Customer Reviews

Parrotfish

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought this novel was okay. It was well written, as all of Wittlinger's book are. She had wonderful characters and quite a bit of humor. I really liked everyone, especially Sebastian. I hope there's someone in real life just like him! Angela/Grady was very easy to like and understand.

My problem with it is that Grady's transgendered natured seemed to... technical. For me, the book on scratched the surface on how it feels to be transgender. It felt secondhand and distant. And for someone who claims not to like labels, Grady sure loves to use them. "Transgendered" and "Gender Dysphoria" were thrown around true to dictionary definitions.

Basically, the core of this story reads like an afterschool special, not a true-to-life drama and that takes away from the overall quality of the story. I'd recommend Luna over this one. And for a great novel that features a boy named Grady, definitely check out Target by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson!

Angela Katz-McNair isn't your typical teenage girl. She is, in fact, a boy. Sure, she may have the body parts that science uses to dictate her gender, but, in this case at least, science has gotten it all wrong.

Shortly before Christmas, Angela announces to her family that she's decided to act on the issue of being a boy trapped in the body of a girl. Her name is now Grady. She's cut her hair short and she's wearing boy's clothes. Grady is determined to make the change permanent, and as complete as he possibly can.

He starts by announcing his decisions to his family, which is met with assorted reactions. His dad seems to take the news in stride; after all, Grady was always a tomboy who did "guy stuff" with him anyway. His sister, Laura, is sure that Grady is out to ruin her life, and her high school experience. His younger brother, Charlie, doesn't care all that much, as long as the news doesn't affect his video game playing. And his mother, well, his mother isn't at all sure what to think, how to act, or what to do.

Since Grady is determined, he doesn't just turn into a transgendered person at home. He makes his intentions known at school, too, and you can probably guess what some of the consequences are. Friends are no longer friends; indifferent acquaintances become outright enemies. But there are also bright moments in Grady's new life: he makes a new best friend, Sebastian, who introduces him to the scientific wonder of the parrotfish, an ocean fish who can, and does, change gender. He also finds allies in Russ and Kita, a powerhouse high school super-couple who raise new questions in Grady's mind when he starts falling for Kita himself.

PARROTFISH is a wonderful, emotional novel dealing with the issues of identity and transgenderism. Previously, the only other book I've read on the matter is Julie Anne Peter's Luna, in which a girl was born in the body of a boy. I have to say that both novels are wonderful, and for teens questioning their own identity, are more than just a good read. Ms. Wittlinger has also included resources in the back of PARROTFISH for help and support. Overall, this is a great work of fiction, but it's also a great story dealing with one teen's struggle to find himself outside of society's norm.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Back in the 1980s and part of the 1990s, it was rare to find a gay or lesbian-related YA book with a happy ending. The real lives of gay and lesbian teenagers tended to be pretty depressing, at least until they could leave home and move to a more gay-friendly area.

The YA genre took a while to start writing about transgender (and bisexual, for that matter) teenagers, but by the time they did, America had become a place more accepting of GLBT people. Perfect? No, not by a long shot. But in an age where high schools have gay-straight alliances, newspapers write articles about kids coming out of the closet in middle school, TV shows feature teenage and adult GLBT characters, gay celebrity weddings merit the same huge gossip magazine writeups as straight celebrity weddings, another famous person seems to come out of the closet every month or so, and very few Americans can say they don't know anyone who is openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, is it really that difficult to imagine that at least one teenage FTM kid living in Massachusetts could transition without utter rejection from his family or threats of violence?

I disagree that there's anything unrealistically happy about this book. Grady faces his share of problems, including social ostracization, bullies, family conflicts, and falling for another boy's girlfriend. I also don't think, as some reviewers have said, that there's anything particularly feminine-sounding about Grady's inner monologue. While "Luna" by Julie Anne Peters was also a good book, if I were a transgender teenager I would find "Parrotfish" much more uplifting and reassuring - a sign that maybe I could find a happy life within my existing one.

Questions of message and influence aside, I liked this book because of the way it pulled me in - reeled me in? - from the very first page. The characters are interesting and relatable; I was particularly interested in Grady's friendship with Eve, his lifelong best friend who's now more or less abandoned him in hopes of high school popularity. Their rift begins before Grady's announcement that he's a boy, which I thought was a good move on the author's part because it gives Grady problems that aren't related to his being transgender - problems that could happen to any high school kid. I also found the reactions of Grady's parents and teachers to be multi-layered and realistic; for example, although Grady's mom isn't happy at first that he's transitioning into a boy, she wants to know why he can't at least do it wearing nice-looking clothes that didn't come from Goodwill. One teacher's comment that the principal will have to "approve" Grady's name change before the teacher will address him as Grady made me laugh, groan, and roll my eyes. I remember micro-managing teachers and administrators like that from when I was in high school.

I'd recommend this book to any teenager who is transgender, interested in GLBT issues, or else just likes a good, involving story.

I was hoping that this would be the first young adult novel to really get into Transgender issues. Unfortunately, like the book Luna the author doesn't understand what it is like to actually go through the transition. While Luna was told from the point of view of a family member, and therefore the author's voice was more convincing, Parrotfish is told from the point of view of a kid actually considering transition himself. The author certainly did some reasearch, but she didn't make Grady's life convincing. For a better account on this subject, try the nonfiction book Becoming a Visible Man or What Becomes You (American Lives).

There may be better books than this one, and certainly it won't be the last ever written about a trans man. In a world void of young adult books about trans men, this is a shiny beacon.

Granted, it isn't written by a trans man. There are going to be things wrong with it. I expected that. With this said, it does not present a soap opera tragedy, which is refreshing. It presents a trans man character whose family and friends are supportive - an occurrence which is thankfully becoming more common these days. It provides a model of what a trans man who transitions before graduating high school will behave like and will experience.

