George is a sweet and poignant story about a ten-year-old girl who was born with a boy's body. Through George's inner thoughts and her interactions with those around her, author Alex Gino explains transgenderism and gender dysphoria in clear, easy to understand terms that late elementary to early middle school kids will relate to.
With a simple story and lessons that are often subtle, Nino helps kids to gain a better understanding of what it's like to be a transgender kid. Two things that immediately stood out for me were how Gino used female pronouns throughout the book when referring to George and the focus on the wonderfully supportive and accepting friendship between George and her best friend Kelly. I hope we all have at least one friendship like that in our lives.
The book also touches on complicated/negative reactions of family, friends and peers. From misinformation about transgendered people, to being loved yet misunderstood by family members, to outright bullying, I appreciated how honestly these reactions and difficult issues are relayed to young readers.
This short book packs quite a punch and I quite enjoyed the audiobook which was narrated by Jamie Clayton. George is a heartwarming and sympathetic story and through its brief exploration of topics related to transgendered kids, I have no doubt that this book will help countless transgender and non-trans kids better understand the struggles and complicated emotions experienced by transgendered kids who want to be seen as the person they are - inside and out.
My Rating: 4 stars
Author: Alex Gino
Genre: LGBTQIA, Children's
Type and Source: eAudio from public library
Publisher: Scholastic Audio
First Published: September 1, 2015
Run Time: 2 hours, 57 minutes
Narrator: Jamie Clayton
Opening Lines: George pulled a silver house key out of
the smallest pocket of a large red backpack.
Book Description from GoodReads: The middle-grade debut by Alex Gino, George, tells the story of a girl whom the world identifies as a boy.
When Gino’s heroine is not cast in the lead role for a fourth-grade production of Charlotte’s Web, she decides to reveal her true identity.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments totally make my day!! I read each and every one and really try to reply to all messages posted. Thanks for stopping by my blog!