The Difference Between You and Me

Last night, I finished reading The Difference Between You and Me by Madeleine George. I really enjoyed the book and the diverse perspective that George brought to YA, but there is one thing in particular that has had my mind spinning nonstop ever since I put the book down.

From almost page one, I knew that Jesse was a transgender woman. Now, if you haven't read the book, this is not a spoiler, because it was never confirmed as true or untrue. I know in my heart of hearts that this is absolutely true. I believe this so hard that I searched through pages and pages of reviews on Goodreads and google and went to the author's website and could find no confirmation that this is true OR that anyone else read this the same way.

There were three show more factors that made it 100% clear to me that Jesse is trans.
1. Her name. Jesse is traditional a name given to boys. Girls often go by Jessie (note the i), which is typically short for Jessica. Because this sounds so much like the female nickname, I was under the impression that she chose to keep the spelling of her name. This is not a overtly masculine sounding name so it would not raise any red flags.
2. The bathroom. In the opening scene of the book, Jesse is hiding in the girls' bathroom in an attempt to avoid attending the pep rally. When she is confronted by some stereotypical mean girls when she is trying to escape, they point out to her that this is the girls' bathroom. Jesse's internal monologue explains that this is something that happens to her a lot and she has to explain that she is a girl. Yes, this could potentially be the case based on Jesse's butch appearance, but I read deeper into this. On top of that, bathrooms play a huge role in the novel. Whether on the third floor of the library or getting busted by the vice principal, most major events in the book happen in a bathroom. Of course this is a place this is so, so significant to the trans community given the political climate right now.
3. When confronted by the mean girls in the opening scene, one of the repeatedly uses masculine pronouns to insult Jesse. It is clear that these are meant to hurt her.

I read the whole book, waiting for some kind of reveal to the reader that Jesse is trans, but it never came. I'm kind of okay with that. It didn't matter at all to the story, and the fact that it just wasn't an issue is almost better. show less

This is a fantastic little book about politics and convictions and high school and making a difference. The characters are all recognizable "types" but also feel very real and are easy to get emotionally involved with, and their foibles are on full display but not mocked.

Gotta be honest, though: my absolute favorite part is that an honest-to-god butch girl who gets mistaken for a boy sometimes and has feelings about her hair and whose idea of formal wear is a sky-blue polyester bell-bottomed suit with a ruffled shirt is the main character. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!

Jesse lives for Tuesday afternoons, slipping into the third-floor accessible bathroom at the library and meeting Emily on her break from work. Emily lives for Tuesday afternoons, the one time she can be with Jesse, not worrying about what student council or her friends or her boyfriend would think about her if they knew. Jesse and Emily come from different worlds - Jesse is out and proud, Emily is a closeted girly girl - but when they're together, none of that seems to matter. But when Emily approaches a Big Bad Corporation about sponsoring their school dance and Jesse meets Esther, a politically minded individualist who's not afraid to be herself, it turns out that the differences between Jesse and Emily just might be enough to drive show more them apart.

I wouldn't call this a romance, although love plays a bit part in the plot. The book's more about not only taking a stand for what you believe in, but taking the necessary action to make it happen. Dual narratives show the story from both Jesse's and Emily's points of view, with a few chapters from Esther thrown in for good measure. I loved that even though Jesse's story is told in third person and Emily's story is told in first person, I still felt more distance from Emily because she's in such cotton-headed denial about her own life. show less

A short, intriguing high school novel about a rebel who falls for a prep. The story is told from the perspective of both girls, but (not surprisingly) the rebel's perspective seemed deeper and more sympathetic. The prep, while not totally villified, came off as shallow and not worthy of the rebel's heart. I think it would've been a more interesting book if the prep had been more likable.

Really, the most interesting character was Esther, a friend of the rebel's who is obsessed with Joan of Arc. Esther deserves her own novel.

When I think of this book, I will remember that the rebel wore giant boots all the time because she needed lots of wiggle room for her toes.

I also liked that the rebel's parents were interesting characters who show more actually made a difference in the plot. So often in children's and YA fiction the parents are not a factor in the kid's life, unless they're heinous. show less

I liked this book okay, but it was one of those things where for a long time I thought I was reading a different book.

What happens in this book: Jesse, an out yet very awkward and geeky and mostly a loner high school junior, is having a clandestine relationship with Emily, a popular student council type with a jock boyfriend. Jesse's parents are politically radical, liberal type folks, and this (I guess) makes it seem natural when she becomes friends with another girl at school, Esther, who is passionately, and also geeky but comfortable with it, into social justice issues. Esther and Jesse join forces to protest the plans of a large box store (not named Walmart but it's Walmart, I imagine) to move into their small town. This pits them show more against Emily, who is trying to get the box store company to sponsor high school activities. The chapters rotate through the points of view of Jesse, Esther, and Emily.

What I thought this book was going to be about: for some reason, maybe the title, for a long time into it, I was thinking this book was going to be about differences, and even the painful realization that it's possible other people have different views, opinions, and interests, and are in different places in their development, that present challenges to a relationship and that sometimes these differences are insurmountable.

What this book could have been titled: Why I'm a Better Person Than You Are. Which is something that also happens, sometimes people learn that the object of their affection is a terrible person. But there was something about the way this book handled the issue that was so finger-waggy. Emily is presented as a selfish twit, which is fine, but the whole package is sniggered at. Yes, she's a selfish twit for pretending not to know Jesse at school, but other aspects of her character, like enjoying her work on student council activities, is also presented as clear evidence of what a selfish twit she is. In the world of this story, student council is not a valid activity for anyone. Having average or mainstream interests is the sign of a weak character and substandard mind.

If this element of the book had been handled in a more nuanced way I would have felt it was more of a four star read. It was still engaging, many of the other characters were still interesting, but wow, pedantic. show less

Smart, funny, and true! The writing is smart, and so are the main characters, Jesse, Emily, and Esther. Jesse is having a secret affair with Emily, who has a boyfriend. Esther is an activist Jesse meets while serving a Saturday detention. Jesse and Emily have very different values, which lead them in opposite paths of activism. They shouldn't be attracted to each other, but they are anyway. And Emily has a boyfriend and a straight life, which she wants to keep. I was hooked from the first page.

Okay, so, this was very well-written and had excellent characters, and for most of the book I thought it was going to be one of my favorite books so far this year and I was seriously considering buying a copy.

But then the ending was incredibly disappointing - not only an ending I didn't like, but an ending I didn't like and really didn't expect. My favorite character (Emily) didn't get a resolution at all.

On top of that, even putting aside all the stuff I didn't like about the way it ended, the last 50 pages felt extremely rushed. Based on everything that had come before, it seemed like there should have been a lot more content before the conclusion. Those last 50 pages could have been 150, at least.