“We think you’re awesome!” said one girl at the the beginning of the Q & A session, after Gino had read part of one chapter. “We all thought that would be a great idea,” said Lindeman. The school’s librarian, JennyKate Marble, is also a friend of Gino and suggested bringing in the author for a talk. Last fall a Northampton therapist, Julie Mencher, who works with teens on gender issues, held a workshop with faculty and staff to help them become more familiar with addressing the topic in the classroom. The school also examines gender and community in a more general way, Lindeman noted. “It really took off like wildfire,” she said. “But more importantly, it’s a book for everyone.”Ībout 80 people, including students, parents, teachers and staff, came to the The Common School’s main meeting room to listen to the author, who was already something of a favorite: Many of the students in the school’s combined 5th and 6th grade class read “George” last year on their own, said director Christine Lindeman. “This is a book for trans people,” said Gino, a New York City native and writer who lived in Northampton from 2005 to 2008.
And Gino, who is genderqueer - very broadly, a person who identifies as neither exclusively male nor female - talked about the importance of self-identity and accepting people for who they are. Last week, Alex Gino, the author of “George,” came to The Common School in Amherst to read from the novel and answer questions about it.
It might have the most unconventional storyline for a children’s book since “Heather has Two Mommies,” by Holyoke author Lesléa Newman, debuted in 1990. The question of gender identity is at the heart of “George,” a middle-grade novel that’s been making waves since it was published in 2015. For one, George knows he’s not a boy: She’s actually a girl named Melissa.īut the rest of the world doesn’t see that - which is why the teacher won’t cast George as Charlotte the spider in the school play based on the book “Charlotte’s Web,” because Charlotte is a female character.
George is a fourth-grade student who’s troubled by a couple of things.
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