Al Cetta

Though this book gets points for being a trailblazer, I will say it is pretty flawed.
But it's easy for me to pick apart a text that tried to tackle controversial issues a decade-ish after it was written. We as a society have had more thoughts and discussions and made new revelations on the issue of trans visibility and representation since then.
This book seems to want to normalize a trans teen experience, but often comes across as a sitcom version of reality.

As with some other YA and MG books I've read with trans characters, the emphasis is often on 'passing' which to me seems to only add to the social obsession with trans bodies and policing of looks and our needlessly strict gender norms.
Everything feels a little too convenient for our hero. A haircut and a chest binder and girls at school think he is attractive. He is very fortunate throughout the book, though I read somewhere that the author made a conscious choice to have a happy ending and positive feel to the story.

The writing isn't really to my taste, but I imagine that some young people might appreciate the simple candid style when paired with a topic that might feel confusing to them. I could imagine this book helping some close minded people learn basic empathy for trans teens but it should not be the only text used in said hypothetical mind-opening literature experience.

Let us hope this book inspires more in the genre.… (meer)

Angela never felt quite right as a girl. Everything in her life has lead up to the day that she decides to come out as Grady, a transgendered individual. Even though Grady feels ready to come out, he isn't prepared for the reactions of his friends, family, and those surrounding him. He doesn't understand why people can't just let him be himself, be the person that he always knew he was. Through finding friends in un-expected places and finding his possible first love, Grady begins to finally find support and acceptance. Will this allow him to finally become comfortable in his own skin?

For anyone looking for a good novel about a transgendered individual, they don't have to look much further than Parrotfish. Since the novel is told from the point of view of the transgendered character, readers are able to gain insight into a world that they might not know much about. I think this was the main reason I liked this novel so much. That, and Grady is such a relatable character. Even if you aren't a transgendered individual, Grady struggles with accepting himself, and not caring about what other people think of him, which are problems that basically everyone deals with. His character is also very well developed, making him even more relatable. Parrotfish is an important novel because it gives voice to a community that doesn't get a voice in literature very often, and it does it well, which isn't always the case. If someone is looking to better understand the transgender community, Parrotfish is a good place to begin.

For a classroom setting, I don't think this could necessarily be taught to the class, but it is a novel that is worth keeping on the shelf, especially if you have students going through similar things to Grady. It would also be a good novel to keep around in case students have questions about the transgender community. It can definitely help to open students eyes to a community that they might not necessarily know a lot about.… (meer)