Despite the risks, Grayson's true self itches to break free. The weight of this secret is crushing, but sharing it would mean facing ridicule, scorn, rejection, or worse. Grayson Sender has been holding onto a secret for what seems like forever: 'he' is a girl on the inside, stuck in the wrong gender's body. What if who you are on the outside doesn't match who you are on the inside? Thank you, Ami Polonsky, for creating this memorable character who will open hearts and minds and very possibly be the miracle that changes lives.' -James Howe, award-winning and best-selling author of The Misfits

Its story is so compelling I found myself holding my breath as I read it and so intimate I felt as if what was happening to Grayson was happening to me. 'Tenderly and courageously told, Gracefully Grayson is a small miracle of a book. The first-person narration successfully positions readers to experience Grayson’s confusion, fear, pain, and triumphs as they happen, lending an immediate and intimate feel to the narrative.įrom the November/December 2014 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.Don’t miss Ami Polonsky’s stunning new novel, World Made of Glass

Polonsky captures the loneliness of a child resigned to disappear rather than be rejected, and then the courageous risk that child eventually takes to be seen for who she is. Luckily, an invested teacher and several open-minded cast mates offer understanding and support as Grayson begins to sort out the complexities of her own identity. Facing abuse and derision from classmates and resistance from members of her adoptive family (both birth parents were killed years before), Grayson fights for the right to present her truest self to the people around her - both on and off the stage. When that friendship falls apart, Grayson tries out for (and lands) the female lead in the school play as a means of testing out a female persona. The two develop a friendship that awakens Grayson’s need for companionship and acceptance. Struggling with the total isolation that comes with harboring a secret, Grayson keeps people at a distance until Amelia moves to town. Grayson, a sixth grader at Porter Middle School, passes the time doodling and daydreaming about what it would be like to go through life as a girl, despite being seen by everyone else as male. Intermediate, Middle School Hyperion 247 pp.

Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky