote to heart and published this unique masterpiece twelve years later.
Ten-year-old George has recently become obsessed with the story "Charlotte's Web" after having to read it for Ms. Udell's fourth-grade class. More importantly, she's obsessed with Charlotte, the eloquent spider herself, and longs to play her in the upcoming school play.
What I loved about this story was the genuine character of George. There was no pretense or falsity in her persona. There were times when she was extremely happy, depressed, and angry (both rational and irrational); just like any child. It made the story feel more realistic and less fabricated as a whole. It's hard for her not to wear her heart on her sleeve. George was an easy character to love because I could quickly relate her to any child I've met, including my own younger sibling.
The length of GEORGE is short, about 200 pages, as it's a story meant for children around the ages of 10-12. That being said, Gino does a good job taking us through several different stages of stress a transgender child has to go through. The book starts with George questioning who she is, how society sees her while longing to be who she feels. And when she finally feels brave enough, thanks to the help of her spunky little friend, Kelly (who easily became one of my favorite characters along with her fun-loving father), George admits to those who she hopes will care to listen: "I'm a girl." She pulls her confession deep from the pit of her heart, where readers had watched it burn since chapter one, and presents it, first, to Kelly, her mother, and her older brother. And as she reveals herself to others she must deal with apparent disgust, rejection, bullying, and confusion. But George is able to find happiness in the acceptance she gains from those she loves.
Of course, I have to mention her amazing big brother, Scott. His ability to sense George's distress and attempt to cheer her up with video games paired with his adorable teenage response to her admission ("Weird. But it kinda makes sense. No offense, but you don't make a very good boy.") easily puts Scott at the top of my list for Best Fictional Big Siblings of 2015.
I enjoyed, with much compassion (sometimes irritation), watching George's mom struggle to understand her transgender daughter. There was no "Kumbaya" and hand holding around the dinner table. There was rejection, frustration, trepidation for her baby's future, but, most importantly, always love.
It's hard to bring up any cons to GEORGE. However, as I did end up giving it 4 out of 5 stars, I think it's only right that I name my reason. Kelly—George's sweet, funny, totally awesome BFF—was the quintessential "best friend" character. She was constantly happy for George and always supportive. And when George was mad and lashed out at poor Kelly due to her own feelings of hurt and frustration, it was understandable. They are kids, after all. But I wish that George had tried to apologize sooner or that Kelly had a chance to express just a little more anger at George's sudden harshness. But instead there's a substantial section of the book where they're not speaking to each other and George is sad and lonely without her best friend. Yet, their make-up scene is incredibly short; cute, mind you, but short. Kelly quickly forgives George and is all excited and happy to help her again. I don't know, but if my best friend had badly hurt my feelings, we'd at least have some semblance of a conversation about it even in the fourth grade. I believe Kelly gave an unnecessary apology, but one never came from George.
However, even with this small misstep, I highly recommend GEORGE to readers of all ages. With its simple writing style, it is much easier to get in touch with the emotions of the characters. Nothing is fluffed up or over-exaggerated to teach a lesson on a soapbox. Alex Gino delivers a fantastic story that both warms the heart and opens the mind. My only other con is that GEORGE is not required or suggested reading in many schools.
