Parrotfish

Angela is a boy living in a girl's body. She's transgendered and right in the middle of hir (hir is a combination of him and her) Junior year, she decides it's time to stop hiding who she really is and come out of the shadows. She has cut hir hair, bound hir breasts, and is going by the name Grady. This is a bold move for anyone, but for a high schooler, it is risky and causes all sorts of uproar.

Grady's family has its quirks, and hir mother and sister especially find it hard to accept Grady's change. The principle at school refuses to change hir name on transcripts because he believes she's just seeking attention and this will pass. Even hir best friend, Eve, abandons hir in hir time of need because she doesn't know how to deal with this change. Luckily, Grady becomes close with Sebastian, a rather geeky kid who doesn't seem to care what anyone else thinks. During this difficult period of adjustment, Sebastian becomes just the person Grady needs as a support and friend. Grady also develops a crush on Kita, a beautiful and extremely hip girl who is dating one of Grady's classmates. The whole novel isn't heavy, however. One of the most amusing parts of the novel is Grady's dad's love of Christmas and the lengths this family goes to to keep up their father's traditions of having a fully decorated (and gaudy) exterior, along with an interior that looks like something out of the Victorian era, on display for the neighborhood to view.

Through this story, we meet a strong willed person who knows hirself well enough to go against the grain in order to finally be happy with who she is, even if no one else understands. Although Grady doubts hir coming out at points because of other's reactions, she is also able to ask difficult questions and weighty subjects are discussed throughout the novel in an accessible and conversational manner. Sebastian and Grady bring up points about gender and if it is a stable characteristic that people should be judged on, if there is a gender scale where would people fall on it, and do people try too hard to act like the prototype of the gender they are labeled as? This is a well written story that is not too dramatic or heavy, but which deals with a subject that is not often addressed in young adult literature.


If you are interested in stories like this one or this issue I suggest reading Luna by Julie Anne Peters or Kate Bernstein's My Gender Workbook.

Crossing Lines

Football and Homosexuals. Ahh...yes that sounds about right. Wait...well somehow writer Paul Volponi marries these two ideas. The ideas not the football players!

Adonis is a senior Varsity football player. He's excited for his final season to start, but the new school year starts with more drama than anyone anticipated. Alan, a new student at school, is a flamboyant gay man who is not afraid to stand up for himself and be himself. Adonis wants nothing more than to avoid Alan, but Ethan, the football team captain, has a problem with Alan's sexuality and the way he presents himself. Along with that, the fashion club, whose vice president is Adonis's sister, has made Alan their president. Adonis cannot escape Alan's presence or keep out of the issues. The girl he's dating is a good friend to Alan, and thinks that Adonis is the only football player with the balls to think for himself and do the right thing. As the drama and homophobia in school heighten, the football players plan a prank that will hurt and embarrass Alan. Where does Adonis stand on the line? He's unsure whether to be safe with his friends, or to cross the line and do the right thing.

This novel is a young adult title. It approaches some hard issues like bullying, homosexuality, homophobia, and peer pressure. Unfortunately I didn't think it really delved into these issues. Volponi certainly gets the homophobia point across. There are lots of slurs toward Alan and it hurts to see petitions going around school to try and get him kicked out. Although Adonis is uncomfortable with all of this, he never says anything to anyone and then he lies to the girl he's interested in by telling her he's totally against what the guys are doing. He backs up his friends and their hurtful opinions through most of the novel. I didn't like him. I understand what a difficult place he was in, choosing between whether to remain one of the guys or to do the right thing and become an outcast.

The ideas were too black and white. At the end it became here was the right thing you should have done, and here is the wrong thing that was done. Also, the climax came at the last 40 or so pages of the book. Volponi didn't dig into the afterward of what happens to Adonis and how he deals with having stood up for the gay guy. It felt like the end of the novel should be the middle of it. There was so much more to be  probed and I wish he would have looked into the opinions in this novel more. A lot of points were brought up that felt useless. Alan's family dynamic is brought up, but it feels like it's thrown away a bit. There were details that are stuck in there that are pointless because they don't go anywhere.

All in all I was thankful that this novel looked at issues that are rife throughout high schools and the world. However, the main character was a guy who thought he was an individual, but gave into peer pressure by remaining silent. Maybe he is supposed to represent the more prominent figure of the person who enables by being quiet. I just wish these ideas were more looked at. There's so much depth there that could have taken this novel to a different level.