The novel’s 10-year-old protagonist goes by the name of George, though “the name she called herself in the mirror when no one was watching” is Melissa (4). George has “flat reddish-brown hair” (4), pale skin, freckles, and “bright-green eyes” (44). She longs to wear makeup and skirts and grow her hair so that it is long enough to braid. The chief obstacle to her living her truth is that the world thinks she is a boy.

George’s high level of sensitivity is evidenced by her tearful reaction to the spider’s death in Charlotte’s Web and her wholehearted identification with that “wonderful, kind spider” (11). When the class puts on a production of Charlotte’s Web, George sees playing the spider as a means of showing the world her true identity, as a girl. So while George initially focuses on getting the part of the spider, she later aspires to tell her friends and family that she is a girl.

George’s anticipation of the onset of puberty raises the urgency of her gender expression. She fears that “testosterone would grow a terrible beard all over her face” and make her look manly (127). Having done her research, George is aware that she has options to prevent this from happening; however, finally dressed as her girl-self, Melissa, at the zoo, she is also able to enjoy the moment when she introduces the world to who she really is.