Alex Gino
Alex Gino is an American children's book writer. Gino's debut book, George, was the winner of the 2016 Stonewall Book Award[1][2][3] as well as the 2016 Lambda Literary Award in the category of LGBT Children's/Young Adult.[4]
Alex Gino | |
---|---|
Gino (2016 at the Berlin International Literature Festival) | |
Born | |
Occupation | Author |
Notable work | George, You Don’t Know Everything Jilly P! |
Website | www |
Gino is genderqueer[5] and uses singular they pronouns[6] and the honorific Mx.[7]
Biography
Gino was born and raised in Staten Island, New York, but over the years has lived in such locations as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Brooklyn, New York; Astoria, Queens; Northampton, Massachusetts; and Oakland, California. They have also spent time living in an RV and driving around the country.[6][8]
Works
Gino is best known for their 2015 debut novel George, a middle grade novel featuring a young transgender girl,[9] which they first began work on in 2003.[6] The working title of the novel was Girl George (a reference to Boy George), though when the book was bought by Scholastic, this was changed to the present title to broaden readership. Gino has expressed some regrets about deadnaming their character with this title, and mentions that if they had the opportunity to do it over, they would have chosen a different title.[10]
In 2018, Gino released another middle grade novel, You Don't Know Everything, Jilly P! It covers Deaf culture and the Black Lives Matter movement and received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews,[11] Publishers Weekly,[12] and the School Library Journal.[13]
Their 2020 novel Rick is a standalone follow-up to George and is about student coming to terms with his asexuality. The book received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews,[14] Booklist,[15] and School Library Journal.[16]
Awards and honors
Gino has been nominated for multiple awards for George, and has won several such as:
- 2016 Stonewall Book Award: Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children's Literature Award[1]
- 2016 Children's Choice Book Award: Debut Author[17]
- 2016 California Book Awards: Juvenile (Gold)[18]
- 2016 Lambda Literary Award: LGBT Children's/Young Adult[4]
- 2016 American Library Association: Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016[19][20]
References
- ALAnews. (January 12, 2016) "2016 Stonewall Book Awards Announced."
- Federle, Tim (September 11, 2015). "'George,' by Alex Gino". The New York Times.
- Alter, Alexandra (June 6, 2015). "Transgender Children's Books Fill a Void and Break a Taboo". The New York Times.
- "The 2016 Lambda Literary Award Winners". Lambda Literary Foundation.
- Hansen, John (September 9, 2015). "Alex Gino: 'I knew I was different as a kid'". Guardian US (interview).
- Gino, Alex. "About Alex".
- "Alex Gino Bio". Yallfest.org. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- Alex Gino [@lxgino] (3 April 2016). "OK, today's the day I get everything else done so I can hit the road for my new RV lifestyle in the morning. From here, it looks manageable" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- Gino, Alex. "GEORGE".
- Gino, Alex (2015-08-19). "How To Talk About GEORGE".
- "You Don't Know Everything, Jilly P! review". KirkusReviews.com. June 25, 2018. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- "You Don't Know Everything, Jilly P! review". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- Parrott, Kiera (2018-09-01). "You Don't Know Everything, Jilly P! review". SLJ.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- "Rick review". KirkusReviews.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- "Rick review". Booklist.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- Gafkowitz, Jess (2020-02-01). "Rick review". SLJ.com. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- "CBC Past Winners". Archived from the original on 2016-06-06. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
- "California Book Awards". Commonwealth Club of California.
- "Top Ten Challenged Books: Resources & Graphics". Banned & Challenged Books. American Library Association. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- Tobias, Suzanne Perez (November 2, 2017). "Author: Libraries need more transgender books". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved 13 March 2018.