Is this realistic for all trans people? Not exactly. It is realistic in presenting a trans man as an actual human being, and one who isn't destined to lifelong gloom. It also provides a realistic example of what happens when people are accepting and supportive of someone who is coming out.

With that said, trans women are not in the picture at all. As far as I remember there are no POC, and there are no non-trans queer characters. The author's information about trans people is correct, which is refreshing.

Angela, a sophomore in High School, decided to let the world know that she wasn't really a lesbian, but rather a boy. She adopted the name Grady, cut her hair, bound her breasts and bravely forged his new identity.
It is important for everyone to have tolerance for people who are different, and simply wish to live their lives by following their own truth.
There were too many stereotypes in this book for me to rave about it, but it had merit in that it addresses subject matter that needs more attention.

It's nice to see another young adult fiction book about Transgender. The book was easy to read and somewhat informative. The only negative to me was that I never felt a connection to the main charater.

What sets Ellen Wittlinger's latest novel, Parrotfish, apart from other young adult queer fiction that features a trans character (such as David Levithan's Boy Meets Boy or Julie Anne Peters' Luna) is that Parrotfish tells the story of a young FTM, Grady.

Given the historical trend of focusing on transexual, transgender, and MTF women not only in academic and scholarly realms, but also in fiction and memoir, Wittlinger should be commended in turning her focus to transexual, transgender, and FTM men--perhaps even more so because she deals with a transboy whereas other authors have told the stories of transmen.

Parrotfish opens with Grady's assertion of himself as a transyouth. His joy in having come out as trans is apparent, clearly buoyed by his feelings of finally being about to tell his truth, "And the truth was, inside the body of this strange, never-quite-right girl hid the soul of a typical, average, ordinary boy" (9).

Like many trans coming of age/coming to be stories, one of our initial points of introduction revolves around naming. About his chosen name, Grady says, "'It's a name that could belong to either gender...Also, I like the gray part of it--you know, not black, not white. Somewhere in the middle'" (6). Other elements of Grady's transition that Wittlinger touches upon includes binding his breasts, changing his wardrobe, and negotiating bathrooms.

Perhaps most significantly, however, are the ways in which we travel alongside Grady as he manages his transition in relationship to the people in his life--family, friends (old and new), teachers, classmates, cashiers, etc. It is through these human interactions that the richness of Wittlinger's novel arises. To her credit, Wittlinger portrays a wide range of characters' reactions to Grady's transition. By offering several different points of identification, Wittlinger not only makes Parrotfish a novel that can potentially resonate with a wide and diverse readership, but also constructs a nuanced tale of transyouth living. These elements make Parrotfish a novel that simultaneously sympathetically opens readers' hearts up to Grady's struggles, while pointing to the need and importance for us to more closely examine our roles, responsibilities, and culpabilities in these struggles. (After all, despite its beginning, Parrotfish is still a coming of age/coming out novel and so retains the traditional arc of having to overcome struggle.)

One character of note to look forward to is Kita Charles. I was indeed quite impressed with Wittlinger's development of this biracial character and the connections between sexuality and race that she embodies and highlights.

Once again, Ellen Wittlinger captures a teen voice in all its cynicism, humor, and edge of vulnerability. I loved the inner dialog in PARROTISH, where Grady plays out what strikes him, and me, as what people are really thinking behind their spoken words. This is often funny in that I've-been-there way.

The novel begins with the dad beginning his Christmas decoration obsession, and here we see Grady shift in a new identity as guy, while remaining good older daughter. We soon meet great minor characters like Sebastian, whose interest in science teaches us about parrotfish and gender. Small changes follow small changes - family feelings shift, Grady falls in love, Grady worries about dancing like a boy -- toward big moments, such as the scene when mom at last calls Grady by his chosen name. People who care about issues facing teens will like this book, but so will people who care about anyone. PARROTFISH shows how something uncommon happens to an the ordinary sort of family, one where on "a normal evening we were lucky if somebody managed to get the silverware matched up to a plate, much less on the correct side of it."

The book ends with almost as many questions as answers. Perfect.

Parrotfish is a peek into the life of one high-school he struggles with the pressures of bullying, isolation and the unknown.
Grady. Angela chose her new name carefully, deciding on Grady because of its gender neutrality as well as its containing the word "gray" symbolizing that things aren't usually black or white. It is too bad that his family didn't understand that.
Grady was born a girl. When he announced that he was actually a boy, his mother was devastated, his sister was horrified, and his father was.... well, at least his father was trying to be understanding. Grady's best friend since childhood, Eve, refuses to even look at him in school. She becomes part of the gang of girls whose primary reason for living is to torture Grady. Grady feels totally alienated and alone.
Eventually, Grady becomes friends with a geeky science wiz named Sebastian. Sebastian proves to be quite accepting and one of Grady's hugest supports. Throughout the story, Sebastian is Grady's pillar of strength at times when he can't seem to be strong himself. Additionally, Sebastian helps Grady form another friendship, one with a beautiful and popular girl on whom Grady has a tremendous crush.
Trying to gain acceptance and tolerance is a constant struggle for Grady, both at home and at school, which Grady just can not understand. Why does anyone care if I am a boy or a girl? Why do people have to label others as one or the other? Can't I just be me? When a new baby is born, everyone wants to know if it's a boy or a girl, but they claim that the only real concern is that the baby is healthy. Well, I am healthy! Why can't that make everyone happy?
Parrotfish is the heartfelt journey of one courageous teenager's search to find himself even if it means losing everything else he has ever known. This is a must-read for any teenager who has ever felt different or lonely - no matter what their age now.