Review: Melissa by Alex Gino

Melissa is the story of George. When most people see George, they see a boy. But George knows different. George knows that she is a girl and that she would rather be called Melissa, but she does not know how to make the world understand that. When her class decide to stage a play of Charlotte's Web, George finds herself wanting to audition for the part of Charlotte. When the teacher says that George cannot be Charlotte because she is a boy, George and her best friend Kelly come up with a plan to show everyone that George really can play Charlotte ... and show them who George really is, once and for all.

This was a short, punchy book for children with an interesting message about the price of not being true to oneself. George is a kid who knows who she is, but who finds herself boxed in and limited by other people's expectations--right down to a school that thinks it is a good idea to stage a class play where there are only two real parts. And maybe that could be an ideal point of discussion among younger readers. What if the teacher/class had chosen a play that had a much bigger cast, and plenty of parts that could be played by any child irrespective of their gender? Would this have allowed school to be a more inclusive place for kids like George? As the plot in this book stands, for George to succeed, it means that Kelly has to give something up. 

George also struggles with her mother's expectations and lack of acceptance, though that slowly changes over the course of the novel. We also see an excellent role model and ally in the school principal. 

I found some of the ideas in this book to be a little simplistic, in particular the way George gravitated toward very stereotypical notions of what girls like--ie dresses, fashion magazines and makeup. The novel would have benefitted if the reader had been able to discover some diversity amongst the kids in George's class, even if that diversity was not immediately obvious to George at the beginning of the story. For example what if it turned out there was a boy in George's class who everyone (including George at first) thought was a girl. Or what if there was a girl in the book who was not interested in traditionally feminine hobbies and clothing, but who still very much knew that she was a girl. Or perhaps a boy who likes fashion and sewing but who knows that he is a boy. As it stands, the novel has no character who contrasts and challenges George and shows that this is okay, thus adding nuance and a little more depth. Ultimately, though, the novel is very short and does a good job of telling the story that it intends to tell. 

Recommended.