I want to be clear-it isn’t.George, a fourth-grader who knows she is a girl, despite appearances, begins to tell her secret.
Said Gino on their website, “ is not real, so I can’t hurt her feelings, but the title of my book makes it seem as though it is ever okay to use an old name for a person when they have provided you with a different name that works better for them. This more closely aligned with how Melissa, the main character, sees herself and what she’d like to be called.
I was too swept up and grateful to recognize my responsibility.”īut this summer, Gino finally decided to take action, informally, crossing out the original title and replacing it with Melissa’s Story at book signings and encouraging readers to do the same on their website.
According to Publishers Weekly, David Levithan, who acquired and edited George, removed Girl from the title because, in his words, “I know Boy George, but I didn’t think kids would get that.” Said Gino, “I didn’t really think about it much after that. The text of the novel will remain the same.Īccording to Gino, the book was originally called Girl George (as a joke on Boy George) when Scholastic purchased the book they advised removing the word girl from the cover because the word could prevent adults from giving that book to boys. Now, six years after its original publication, the novel is being renamed Melissa, in order to spotlight the name the main character has chosen for herself. Alex Gino’s children’s novel George, about a transgender girl who wants to play Charlotte in her fourth grade production of Charlotte’s Web, has won a Stonewall Book Award, a Children’s Choice book award, and a Lambda Literary Award, and is also one of the decade’s most challenged books.
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