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Mar 28, 2020
George may have the body of a boy, but inside she knows that she is a girl. After her fourth-grade class finishes reading Charlotte’s Web, they prepare to stage a theatrical production of the story, and George wants more than anything to be cast as Charlotte. But she is not allowed to even try out for the part because it’s a girl’s role. So George and her friend Kelly make a plan to not only let her play the role, but to help her begin to be who she truly is. George is a powerful and important story for the drastically underserved group of transgender children. I was very impressed with not only Gino’s ability to bring the experience of a transgender child to life, but also their ability to capture what it’s like to be ten. The way the characters talk and think, the things that are important to them, and their style of humor brought me right back to my own fourth-grade classroom, more than anything else I’ve ever read. Gino’s characters are real people. This make’s the main character’s journey of coming out all the more personal and poignant, so much so that I as a cisgender adult could easily relate to George’s struggles and experience.