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A review by yvon
Melissa by Alex Gino
4.0
3.5 - 4 stars
I can only justify my rating by saying the book was too simplistic for my taste and therefore boring (but its middle grade so i cant blame it).
Overall I enjoyed the story, especially since i read the audiobook by a very talented narrator and a bonus q & a with the author!
We follow Melissa's coming out story as a trans girl. I like how throughout the story she already knows she's a "she", even at a young age. Then she has the opportunity to come out by playing Charlotte's role in the school play. And i love Kelly and how they start exploring femininity together. The ending was so wholesome. I believe it was a really good book, and I'm sure the target audience would enjoy it even more.
Now the controversy:
Some (cis but gender non-conforming) reviewers seem to be uncomfortable with how Melissa is a stereotypical girl. She likes pink, dresses and makeup. "Thats not what defines a woman!!" However, thats only a fraction of her identity, which appears later in the book. Besides being girly, she's always felt a connection to womanhood through women's magazines and she deals with body dysphoria too.
Let's not police womanhood. It doesn't have a set of strict requirements. If u can be a cis tomboy girl then others can be trans girly girls. They define their own identity, the same way you define yours.
Everyone can claim femininity: cis women, trans women, non-binary people, men. There is nothing wrong with femininity, not on anyone and not on a trans girl, and if it makes anyone uncomfortable, that might be subconscious (internalized) misogyny.
I can only justify my rating by saying the book was too simplistic for my taste and therefore boring (but its middle grade so i cant blame it).
Overall I enjoyed the story, especially since i read the audiobook by a very talented narrator and a bonus q & a with the author!
We follow Melissa's coming out story as a trans girl. I like how throughout the story she already knows she's a "she", even at a young age. Then she has the opportunity to come out by playing Charlotte's role in the school play. And i love Kelly and how they start exploring femininity together. The ending was so wholesome. I believe it was a really good book, and I'm sure the target audience would enjoy it even more.
Now the controversy:
Some (cis but gender non-conforming) reviewers seem to be uncomfortable with how Melissa is a stereotypical girl. She likes pink, dresses and makeup. "Thats not what defines a woman!!" However, thats only a fraction of her identity, which appears later in the book. Besides being girly, she's always felt a connection to womanhood through women's magazines and she deals with body dysphoria too.
Let's not police womanhood. It doesn't have a set of strict requirements. If u can be a cis tomboy girl then others can be trans girly girls. They define their own identity, the same way you define yours.
Everyone can claim femininity: cis women, trans women, non-binary people, men. There is nothing wrong with femininity, not on anyone and not on a trans girl, and if it makes anyone uncomfortable, that might be subconscious (internalized) misogyny.