Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007.
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1622-2
Plot Summary
Angela Katz-McNair has never felt like a girl so after trying to live up to everyone’s expectations for years she finally decides to be herself—a boy. Choosing the name Grady for its nebulous quality, she decides to fully transition from girl to boy. She cuts her hair and asks some of her teachers to address her by her new name. Grady, however, is not prepared for the backlash her transition causes. Where he was once comfortable walking the halls of his school he now lives in a haze of constant anxiety, especially once school bully, Danya, decides to make him her number one target. Grady’s life becomes further complicated as he must find a way to end his father’s Christmas mania. That’s right, he lives in that house, the one with dozens of Santas in the yard and enough lights to need its own power grid. To make matters worse, Grady’s father insists on a family produced vignette of the Christmas Carol. Because his mother and siblings are too cowardly to confront their father, it’s up to Grady to end the public humiliation the family has had to endure every Christmas. Can Grady find a way to endure his peers’ criticism and his father’s overly enthusiastic Christmas spirit or will he succumb to fear and embarrassment?
Critical Evaluation
Nominated for the 2007 Cybils and the 2008 ALA Stonewall awards, Parrotfish is a wonderful novel filled with authentic characters and a succinct plot. While Parrotfish’s prose is well-crafted, the most striking feature of the novel is Grady’s honest voice. Not only does Grady approach life in a straightforward manner, he refuses to shy away from asking difficult, and often unanswerable, questions, especially those that pertain to gendered identity. For example, when pondering the sex of his new nephew he writes, “Is it a boy or a girl? Because, for some reason, that is the first thing everybody wants to know the minute you’re born…Why is that so important?...And why does it have to be a simple answer? One or the other?” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 3) Grady continually contemplates the importance (or lack of importance) gender plays in people’s lives as the novel progresses. “Why was it such a big freaking deal what I looked like or acted like?” he asks, “I looked like myself. I acted like myself. But everybody wanted me to fit into a category, so I let them…” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 9). Not only does Grady ponder abstract, philosophical concepts but he examines himself in an equally honest light. For example, fearing his mother and father’s altered treatment of him after he announces his transition he states, “[f]or the first time since I started understanding who I was, I wondered if the change was worth it” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 36). Grady refuses to fool himself into believing that his transition will be easy. Instead, he seeks to endure as best he can.
And while forthright Grady may not completely understand what his transition will entail, he is correct in his assumption that it will be difficult. Wittlinger expertly depicts Grady’s troubles from his stabbing pains caused by the bandage he uses to bind his chest, to the loss of his best friend who cannot handle his transition, and finally to the ignorance of his principal who tells him that his transition is “just silly” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 54). Wittlinger also includes all of Grady’s emotions in the telling of his story—of his embarrassment of his own body’s betrayal when his period begins, of his anger when people suggest that this phase is his fault, and of his loneliness as he wishes the beautiful Kita was his. In including such honest and personal details Wittlinger reminds readers that Grady’s transition isn’t done simply on a whim. After all, what person would choose to walk around in a haze of anxiety as Grady does once he decides to transition? And, most importantly, Wittlinger refuses to make Grady’s story a tidy one. “How far would my transition go?” Grady asks himself towards the end of the novel, “Did I want to take hormones? Would I eventually have surgery to make my body fit my soul?” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 285). Wittlinger rightly leaves these questions unanswered as Grady’s newfound life is just beginning.
However, despite Wittlinger’s excellent craftsmanship in both plot and character, Parrotfish leaves something to be desired. While Wittlinger develops some excellent characters she also leaves several in unfinished stages. This is particularly true for the school bully Danya. Like so many bullies portrayed in young adult fiction, Danya enjoys intimidating and abusing people, drawing others to her out of fear instead of love. Unfortunately, Danya remains a stock character despite Wittlinger’s subtle hints that she could be something more. For example, when the principal suspends Danya three days for the cruel trick she tries to play on Grady she pleads, “You can’t suspend me! You don’t understand—my parents think I’m—I can’t be suspended” (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 190). And while Grady notes that Danya looks like “any other scared kid whose parents were about to be told the bad news” clearly Danya’s fear is fueled by something more than her parents’ disapproval (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 191). Maddeningly, Wittlinger never reveals any hint of Danya’s home life. Even when Grady learns that Danya is sobbing hysterically in the bathroom at their prom, readers learn nothing of why this may be. Instead, Sebastian glibly says “Wow…You wanna take a camera in there and get some footage?” and readers never learn anything more of Danya (Wittlinger, 2007, p. 251). Because Wittlinger develops expert characters in Grady and Grady’s family, her refusal to apply the same amount of skill to Danya’s development is inexplicable and frustrating. However, in spite of this shortcoming, Parrotfish is an excellent novel and one that all teens should read as it not only is an excellent introduction to LGBTQ literature but also addresses themes that every teenagers will want to ponder.
Reader’s Annotation
As Grady transitions from female-to-male, he learns how to navigate crushes, friendships, and his Dad’s intense love of Christmas.
About the Author
Ellen Wittlinger grew up in Belleville, Illinois, the daughter of grocers. She briefly moved to Oregon until she traveled to Iowa in order to attend the University of Iowa’s Master in Fine Arts program. Wittlinger originally wanted to be a poet and even published a book of poetry in 1979. However, after school she moved to Massachusetts where she wrote plays and worked for the local newspaper. Eventually she married, had two children and became a children’s librarian. It was then that she began writing for children. Her first children’s novel, Lombardo’s Law, was published in 1993. She currently has fourteen published children’s and YA books including Hard Love which won the Printz honor in 2000.
Some of her favorite books for youth include The Goats by Brock Cole, Jacob Have I Loved and The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. In addition to reading , Ellen Wittlinger enjoys watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Office, and House while noshing on bagels and chai soy lattés.
Wittlinger, E. (n.d.) About me. Retrieved from http://www.ellenwittlinger.com/about.html
Wittlinger, E. (n.d.) Frequently asked questions. Retrieved from http://www.ellenwittlinger.com/faq.html
Genre
Bibliotherapy, Coming of Age, LGBTQ literature, Realistic fiction, Romance
Tags
LGBTQ, transgender, female to male, parrotfish, Christmas, A Christmas Carol, bullies, female bully
Curriculum Ties
There is a strong tie between Parrotfish and the study of fish and animals in general. In addition, this book could be used in a unit on identity and gender as well as one on bullying.
Booktalk Ideas
--Show pictures of parrotfish and talk about how they switch genders. Ask the audience how this might relate to humans.
Reading Level/Interest Age
Reading Level: 5th grade
Interest Level: 8th-12th grade (13-18 yrs)
Reading level is rounded from that found on AR BookFinder at:
http://www.arbookfind.com/bookdetail.aspx?q=116399&l=EN&slid=189297773
Challenge Issues
This book could potentially be challenged because it is about a transsexual teenager. If challenged, librarians should point out statistics involving how many teenagers are LGBTQ. Librarians should also show how the book contains positive themes such as the importance of treating everyone kindly and not giving up on people.
Favorite Quotes
“But, making money is stupid. I mean, you have to make some money, but I want to do something that actually matters when I’m an adult. Otherwise, why bother to be an adult? Just so you can buy stuff?” –Sebastian (p. 90)
Why Was This Included?
I included Parrotfish because I am doing a group project on LGBTQ literature and wanted to read a book that featured a transgendered protagonist. I originally wanted to read Luna by Julie Anne Peters but a fellow classmate had already ordered it for herself so I searched for another book. This, at the time, was the only other one I could find that featured a transgendered main character.
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