The Thing about Georgie (review)

The "thing about Georgie" is that Georgie is a dwarf. Now in fourth grade, Georgie is comfortable in his slightly modified world (a stool by the blackboard just for him, a lever on his light switch, a milk crate under his desk), but he soon finds himself buffeted by a ripple of change. First he finds out his parents are having a baby, then he and his best friend, Andy, get into a terrible fight, and to top it off he is assigned to a class project with Jeanie, a.k.a. "Jeanie the Meanie." This is a remarkable story of maturation, featuring a boy whose growing up is not evident on the tape measure he keeps hidden in the back of his closet. Georgie's anxieties ring absolutely true, from his fears at making new friends to his worry that an average-sized sibling will outshine him, and readers will readily embrace the complexity of concerns running through Georgie's head. Throughout the novel, handwritten entries invite the reader to participate in different exercises that aid in understanding Georgie's world, from performing physical tasks that are difficult for Georgie (e.g., holding a pencil, tying shoelaces) to staring at a drawing of Georgie for thirty seconds (just to get the staring out of the way). The final chapter reveals that Jeanie, who doesn't prove to be such a "meanie" after all, is the writer of these passages, and she has actually been working hard to understand what it is like to be Georgie. At the heart of the novel lies the message that no one "thing" about anyone is wholly definitive and that everyone is made up of lots of different characteristics, traits and "things." Especially likely to draw fans of the TLC series Little People, Big World, this entertaining and thoughtful read will encourage youngsters to consider the true nature of growth.