parrotfish

Author: Ellen Wittlinger

ISBN:978-1416916222

Publication Information: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Plot Summary:Grady McNair is a transgendered person who is slowly transitioning from female to male. Previously Angela, Grady is ready to take on a new name, a new wardrobe, and a new identity as he enters his junior year of high school. As Grady begins to transition he faces both hostility and support at school and at home. As Grady begins to lose friends, he also makes some in the most unlikely of places. As Grady learns about what his community will accept and embrace, and what they will not tolerate, he begins a journey of self discovery that teaches him about love, life, and family.

Critical Evaluation:Ellen Wittlinger's Parrotfish explores a community that is rarely represented in popular culture, and literature, whether it is geared towards adults or teens. She goes one step beyond and creates a transgendered F to M protagonist, which is even less represented than their transgendered M to F counterparts. What is truly wonderful about the book is that although Grady has his share of discrimination and bigotry, the novel takes place in a fairly liberal area with a loving family. It is a great coming out story that shows that although coming out and transitioning will be difficult, it doesn't always lead to death (like Boys Don't Cry, the movie based on Matthew Shepard's murder) or disownment from family (the story of many of the subjects in the transgendered documentary Southern Comfort). It is refreshing to see the struggles with acceptance that a liberal community and family faces when a person comes out as transgendered. The overall hopeful message of this book is a good one, and this is a must read for most teens, and especially teens in the transgendered community.

Reader's Annotation:Junior year is going to be very different for Grady. For one thing, Grady isn't Angela anymore, he has come out as transgendered and is slowly transitioning from girl to boy.

Author Information: Ellen Wittlinger was born and raised in Illinois. She received a BA from Milliken University and an MFA in creative writing at the University of Iowa. Besides YA novels, Wittlinger has also published a book of poetry and also enjoys writing plays. Her career as a children's librarian eventually convinced her to write YA fiction, and she published her first YA novel in 1993. She has two children.

Curricular Ties:Health

Genre:LGBTQ

Book talking ideas:

• Overall, how do you feel about Grady's parents reactions to his decision to transition? Would you react the same way?
• Discuss Grady's relationship with Eve? What would your reaction be if you were Eve?
• Why does Grady's Dad insist on carrying on the Christmas plays and decorations when no one else in the family enjoys the traditions?
  

Challenge issues: Transgendered issues.

• Familiarize yourself with the book and its contents.
• Check the library for specific policies on challenged books.
• Check the ALA website for advice on how to respond and react when a book has been challenged. (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/index.cfm)
  
• Find positive reviews from reputable websites.
• Ask the challenger for their specific objections and try to address them using information from the above research.

Interest Age: Grades 9 and up

Why I selected this piece: Transgendered issues are severely under represented in popular culture, so it is vitally important to be well versed in novels that tackle this subject matter for teens that are looking to be exposed to the transgendered experience.