New destination: Athens

Media Specialist Angie Pendley holds a poster advertising author Alex Gino’s visit to Clarke Central High School in the Media Center on March 7. Pendley invited Gino to come to CCHS on March 17 to share their experience as an LGBTQ+ author and speak on their newest books. “I think Alex Gino’s voice to children’s literature in bringing LGBTQ characters in those books in such a natural, normal way is what life is like,” Pendley said. “Their books reflect life and I think that that is valuable.” Photo by Anna Shaikun

Children’s author Alex Gino will speak about their books and LGBTQ representation in literature at CCHS and CMS on March 17.

Award-winning author Alex Gino will be coming to Clarke Central High School on March 17 to talk with students about their books, which focus on student joys, struggles and nuances through the lens of queer identity.

After learning that Gino would be a keynote speaker at the University of Georgia’s Children’s Literature Conference, Media Specialist Angie Pendley reached out to request the author do a school visit while they were in Athens.

“I reached out to their booking agency, and they were able to confirm that yes, Alex could add a day to their trip to come here,” Pendley said. “They’re gonna go to (Clarke Middle School) in the morning, so they’ll spend the morning at the middle school, and then drive here, have lunch with a group of our students and then (the) presentation (will be) in fourth period.”

According to Pendley, Gino’s books, such as “Melissa”, which is about a fourth-grade girl’s journey in a world that sees her as a boy, offer an important view into the life of a transgender individual and help readers understand more about the LGBTQ community.

“If you weren’t trans or part of the LGBTQ community, (“Melissa”) helped you to understand a little bit more about that, and I think that that is so important and such a value to children’s literature,” Pendley said.

Senior Margaret Kelleher is looking forward to the event and hopes for a conversation about the relationship between gender identity and literature.

“If you weren’t trans or part of the LGBTQ community, “Melissa” helped you to understand a little bit more about that, and I think that is so important and such a value to children’s literature.”

— Angie Pendley,
Media Specialist

“I’m hoping that they’re going to talk about how important gender inclusivity is in literature,” Kelleher said. “I haven’t read many books where there (has) been a non-binary character or a trans character, so I think it’s definitely important to include that in the literature that we read in school.”

Story by Antonio Starks
Story by Maya Shrivastav