Biggest Takeaway

 I first read this book in 2015 when it was published. I was working with a teacher to bring more diverse literature into middle school classrooms. I would research new books, write emails to publishers, and basically beg them to send a few copies of their books to us for free because of the teachers limited budget. I remember finding this one on a “recently released” book list and immediately going home and purchasing myself a copy.  After that first read, I remember being struck by how weird it was that I was a senior in high school, and I was reading my first book about a trans child. 

The most important thing I learned this semester is how important it is that these stories are available to people and especially children. It is important for children who identify with the stories to be able to see themselves as valued and being able to read about a situation a child isn’t subject to in their life can help build empathy and understanding for their peers. Literature and stories are an important tool for social change and banning any story that goes against the current norms inhibits progress and harms children. 

Melissa is denied the ability to play a female spider in her school play because of the gender she was assigned at birth. She saw being in the play as a start to people seeing her for her authentic self: “She had genuinely started to believe that if people could see her onstage as Charlotte, maybe they would see that she was a girl offstage too” (Gino 88). Although being able to play Charlotte in the play didn’t solve all of Melissa’s problems and magically make everyone around her understand it was still a first step.