The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Gino, Alex. George. Scholastic, 2015. Kindle.

George is narrated by a third-person past narrator that focuses in on George, the ten-year-old protagonist of the novel. George is a ten-year-old “secret” girl who the world views and treats as a boy because of her biological body, which appears to be male. The novel consistently refers to George with feminine pronouns.

In the first chapter, “Secrets,” George went home after school and made sure neither her mother nor her brother, Scott, were in the house. Once she affirmed that she was alone, she took out the collection of teenage girl magazines she kept hidden in her closet and brought them into the bathroom. She looked through the magazines and wished she could be a girl named Melissa who was friends with the girls in the magazines. She wished she could wear makeup and pink clothing and have long hair. Scott came home and banged on the bathroom door. George quickly hid her magazines and ran downstairs. After Scott left to go to a friend’s house, George took her magazines back to her closet, then fell onto her bed and wished she could be anyone else.

In “Charlotte Dies,” George’s fourth grade teacher, Ms. Udell, read the chapter of Charlotte’s Web in which Charlotte dies. George was emotionally moved by the scene, and she started crying. Jeff and Rick, two mean boys, started making fun of her. Ms. Udell comforted George and let her go to the bathroom, but she hated having to use the boy’s bathroom. After school, George told Kelly she wanted the role of Charlotte. Kelly said it was cool that George wanted to defy gender norms in the play. George did not have the nerve to tell Kelly it was more than just pretend to her.

In “Acting Is Just Pretend,” George went to Kelly’s house and they rehearsed for the play. All the girls had to audition reading for Charlotte, no matter what they wanted. All the boys had to audition reading for Wilbur, no matter what they wanted. George and Kelly hoped that Ms. Udell would be impressed with George’s unwillingness to follow expectations. Kelly thought George was amazing as Charlotte and wanted her to get the part. At home, George had dinner with her mother and thought about telling her that she was really a girl, but she lost her nerve and asked for chocolate milk instead.

In “Anticipation,” George went to school and waited on pins and needles for the afternoon to arrive so she could audition for Charlotte. She practiced her lines with Kelly at lunch, but was too nervous to really engage with her character.

In “Auditions,” Ms. Udell finally called George out into the hall, George started reciting Charlotte’s lines, but Ms. Udell thought she was playing a prank and stopped her. She told George she could not play Charlotte because there were too many girls who wanted the part, plus it would confuse the audience. George felt infuriated and humiliated. When Kelly asked her what was wrong, George did not want to talk to her. At home, George lied to her mother and Scott and told them she had not auditioned at all.

In “Taken,” George went to school and Ms. Udell called her to her desk. She asked if George would like a different role, but George said she wanted Charlotte or nothing. Ms. Udell announced the roles to the class, naming Kelly as Charlotte. After school, George told Kelly she was a girl, then made her promise not to tell and ran home, where she found her mother on the couch. She had discovered George’s magazines. She told George she was too old for such things and confiscated the magazines, leaving George devastated and alone.

In “Time Drags When You’re Miserable,” George spent the next week in a deep depression. She did not speak to Kelly and started eating lunch by herself. On Saturday, George played video games with her brother.

In “Some Jerk,” George goes back to school on Monday. Kelly apologized for ignoring George and asked her if she was mad at Kelly for getting the role of Charlotte. George said she was not angry. Kelly said that if George thought she was a girl, then Kelly thought George was a girl, too. Delighted, George hugged her best friend. The fourth graders started spending their afternoons in the auditorium, rehearsing for the play. George was assigned to be the crew member who held Charlotte’s ladder and handed her cards for her spiderweb. George was also tasked with painting Wilbur’s pen. While she was painting, she heard Jeff saying horrible things about Charlotte. Infuriated, George painted “Some Jerk” on Jeff’s white shirt. When he found out what she had done, he punched George in the stomach. She threw up on him, and they were both taken to Principal Maldonado’s office. She let George off with a warning when her mother came to pick her up.

In “Dinner at Arnie’s,” George went home with her mother. At home, George told her mother she was transgender. Her mother was resistant to the idea and did not believe George. She suggested they relax before going out to eat at Arnie’s Buffet. Kelly called and told George that she had decided they should split the role of Charlotte and George should take Kelly’s place as Charlotte at the second showing of the play. George was excited, but tried to hide it. At dinner, when their mother was filling her plate, George told Scott she was transgender and he believed and supported her.

In “Transformations,” Kelly played Charlotte in the first showing of the play. George went home and waited for her mother to get home and drive her back to school at five in the evening. Backstage, George and Kelly switched places. George climbed up the ladder and delivered Charlotte’s lines with confidence and grace. After the first scene, some of her classmates were upset. The fourth grade teachers started to walk toward her, but Principal Maldonado waved them away and motioned for George to continue. George performed Charlotte for the whole play. After, she cried with joy, then went onstage and curtsied to applause. Her mother was shocked and slightly angry, but Principal Maldonado was encouraging and told George her door was always open.

In “Invitations,” George returned to school and faced the questions and comments of the girls. Jeff bullied her, but Rick told him to stop. Kelly invited George to come with her and her Uncle Bill to the Bronx Zoo so that they could both dress up as girls in a place where no one knew any different. At home, George’s mother apologized and said she was proud of George. She agreed to go to therapy together so they could explore George’s transgender identity together. George wanted to grow out her hair and physically transition, but her mother was resistant to the idea and told her they needed to take things one step at a time.

In “Melissa Goes to the Zoo,” George went to Kelly’s house and dressed up in a skirt and pink tank-top. She brushed her hair so it looked like she had bangs, then did her makeup so she appeared feminine. When she looked in the mirror, she saw Melissa, and the narrator follows suit, referring to George as Melissa from this point forward. Melissa goes to the zoo with Kelly and her uncle. The only people who know Melissa is not a traditional girl are Melissa and Kelly. They have a marvelous time, and Melissa even uses the girl’s restroom. On the way home, she looks out the window and relives the best day of her life.