Angela never felt quite right as a girl. Everything in her life has lead up to the day that she decides to come out as Grady, a transgendered individual. Even though Grady feels ready to come out, he isn't prepared for the reactions of his friends, family, and those surrounding him. He doesn't understand why people can't just let him be himself, be the person that he always knew he was. Through finding friends in un-expected places and finding his possible first love, Grady begins to finally find support and acceptance. Will this allow him to finally become comfortable in his own skin?

For anyone looking for a good novel about a transgendered individual, they don't have to look much further than Parrotfish. Since the novel is told from the point of view of the transgendered character, readers are able to gain insight into a world that they might not know much about. I think this was the main reason I liked this novel so much. That, and Grady is such a relatable character. Even if you aren't a transgendered individual, Grady struggles with accepting himself, and not caring about what other people think of him, which are problems that basically everyone deals with. His character is also very well developed, making him even more relatable. Parrotfish is an important novel because it gives voice to a community that doesn't get a voice in literature very often, and it does it well, which isn't always the case. If someone is looking to better understand the transgender community, Parrotfish is a good place to begin.

For a classroom setting, I don't think this could necessarily be taught to the class, but it is a novel that is worth keeping on the shelf, especially if you have students going through similar things to Grady. It would also be a good novel to keep around in case students have questions about the transgender community. It can definitely help to open students eyes to a community that they might not necessarily know a lot about.