Sexist. Dumb. Unfair.
“Girls must wear a black, pleated, knee-length skirt.”
I bet I read those words a hundred times during summer vacation. The problem wasn’t the last word in that sentence. Skirt wasn’t really the issue, not for me.
The issue was the first word. Girls.
Here’s the thing:
I may seem like a girl, but on the inside, I’m a boy.
An older book I'm finally getting around to! I really enjoyed this clever, fast paced read. Liv is a great character, very determined and brave.
I did have one problem, though. It seemed strange that it took a trans boy to point out how sexist and unfair the uniform policy was, when a girl could have done it just as well. There's little indication in the story that it bothers any of the girls; one teacher doesn't wear skirts, and one girl seems happy to protest from the start. Plenty of others jump on board once the protest gets going, but it doesn't seem like they would have started anything themselves. However, I loved Liv, so it wasn't a big deal.
This is a great story for kids to read and could lead to some very lively classroom discussion; as well as sexism, it covers bullying, chronic illness and other topics that kids could stand to be exposed to. A great read overall.
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