George’s struggles are presented with a light, age-appropriate, and hopeful touch. George becomes convinced that if she plays Charlotte, her mom will finally see her as a girl. The word “transgender” is used midway through, but far more work is done by the simple choice to tell George’s story using third-person narration and the pronouns “she” and “her.” Readers then cringe as much as George herself when bullies mock her or-perhaps worse-when well-meaning friends and family reassure her with sentiments like “I know you’ll turn into a fine young man.” Each year the fourth-graders at George’s school perform a dramatized version of Charlotte’s Web, the essentials of which are lovingly recapped (and tear-inducing ending revealed) for readers unfamiliar with the tale. George, a fourth-grader who knows she is a girl, despite appearances, begins to tell her secret.
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