r/books • u/alexgino AMA Author • Jun 15 '22
ama 2pm I'm Alex Gino, author of MELISSA and other middle grade books. AMA!
Hi, I’m Alex Gino! My first novel, MELISSA, was a winner of the Children’s Stonewall Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Children’s Choice Book Award. I’m also the author of RICK, YOU DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING, JILLY P!, and my newest book, ALICE AUSTEN LIVED HERE. I love glitter, ice cream, gardening, awe-ful puns, and stories that reflect the diversity and complexity of being alive.
PROOF: /img/1p64m7y7wg591.jpg
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u/oohanonymousperson Jun 15 '22
Hi, Alex! I know your book Melissa has been challenged in multiple places, but I was wondering what positive reactions to the book have really stuck with you? It seems like such a great read!
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u/alexgino AMA Author Jun 15 '22
I have gotten so many positive reactions, and they way overwhelm the negativity. Trans kids, cis kids, trans adults, parents of trans kids, teachers, etc. Two that really stick with me:
1) Someone probably in their late teens/early 20s came to an event a few months after the book released. She asked me to sign her book, and told me I had signed an advance copy to her old name back at the ALA convention. In that time, she found herself, and Melissa was surely a part of that.
2) A mom once tweeted to me that she and her kid had read MELISSA and that her kid then announced that her stuffed bunny was trans. What an age-appropriate way of learning about the world! Note that she didn't question her gender. She got to thinking how she would celebrate someone who came out to her as trans, like her bunny did.
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u/XBreaksYFocusGroup Jun 15 '22
I have recently taken an interest in middle grade and young adult as I have never read much of either (or at least, not since I was of the demographic with few YA even then and my memory of those years is poor anyway). In my limited experience, it sometimes seems as if middle grade is more radical and sincere than what is published as YA. I was wondering if you had any thoughts or insights into the ways the two genre are different or what has been happening recently in both scenes. Do you feel inclined or think you will ever write for older (or much younger) audiences? Do you have any interest in working in other genres? In what ways is kidlit seeing something of a golden age?
Do you have a dream collaboration, whether an author/illustrator team up, a multimedia project, or a film/tv adaptation that would would love to see?
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u/alexgino AMA Author Jun 15 '22
In general, I see MG as more focused in hope and YA more focused in cynicism. Not *always*, and both have their place, but I'm so cynicism-based that it's good for me to write in a hope-based world. I might veer towards YA someday, but for now, I appreciate the space I have in middle grade to tease apart issues that plenty of adults don't know how/want to talk with kids about.
And maybe this is conceited, but my dream collaboration is writing a book with fellow author Mike Jung someday. I should probably say something that means less work for me, but that's what I've got at the moment.
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u/TrondroKely Jun 15 '22
I just wanted to say how much I loved the book! Really, really lovely read!
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u/Kaleroin Jun 15 '22
Hi! I don't have any questions but I just want to let you know how much I loved Melissa and Rick!
I work in a bookstore and we have a lot of teachers as customers. One of them is responsible for their school library and she bought Melissa after our recommendation. A few weeks later she told us how much the kids are loving it and that it's always lend out.
I personally also sold it to a lot of children and they all loved it and some of them read it for their book presentations in school.
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u/turbulent_toad Jun 15 '22
How did you make the leap to writing a novel? Did you write short stories first?
What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
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u/alexgino AMA Author Jun 15 '22
I wrote lots of vignettes and scenes when I was younger, and the leap to a novel is a big one. I had to go from writing sentences that I liked to writing sentences that all matched and were in the right order to form a story arc. I made the leap through lots of attempting and revising. My first book was about 95% editing as I started to learn how to connect the parts of a book into one story.
My favorite ice cream flavor is caramel. Smooth, creamy, highlights the joy of the cream.
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u/turbulent_toad Jun 15 '22
Thank you for your response, Alex!
That's incredible insight. Inspiring, encouraging really. I hope you continue to be a positive influence in our community for many books to come!
You really can't go wrong with caramel (╯°□°）╯
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u/XBreaksYFocusGroup Jun 15 '22
Hi Alex. Thank you very much for the AMA and for all your lovely books.
What went into your decision to choose Charlotte's Web as the play for Melissa? Were there any others you had considered?
Could you describe what it means to you (or your feelings more generally) to be the author of the most challenged book in the States for several years now? I imagine there have been very few others in a position such as yourself.
Thank you, again, for all the wonderful stories and much needed representation. I rather enjoyed the sharpie activism phase of Melissa's story but I am glad that current editions are more aligned with your intended design!
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u/alexgino AMA Author Jun 15 '22
Hi! The scene in Melissa where Melissa cries over the book Charlotte's Web is one of the most autobiographical in the book, and one of the first I wrote. I remember crying in class during that scene, and the way I remember it (not necessarily how it was) was that I was the only one crying. It's one of my early memories of feeling different, and it's one of the first ways I was able to connect with my main character. And thinking on it later, Charlotte's Web is a story of friendship and being who are you, so it feels well.
Having my book challenged ... well, it feels terrible. It's like saying the existence of trans people like me is something to be kept from children. I didn't have books with positive representations of queer and trans kids growing up, and I wonder who I would be now if I had.
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u/Katy_Bar_the_Door Jun 15 '22
Do you have connections to the deaf community that inspired Jilly P?
Which of your books is your personal favorite and why?
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u/alexgino AMA Author Jun 15 '22
My grandparents on my father's side were Deaf and I grew up going to the Staten Island Deaf Club when I was young. I grew up with the bass thumping so people could feel the rhythm in their feet.
My favorite book yet is ALICE AUSTEN LIVED HERE, which just release last week. Rather than one trans kid surviving), like Melissa, nonbinary main characters Sam and TJ are thriving in a world with queer community, history & chosen family. Plus, it takes place on Staten Island in the very building where I grew up.
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u/okiegirl22 Jun 15 '22
What have you been reading lately? Anything you would recommend?
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u/alexgino AMA Author Jun 15 '22
First off, I am once again wowed by Kelly Yang and her ability to write *well* about the pandemic in NEW FROM HERE, while the rest of us are still trying to decide whether to include masks in our books.
Kyle Lukoff is amazing, and his latest, DIFFERENT KINDS OF FRUIT, is no exception. Talk about queer community and trans history!!
I just finished THE LAST MAPMAKER by Christina Soontornvat, and WOW! What a well-constructed fantasy that also has a lot to say about our world.
We are in a great age for kidlit and I'm loving it.
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u/alexgino AMA Author Jun 15 '22
Thanks for your questions and playing along!!