Yes, Melissa (formerly George) Is Banned!

Alex Gino’s 2015 middle-grade novel tells the story of Melissa, a transgender girl who everyone sees as a boy named George. When her class puts on a production of Charlotte’s Web, Melissa wants desperately to play Charlotte, but no one understands why a “boy” would want a girl’s part. The book was originally published as George and rereleased as Melissa in 2022, correcting the deadnaming of the main character. It won the Stonewall Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award.

Melissa was the #1 most banned book in America in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The ALA reported it was the 5th most banned book of the entire decade from 2010 to 2020. Challengers cite its “transgender theme,” “sexual references,” and conflict with “traditional family structure.” In Wichita, Kansas, school libraries were barred from using system funds to purchase the book. Gino responded by organizing a fundraising campaign to buy copies for all 57 elementary schools. The book has been banned in at least seven school districts across four states, with particularly aggressive removal campaigns in Texas and Florida.

Why You Should Read This

Melissa is a 10-year-old who knows exactly who she is. The world around her hasn’t caught up yet. Gino wrote this book because when they were growing up, no stories like it existed. There were no books about trans kids being trans kids, not struggling with identity, just knowing.

The writing is simple because it’s for 9-year-olds. The story is simple because it’s about a kid who wants to be seen. That simplicity is what terrifies the people trying to ban it. A complicated book about gender can be argued over. A straightforward story about a kid who wants to play Charlotte in the school play is harder to dismiss.

When asked what it’s like to have authored the most banned book in America, Gino said that every challenge tells a trans kid that their story matters enough to fight over. The people banning the book think they’re protecting children. They’re telling other children, the ones who see themselves in Melissa, that who they are is something to be hidden.