I’ve been meaning to read Melissa for a while, and more so since I read Rick some time ago. It’s an important book for young readers, one that I found myself mulling over long after I’d finished.
George knows she is not a boy. She looks like one, and everyone sees her as one, but that’s not who she is, and she knows that. How can she come out to her family and friends? How long should she hide? When can she tell those around her that she is Melissa and not George?
As the school prepares to perform Charlotte’s Web, Melissa finds a tiny window of opportunity. As with Rick, which follows another character’s journey, Alex Gino embraces the possibility of discovering kindness around you when you show your most vulnerable self, and this makes Melissa an optimistic read. At no point does it seem like it is easy to come out as trans; yet, in Melissa’s world, her family and friends choose kindness over comfort. It isn’t easy for Melissa’s mother and brother to come to terms with her identity, but they do, and in them, as well as in her best friend, Melissa finds shelter.
In some ways, Melissa is a simplistic story, which ultimately made it slightly underwhelming. However, it remains the only book I’ve read with a trans child at its centre. Would I have understood it as a child? Would I have found someone to talk about it with? There’s no way of knowing the answer to the first questions, and as to the second, I’m quite sure the answer is ‘no’.
Yet, Melissa is a pathbreaker in so many ways, and I’m glad is out in the world. It’s a book that I hope will help children feel seen and give them the tools to talk about gender identity.
| Title | Melissa |
| Author | Alex Gino |
| Tags | Middle Grade, Queer |
| Rating (out of 5) | 4 |
| Ages | 11+ |
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