Answerability in Children's Literature: Learning from Melissa in Alex Gino's "George"

• Published in: Journal of children's literature Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 4 - 14
• Main Authors: Hermann-Wilmarth, Jill M, Ryan, Caitlin L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Las Vegas Children's Literature Assembly 01.10.2019
• Subjects: Aesthetics; African American literature; Authorship; Children & youth; Childrens Literature; Christianity; Classrooms; Content Analysis; Core curriculum; Elementary Education; Elementary School Students; Elementary schools; Families & family life; Family (Sociological Unit); Females; Gays & lesbians; Gender; Gender identity; Grade 4; Ideology; Interpersonal Relationship; Intersectionality; Learning; LGBTQ People; LGBTQ studies; Literacy; Literary characters; Literary Criticism; Literary devices; Literary influences; Literature; Middle Schools; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Novels; Pedagogy; Plot (Narrative); Readers; Reading; Sexual Identity; Student Behavior; Teacher Educators; Teachers; Teaching; Transgender persons; Travel literature; Violence; White Students; Young adult literature; New York; United States > US
• ISSN: 1521-7779

When it comes to being productive allies and co-conspirators with and for transgender people, the authors have been particularly drawn to "George" (Gino, 2015), perhaps the first mass-marketed, #OwnVoices novel with a young transgender protagonist, a White fourth-grade transgender girl named Melissa. This article investigates the mechanisms through which Gino's (2015) text constructs a window into experiences of transgender people that is instructive for would-be co-conspirators. Through critical content analysis, the authors demonstrate how Gino asks readers of the text to be answerable to Melissa's identity through the information they (and Melissa) share about who she is. The analysis shows that this cyclical, reciprocal process of visibility and response that readers experience is also mirrored by the examples of other characters in the text as they navigate their interactions and relationships with each other and with Melissa as Melissa's identity becomes more visible to them. This allows these characters the opportunity to address her more accurately and be answerable to who she is as a transgender girl.