Melissa (Formerly Published as George)

This book is a milestone in transgender literature for kids. Published in 2015, it follows a fourth-grader’s attempts to get classmates, teachers, parents, etc. to see past the surface: she’s a girl named Melissa, not a boy named George as everyone perceives. An argument often leveled against transgender kids is that they can’t know they’re transgender because they’re too young. This novel counters that by compassionately and realistically portraying a child who knows her identity from an early age, and it shows how devastating it is when the people who should love and support Melissa instead reject her assertion of… show more.

Kids ask the best questions, right? I love when they want to understand current events and things that really matter to their fellow humans, but I’m occasionally at a loss as to how to explain things in kid-appropriate language that they can really grasp. I’m endlessly grateful to Alex Gino for writing Melissa, formerly published as George. Even the retroactive title change of this book made for awesome conversation with my kids-- it was a great way to illustrate how people transition and how, while it might be an adjustment, we can get used to change and see… show more.