Parrotfish

by Ellen Wittlinger

Book Overview

The groundbreaking novel from critically acclaimed author Ellen Wittlinger that tells the story of a transgender teen's search for identity and acceptance has now been updated to include current terminology and an updated list of resources. Angela Katz-McNair never felt quite right as a girl. So she cuts her hair short, purchases some men's clothes and chose a new name: Grady. While coming out as transgender feels right to Grady, he isn't prepared...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1481468103
• ISBN13: 9781481468107
• Release Date: October 2015
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Terrible and bitter

I can't really write a great review without spoilers. This book was out of date at the time; it's racist, antisemitic, bitter and hostile. The main character is entitled and the arc is about how the world conforms to him. The author is clearly not trans and the "resources" at the back of the book are the only part based in reality.

Amazing Book

Yeah, I'd read before I bought it. What of it? XD Seriously though, great book, and the very good type was like new as far as I'm concerned.

Eh...

The idea itself was appealing, which is why I picked up Parrotfish. However, I found the book boring and unrealistic. But, the main reason I disliked this book was due to the fact, though it was about Grady's transition, the transition was rarely talked about. The main idea of the story seemed to be in the background of the book.

Must-read for any teenager who ever felt different

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.

Managing Transition in Relationship to Others

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.

Essential for any forward-thinking collection which would consider gay and transgender teen issues.

The struggles of a transgender teen usually are not explored by youth audiences or in publications for youth - which is why PARROTFISH is such a breakthrough for young adults. The fictional story of Grady, whose coming of age involves a newfound realization of differences between her physical form and inner identity, makes for an important, breakthrough book essential for any forward-thinking collection which would consider gay and transgender teen issues.

Great book for those who know life and love is complicated

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.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

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"