She hasn't shared this part of herself with anyone else, unsure how her family, friends, and community will react - until she has the chance to express herself onstage.Īlex tells Melissa’s story in a way that’s both personal and universal, set against the very relatable scene of fourth-grade friendships, bullies, and classroom politics, but brings to it the importance of transgender representation on a broader scale. When we meet her, Melissa knows she’s a girl, but the world sees her as a boy named George. Melissa is smart and thoughtful, kind and insightful, determined and brave - someone who believes in herself and encourages others to do the same, and someone readers want to keep close long after they’ve finished the book. When they’re not writing or reading, they like to garden, bake, play board and card games, and laugh with friends.Melissa, the title character of Alex Gino’s popular Scholastic novel of the same name, is widely beloved, and her story is essential reading even seven years after its initial publication. They are a part of We Need Diverse Books and a member of PEN America. They now live in Upstate New York.Īlex has been an activist and advocate for LGBTQIAP+ communities since 1997 as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating, they spent a few more years in Philadelphia and then New York City, before moving to Northampton, Massachusetts, and Oakland, California, except for when they embarked on an unforgettable eighteen-month road trip through forty-four states. And in Alice Austen Lived Here, Sam and TJ, two nonbinary kids from Staten Island, learn about queer history, chosen family, building community, and so much more.īorn and raised on Staten Island, NY, Alex is still prouder to have graduated from Stuyvesant High School than the University of Pennsylvania. In the stand-alone companion Rick, the bully’s best friend from Melissa enters middle school, discovers a LGBTQIAP+ rights group, connects with his quirky grandfather, and faces the question of when to leave a friend who just might be a jerk.

Their second book, You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P!, about a seventh-grader learning about her privilege and how to support people in her life without making it all about her, helps kids start difficult conversations and grow from mistakes. Their debut middle grade novel, Melissa, (previously published as George), about a fourth-grade transgender girl who wants to play a girl’s role in her school play won Stonewall, Lambda, and Children’s Choice Debut Awards, and has been translated into fourteen languages. Alex Gino loves glitter, ice cream, gardening, awe-ful puns, and stories that reflect the complexity of being alive.

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