Title: Parrotfish
Author: Ellen Wittlinger
Publication Date: July 10, 2007
Genres: Fiction
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
ISBN-10: 1416916229
ISBN-13: 9781416916222
** This review is for readers that have already read Parrotfish.
I must say that I indulged myself into this novel. The subject was a bit touchy but Wittlinger did a great job of making me feel at ease with the various dialogues Grady comes up with. Her internal conversations bring lay out the foundation for the novel. It’s a way of addressing what popular media portrays transgendered persons as and defying those definitions.
What I loved about the novel the most was its humor. It makes the book easier to read and at the same time gave the book a feeling of optimism.
I usually don’t like reading novels that feel constructed but I love comedy in all its forms. I especially love reading about topics that are taboo. The taboo subjects interest me the most because as Wittlinger points out, why does society restrict us into such cookie-cutter categories? Despite all the reforms we’ve been through, it seems that our society is not as tolerance as we should be. It was interesting to learn how Native Americans portray transgendered persons as “free spirits.”
Despite this being a realistic novel, I did not, for one moment, believe this could be a true account. The transsexual girl who the most popular girl in school likes, lives in the Christmas house, and was home schooled until high school. Her life seems like a fairy tale when inspected closely. Her family members at most were average. They could also be defined as flat characters.
There was an attempt at not making the ending a Cinderella story yet it was. Again this is the construction that I was speaking of. I almost wish the story was more complex but as this is a novel meant for young adults its okay. The problem is, I don’t love okay, what I love is exceptional. Yes I enjoyed the book but I would have LOVED it, if it has more depth.
After reading other reader reviews I was amazed to find out that “PARROTFISH is one of the first young adult novels to address transgender issues” (http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/parrotfish). For being one of the few I must give credit to the Wittlinger for exposing young minds to this subject. I hope other authors also follow in her footsteps and can engage us in novels that enrich our understanding of ourselves, stereotypes, and how to deal with them.
