Parrotfish

First of all, I am glad that there was a book with a transgender character in it to choose from. Being transgender myself, it is nice to be able to see our narratives in young adult literature--an audience that really needs to see novels like these. That being said, it was clear to me that the author of the novel was not transgender herself. While she clearly did research, I felt like she was still lacking a lot of insight into the transgender experience. Also, this is just a pet peeve of mine, it is not "transgendered" it is "transgender". Saying someone is transgendered is like saying someone is blacked, or gayed: it just isn't correct.

All that aside, I thought that this novel has been an interesting read to the halfway point. Grady is a likable character that is clearly dealing with a lot. The text really addresses authenticity--being who you really are in the face of adversity. You can see a positive, yet difficult to deal with, example in Grady who is trying to be himself no matter the cost. Then there are characters like Eve, who are really trying to be someone that they are not. As far as stereotypes go, I am glad that this book centers around a trans-masculine character as the trans-masculine experience is usually forgotten about. It positions Grady as a fairly masculine individual though, which is kind of a stereotype for trans people. I would have liked it more if Grady had some femininity that he had in his personality that would help show the impact of his social upbringing--something that I know affects many trans people, including myself. It also would have been nice to see Grady have some gradient in his sexuality, instead of being straight.

I think that this novel portrays young adults in a slightly drastic, yet fairly realistic way. The kids at Grady's school are absolutely awful, but there are some gems among the muck as well, such as Sebastian. Grady is shown as essentially fearless in his resolve to be himself, which I actually found a bit unrealistic. In light of everything that he is facing, I would expect there to be a bit more anxiety around going to school. That being said, everyone's transition is very subjective and personal; I can not say that Grady's response to everything is not normal, because there is no "normal" when it comes to this. It's just one person's experiences. I think that this text would appeal to young adults because it deals with an experience a lot of students have little exposure to.

Overall, I would have to give this book a B+ so far. It is nice seeing a transgender character, but it is also clear that a bit more research would have helped this book a lot. I still think that it is informing people on the transgender experience in some way though, and for that I think it is an excellent book. A much, much better trans YA lit book, however, would be "Almost Perfect" by Brian Katcher.