George

“If George were there, she would fit right in, giggling and linking her arms in theirs. She would wear a bright pink bikini, and she would have long hair that her new friends would love to braid. They would ask her name, and she would tell them, My name is Melissa.”

This passage illustrates how George sees herself as a girl. However, she is so isolated in this view of herself that she wishfully imagines herself inhabiting the magazine world, where no one, certainly not the photographed models, would question who she is. There, in this fantasy world, she can introduce herself as Melissa.

“The very next weekend, she had found the denim bag at a yard sale for a quarter. It was just the size of a magazine, and had a zipper along the top. It was as if the universe wanted her to be able to store her collection safely.”

The emphasis on George’s good luck in finding the denim bag, which allows her to store her secret collection away from prying eyes, indicates the precariousness of her current situation as a girl who is masquerading as a boy and the sense of shame accompanying who she really is.

“The word man hit like a pile of rocks falling on George’s skull. It was a hundred times worse than boy, and she couldn’t breathe.”

When Ms. Udell praises George’s sensitivity and tells her she will turn into “a fine young man,” the effect is not what the teacher intended. George is disgusted by this reminder that her body will turn into a man’s, even further away from what she wants it to be. The visceral effect of the word “man,” which feels like “a pile of rocks falling,” gives her breathing difficulties, further illustrating her repulsion.