Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger | Teen Ink

Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger

July 5, 2011
By hopeiscrucial BRONZE, East Greenville, Pennsylvania
hopeiscrucial BRONZE, East Greenville, Pennsylvania
1 article 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
"Carpe Diem"


"Parrotfish", by Ellen Wittlinger, was a book that needed to be written. It tells about how a sophomore in high school is a female-to-male transgender, and how he makes the choice to come out to the world. His family is astounded that their daughter, Angie, is now their son, Grady, and that Grady is routinely ridiculed at school. Grady is a good person, and soon learns who his real friends are. However, what others may see as his "problem", or "pervertedness", Grady sees as a very simple issue. He wants to live life as a boy. This topic is very relevant, and I'm very glad that it has been shown and explained in books such as "Parrotfish", "Luna", by Julie Ann Peters, "Freak Show", by James St. James, and in the TV show Degrassi. "Parrotfish" was very simply written, and that is the beauty of it. The way that the story is told shows that a very average person might not be what is expected of them. "Transgender" doesn't have to be synonymous with "pervert". This book is wonderful to members of the LGBTQ community and to others.


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