Parrotfish

Bibliographic Info

Title: Parrotfish

Author: Ellen Wittlinger

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 2007

ISBN: 978-1-4169-1622-2

Plot Summary

Angela Katz-McNair is on the verge of a big move – she’s planning to return to high school after the Thanksgiving holidays as a boy named Grady.  She doesn’t have all the details worked out exactly, but she starts by cutting her hair, binding her breasts, and buying boy’s clothes.

The first hurdle she, now referring to herself as he, must pass is his family.  The family takes the news in with various levels of comfort and understanding.  At school though, the going’s a little harder.  A carton of milk is dumped down Grady’s back in the cafeteria.  A popular girl decides to humiliate Grady by taking his clothes while he’s in the shower and replacing them with revealing women’s clothes.

Things improve for Grady as he finds new friends, and old friends adjust to the change.  He is supported by some teachers and soon by his family.  He even wins the attention of a beautiful girl.

Critical Evaluation

While this book is valuable in its effort to represent transgendered teens, its delivery leaves something to be desired.  The dialogue feels so contrived, that it’s as if the reader has been thrust into a scripted role-playing exercise.  Also Grady’s announcement is met with immediate acceptance by one classmate, who instantly becomes Grady’s best friend and protector.  This sounds nice, but is completely unrealistic.  The sudden positive attention of a popular couple is also unrealistic.  When the couple separates briefly, the gorgeous popular girl expresses interest in Grady.  It simply doesn’t ring true.

On top of the plot and character issues, there is a constant drone about the specifics of transgendered individuals.  The reader is being educated, which may be positive in some respects, but the lessons don’t belong in the realm of fiction.

Reader’s Annotation

Grady is an average boy, concerned with making and keeping friends, interested in girls, trying not to seem like a complete dork.  There’s just one catch, Grady was born a girl, with all the physical specifics that that entails.  He must struggle to assert himself in a world which doesn’t provide a neat category for people like himself.

Author Info

Ellen Wittlinger was born on October 21, 1948 in Belleville, Illinois.  She attended Milliken University in Decatur, Illinois.  She earned her MFA in writing at the University of Iowa.

Wittlinger mainly wrote poetry and plays until she became a mother, and worked as a children’s librarian.  She began reading and writing young adult fiction and published her first novel, Lombardo’s Law, in 1993.

Wittlinger, E. (n.d.). About Ellen Wittlinger. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from http://www.ellenwittlinger.com/about.html

Genre

GLBT Lit

Curriculum Ties

Health, especially human sexuality

Book Talking Ideas

Imagine that since birth you had been dressed in sweat pants.  You hate sweat pants, but now you’re a teenager and everyone things that your clothes say something significant about you.  Well they don’t.

Reading Level

14+

Challenge Issues

Story is about a transgendered individual

Challenge Responses

Active Listening

Refer to library’s collection policy

Provide complaint form

Refer to book reviews

Selection

Assigned.