Alex Gino

Alex Gino
Born Staten Island, New York
Occupation Author
Notable work George
Website www.alexgino.com

Alex Gino is an American children's book writer. Gino's debut book, George, was the winner of the 2016 Stonewall Book Award[1][2][3] as well as the 2016 Lambda Literary Award in the category of LGBT Children's/Young Adult.[4]

Gino identifies as genderqueer,[5] making use of the singular they pronoun set and the honorific mx. in reference to themself.[6]

Biography

Gino was born and raised in Staten Island, New York, but over the years has lived in such locations as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Brooklyn, New York; Astoria, Queens; Northampton, Massachusetts; and Oakland, California. As of April 2016, however, Gino lives in their RV as they drive around the country.[6][7]

Works

Gino is known best for their debut novel George, a middle grade novel featuring a young transgender girl,[8] which they first began work on in 2003.[6] The working title of the novel was Girl George (a reference to Boy George), though when the book was bought by Scholastic, this was changed to the present title to broaden readership. Gino has expressed some regrets about deadnaming their character with this title, and mentions that if they had the opportunity to do it over, they would have chosen a different title.[9]

With regards to requests for a sequel to George, Gino expressly states that "[they] will NOT be writing a transition story for a largely cis audience more interested in trans bodies than trans people."[10]

Gino's website mentions, additionally, that aside from promoting George, they are also working on another middle grade novel, this time "about best friends, baby sisters, first crushes, Deafness and the Black Lives Matter movement."[6]

Controversies

Some people have taken concern towards Alex's works, believing that George will add a lot of confusion about sexual identity in a world where people are still trying to figure out who they are. "It's challenging enough for normal children to navigate and come to terms with their gender, identity, what it means to be male or female," Peter Sprigg, of the Family Research Council (deemed an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center[11]), pointed out. "Things like this are only going to create greater confusion, add greater confusion to the struggles that in the ordinary course of things most children will have." In defense of the book, Scholastic argued that George simply encourages kids to be who they are.[12]

Awards and honors

Gino has been nominated for multiple awards for their novel, and has won several such as:

References

  1. 1 2 ALAnews. (January 12, 2016) "2016 Stonewall Book Awards Announced."
  2. ↑ Federle, Tim (September 11, 2015). "'George,' by Alex Gino". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ Alter, Alexandra (June 6, 2015). "Transgender Children's Books Fill a Void and Break a Taboo". The New York Times.
  4. 1 2 "The 2016 Lambda Literary Award Winners". Lambda Literary Foundation.
  5. ↑ Hansen, John (September 9, 2015). "Alex Gino: 'I knew I was different as a kid'". Guardian US (interview).
  6. 1 2 3 4 Gino, Alex. "About Alex".
  7. ↑ Alex Gino [@lxgino] (3 April 2016). "OK, today's the day I get everything else done so I can hit the road for my new RV lifestyle in the morning. From here, it looks manageable" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ↑ Gino, Alex. "GEORGE".
  9. ↑ Gino, Alex (August 19, 2015). "How To Talk About GEORGE".
  10. ↑ Alex Gino [@lxgino] (April 10, 2016). "Re GEORGE sequel: They will NOT be writing a transition story for a largely cis audience more interested in trans bodies than trans people" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/family-research-council
  12. ↑ "Christian groups slam transgender book 'George,' saying it will only confuse kids | Christian News on Christian Today". www.christiantoday.com. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  13. ↑ "CBC Past Winners".
  14. ↑ "California Book Awards". Commonwealth Club of California.
  15. ↑ "Top Ten Challenged Books: Resources & Graphics". Banned & Challenged Books. American Library Association. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  16. ↑ Tobias, Suzanne Perez (November 2, 2017). "Author: Libraries need more transgender books". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
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