melissa previously published as george alex gino

The company sent it to 10,000 teachers, to children's librarians and took Gino around to major book fairs, including Winter Institute, run by the American Booksellers Association. The trick was getting George into as many readers' hands as possible. 'Once you read the book, you understand the book,' he said. But Levithan said that The Hunger Games is like George in that people may relate to the story more than they might think. After all, it's about kids killing each other. It's kind of crazy to remember now, but that book was initially seen as a potentially difficult sell. Selling this particular girl's story to a mass market meant employing a similar strategy the company used with The Hunger Games. 'No wizards, no Greek myths, no action adventure. 'Fifty thousand is pretty amazing for a debut author writing a middle grade book that isn't part of a series,' he says. Editorial director David Levithan puts that number in perspective. With George, it settled on an initial press run of 50,000 copies. The company is known for publishing the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series, massively popular books that sell millions of copies. Meanwhile, Scholastic believes the book is for everyone. Gino hopes George will help some kids know they're also not the only ones. Oh, and here's Gino's Twitter bio: 'Fat queer trans activist, glitter liberationist, urban gardener, sourdough baker and then some.'Īuthor Alex Gino hopes George will help transgender kids feel less alone. And nobody else has to use it to refer to themselves if they don't want to.)Ĭonventional gender pronouns just don't work for Gino, the author says. It can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary, as well as in the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare. (The singular 'they' is unconventional, rather than wrong. Gino prefers using the pronoun 'they' rather than 'him' or 'her' when referring to themself. Gino grew up on Staten Island, studied education at the University of Pennsylvania and taught elementary school briefly before becoming a test prep coach and author. Author Alex Gino started writing George well before transgender people began appearing as well-rounded characters on TV shows or the covers of major magazines - not to mention having much opportunity to tell their own stories within mainstream media. She's the heroine of a new book intended for readers in grades 3 to 7 and published by Scholastic, one of the largest children's publishing companies in the world. Everyone thinks George is a boy, but she doesn't feel like one. George is 10, loves to read and has a best friend named Kelly. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title George Author Alex Gino

Melissa previously published as george alex gino