George

 

Meet George, a 10 year old boy who thinks he's a girl. Every year at school, the fifth graders get to put on a school play. This year it is Charlotte's Web and George wants to be Charlotte sooooo badly. During auditions, George reads for Charlotte's spot and the teacher explains that he cannot play a girl in the play. But George doesn't understand because he KNOWS he's a girl. He questions his sexuality. He tries to tell his mother. But for some reason only Kelly can hear him. Kelly lets him dress up like a girl and talk about girly things. Towards the end, Kelly decides he should play Charlotte and they won't tell anyone of the actor switch. It comes as a shock to everyone. A BOY playing CHARLOTTE? That's crazy! But George knows he's a girl, even when the boys at school pick on him and start fights. George knows.

Now, I'd like to put my opinion here. Alex Gino worked on this book for 12 years but only came up with a basic working mind of a 10 year old. At 10 years old, children shouldn't be questioning their sexuality, they shouldn't even know what that is. Growing up with only a sister, one of us always had to play the father when we played house. Girls can play as boys and boys can play as girls, that does not make you transgender at age 10. Defining our children at such a young age doesn't help or hurt them. As we grow older, we change. Our tastes change. As children we do not know who we are or what we want. 

UPDATE:

 

I just want to come back out and edit this.

Since reading George, I've taken several psychology classes and child development classes. It's now 2021. I'm in my mid-20s. I've moved away from everything that I knew and started to discover how I feel without the input of the people that I love. As an adult, I feel much more open-minded and have zero issue speaking my mind on issues that mean something to me. That being said, I'm including my original review above to show that it's okay to change your mind and views and sexuality as much as you want. I am sorry to teenage me for being swayed into thinking this book was not acceptable. Kids today need books like this.

 

I think that when I first read this I was making conclusions based on my own experiences. But with the knowledge that I have now, I can honestly say I was wrong. We don't give kids enough credit for understanding their own feelings. We can't make them feel a certain way, we can't possible understand things from their mind. They are individuals who know themselves better than anyone else.

 

That being said, I still don't like the way this book was written. I don't think Alex Gino got the idea out that he was trying to portray. It was an attempt to bring this new culture into the lives of children, which is great but it wasn't executed in a way that makes sense to all readers.