He’d readĪs a teenager and was excited to meet me.īefore long an idea began to percolate. He’s just a little shy with a big, warm smile and a good sense of humor. She had told me before I met him that Toby, though born female, was living as a male.
My husband and I had just moved to western Massachusetts near where our daughter Kate lives, and she introduced us to some of her friends, one of whom was Toby Davis. That keeps the writing interesting to me.ĭid this story come to you or did you go out looking for it? How did you research it?Ĭome to me. And when I’m beginning a book, I like to choose a topic that I know a little about but want to knowĪbout. I’ve always been the kind of person who wants to know everybody’s secrets because what’s hidden underneath is what makes us unique and interesting, what makes us human. Kids are thinking and talking about issues like this, and I want to be part of that conversation. My last three books have dealt with oral sex among young teens [ If it’s uncomfortable to talk about, it’s probably important to talk about. What motivates you to take the greater and more important risk of introducing topics that many find too uncomfortable to write about? Many authors take risks in their writing-some with structure, the safer risk-but you so often take the greater risk of content or subject matter, this time by telling the story of a transgender teen.
Part of Ellen’s inspiration for this book was Toby Davis, who, though born female, is now living as a male. , she presents Grady, a transgendered female-to-male teenager who gently pulls us out of our ignorance. Tolerance often follows personal experience or knowledge, and in today’s world, there has not been much written about transgendered youth. McNeil’s analysis follows the interview.) , the attention it deserves, we have paired CJ Bott’s interview with Ellen Wittlinger and Toby Davis with Elizabeth McNeil’s analysis of the book and its place in young adult literature with transgender characters at the center. (Note from the editors: In order to give Ellen Wittlinger’s important book, Parrotfish: A Parrot, a Fish, or Something in Between?Īn Interview with Ellen Wittlinger and Toby Davis
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