Middle School

Zenobia July is starting a new life. She used to live in Arizona with her father. Now, she’s in Maine with her aunts. She used to spend most of her time behind a computer screen, improving her impressive coding and hacking skills. Now, she’s coming out of her shell and discovering a community of friends at Monarch Middle School. People used to tell her she was a boy. Now, she can live openly as the girl she always knew she was.
When someone anonymously posts hateful memes on her school’s website, Zenobia knows she’s the one with the abilities to solve the mystery, all while wrestling with the challenges of a new school, a new family, and coming to grips with presenting her true gender for the first time.

The first book I read that featured a transgender girl was George by Alex Gino (see my review here: https://amazingartists.online/george-by-alex-gino/), one of my first book reviews. I didn’t do a great job explaining what being transgender is like because 1) the subject of transgender people was new to me, and 2) writing book reviews was still new to me. It’s been four years since I read that book, and now, after reading this story, I have a better understanding of the subject. I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about being transgender. But I do have more of a general understanding. Zenobia herself gives a better explanation of being transgender.

To me, the story shows what life is like for someone who is not accepted for who they really are. Unlike in the novel George, Zenobia isn’t accepted right away as a girl. Some of the characters in the story who don’t get it say things like “they are too young to understand gender” and “they are just confused.” From what I can understand, like many things, being trans isn’t just something you choose to be. You’re born with it. It’s not like, “Hey, I think I’ll be a girl today. And tomorrow, I’ll be a fish.”

The only problem I had with this story was the abundance of so many characters with their own gender identity. I can only handle a story with maybe two or three issues going on simultaneously, but this one has ten or more. When a story tries to fit in too many topics at once, each topic doesn’t always get the attention it deserves.

The most important thing to learn from this story is whether someone is gay, lesbian, trans, genderqueer, etc. It is nothing to be afraid or ashamed of.

On an ending note, here’s a YouTube link to a video on Things Not to Say to a Trans Person (some of the questions I don’t think you should ask anyone).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvBwWeG4Rpc&list=PL64ScZt2I7wGxZlXAu0r0UPqpvzF23mgc&index=82

I’d like to share this other video I found on a YouTube channel called Storybooth, where people record and submit their real-life stories to be animated and shared with the world. This story is about a girl who found out her best friend is a transgender girl and how their friendship grew.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHfj6DDzymI

Here’s one last bonus YouTube link to a video about the TV show Supergirl’s new star, Nicole Maines, who talks to Ellen DeGeneres about growing up transgender.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVrAO60hGdM

I wanted to add this because I think Nicole Maines is really cool.