GEORGE is a stand-alone title

One of the questions I’ve been fielding a lot lately is “will there be a sequel to GEORGE?”  The short answer is NO.  I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a while, but this email I wrote to a read covered it pretty well so I’m going to pilfer from myself:

Thanks for your email. I will not be writing a sequel to GEORGE.  I appreciate that you’re interested in hearing more about Melissa’s story.  However, the next steps in Melissa’s life are going to be very personal: they will involve therapists and conversations with Mom and important decision about how to present at school, etc.

Right now, transgender people are very “interesting” in popular culture.  And while there are some good parts of that, there are also many cisgender people who are “fascinated” by transition, and being observed that way can feel like being an exhibit at a zoo.  I’m going to keep that part of the story private.

If I ever return to Melissa’s world, it will be several years later, and from the point of view of a different character – possibly Rick, the bully Jeff’s main friend.  It’s one thing to be bullied – it’s another to be under the bully’s thumb but apparently on his side.  That story interests me a lot.

If you are interested in learning more about transgender kids, there are many non-fiction resources you can check out online.  The TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation (http://www.transkidspurplerainbow.org/) is a great resource.

Thanks again for writing and I hope you understand and will share Melissa’s story anyway.

ETA:  To be clear, I’m just speaking for me. Other trans writers and other trans people may have differing opinions on the topic.

5 comments to GEORGE is a stand-alone title

  • Pat --> a girl's name here

    Is it ok if I write about what happens next ? This really intrigues me, as it really applies to me as well. I am very similar to Melissa.

    • Alex Gino

      Hi there! I’m honored – one of the marks of a great book is not wanting it to end. I’ll bet if you wrote about what you seeing happening next for Melissa, you might learn something about yourself. 🙂

  • Connor Hughes

    I would really like to see from Ricks point of view

  • Anne Quinn

    I couldn’t put the book down! A terrific story and I can’t wait to recommend it to kids and adults. Thank you Alex for this story. As a children’s librarian I will be purchasing this for our collection.

Leave a Reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>