George Literary Elements

LGBTQ / Children's Fiction

Present Day New York City

It is narrated in third person.

Emotional, Funny, Warm

Protagonist: George / Melissa; Antagonist: Transphobia

George hates to be referred to as a boy because she feels that she is a girl inside. All he wants is to play the role of Charlotte in the school play but cannot since she is seen as a boy. Through her journey revealing her true identity George, now Melissa, faces a lot of resistance from fellow pupils, parents, and even teachers.

The climax occurs during dinner when George reveals to her mother that she is a girl but she disregards and ignores her feelings.

The opening shows George hiding her stockpile of female magazines from her family; this foreshadows when her mother confronts her about the magazines, hence revealing the truth.

N/A

The novel alludes to the play version of Charlotte’s Web since the protagonist wants to play the iconic part of the titular character.

“The backyard was more pavement than grass, though tufts of green sprouted eagerly through cracks in the concrete. George propped her bike against the back wall of the house, hung her helmet from the handlebar, and guided herself down the three treacherously steep concrete steps, holding on to the thin metal railing for support. She knocked hard on the wooden door to compete with the rock music blasting inside.”

“You will always be my little boy, and that will never change. Even when you grow up to be an old man, I will still love you as my son.”

This statement is a paradox because the mother is not aware that the thing that George wants to reveal is he is a girl.

“She cried about Charlotte. She cried about being mad at Kelly. She cried about Ms. Udell thinking she was joking. But mostly, she cried about herself.”

“There was a worn-down pencil eraser, a pile of Q-tips”

“Their footfalls echoed heavily off the tile walls. Two handrails ran along either side of the wall, one a foot above the other.”