The Pants Project

Liv would be excited about her new middle school, except that the strict, old-fashioned dress code says that boys have to wear pants and girls have to wear skirts. Liv doesn't mind that there's a uniform, but feeling a skirt feels awful and wrong. She tries to explain to Mom and Mamma, but doesn't tell them the real reason it feels so bad: Liv is really a boy.

Wearing a skirt is just as bad as Liv expected, and she gets no support from the new principal, Mr. Lynch - and worse, her lifelong best friend Maisie drops her for mean popular girls who make fun of Liv for having two moms. Fortunately, Liv makes a new friend, Jake, who draws awesome comics and makes Live feel safe enough to come out as transgender; Jacob also gets behind Liv's show more "pants project" wholeheartedly, and gets some of his friends to support it, too. He also reveals, after some prompting, that he has hypermobility, and uses a cane sometimes.

Ultimately, thanks to some media attention, the dress code is updated, and Liv comes out to their moms and little brother.

Quotes

Before you know it, lots of small steps can cover a lot of ground. (210)

See also: Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone, Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff show less

Whoever wrote the uniform policy decided (whyyy?) that girls had to wear skirts, while boys were allowed to wear pants.
Sexist. Dumb. Unfair.
“Girls must wear a black, pleated, knee-length skirt.”
I bet I read those words a hundred times during summer vacation. The problem wasn’t the last word in that sentence. Skirt wasn’t really the issue, not for me.
The issue was the first word. Girls.
Here’s the thing:
I may seem like a girl, but on the inside, I’m a boy.

In a few months, Liv effects a major change in his new middle school’s antiquated dress code while simultaneously acquiring the courage to come out as transgender.

From the start, readers are drawn into the story by 11-year-old Liv’s believable, humor-tinged narration: “Little brothers can always be counted on to reach peak levels of annoying at exactly the wrong moment. It must be part of their job description.” Throughout, Liv’s voice is convincing and a pleasure to read. Readers learn that, over the years, Liv has become increasingly less tolerant of being assigned female pronouns and the name “Olivia.” Being required to wear a skirt daily at middle school is the last straw. He—still “she” to others—works to show more convince the school’s new principal that students should have some choice in clothing, moving from an unsuccessful conversation to an unpromising petition to a brilliantly orchestrated media event. Along the way, he contends with a mean-spirited bully and the loss of a former friend even as he makes new, more loyal friends and wrestles with his own shortcomings. His coming-out to friend Jacob is realistically brief and an enormous relief. Liv’s two moms add further dimension to a tale that unabashedly affirms the importance of accepting and celebrating differences. The book assumes a white default, with ethnicity cued by naming convention.

A fine addition to LGBTQ children’s literature. (Fiction. 9-12)
(Kirkus Review) show less

Great read -- Liv and his family are excellent characters, and the middle school dynamic feels accurate. Good pacing, moves right along, and I think this is a good vehicle for addressing trans identity for younger readers. I would prefer that there not need to be a hook (coming out in play, protesting uniforms) to portray young trans protagonists, but I'm glad that the books are being written and I think it's a nicely accessible read, appealing to middle grade kids. I could also just be really tired of reading the middle-school-sucks brand of book right now, but that's my issue. Middle school does suck, and middle schoolers need to see themselves and their struggles in their books.

Liv is dreading middle school, most especially because the school's arcane policy requires girls to wear skirts as part of their school uniform. It's a sexist policy, but it especially cuts Liv because he knows he's really a boy, despite what appearances might suggest.

This book seems to be a good introduction into explaining the concept of transgender people to children. Unlike other books such as George, this one seems to have more storyline besides just pointing out that the protagonist is transgender. There's talk about losing friends, gaining friends, being bullied, standing up to injustice, and regular old family issues as well. Everything ends up pretty happy, but not absurdly -- and unrealistically -- so.

Clarke doesn't mention show more too many specifics about what characters look like, but it could be inferred from some names that there is at least a little bit of diversity in the cast in terms of ethnicity. We definitely see diversity in terms of LGBT representation and ability/disability. With the exception of the bullying type characters, Clarke has created very warm and likeable characters. With the first person point-of-view, we get a good feel for Liv's thoughts and motivations, which makes the character feel more real. show less

Review also posted on my blog: bennilovesbooks.wordpress.com/2018/04/15/review-the-pants-project-by-cat-clarke/

This book has content warnings for transmisia, homomisia, sexism, and bullying.

I just loved this book! It’s a book that has a clear message that it wants you to understand, and it manages to get that message across in a way that’s straightforward without being too in-your-face about it. Liv has a very large personality that shines through on every page, and I loved seeing him be so sure of himself. With how pervasive the idea that eleven is “too young” for a kid to know their gender, it was fantastic to see this book directly addressing that.

The sexism in this book is intense — Liv isn’t out for the majority of the show more book, and the stereotypes that are projected onto genders is blood-boiling. It was a constant battle for Liv, and while the antagonists of the story were aggravating it was great seeing Liv get support from others as he tried to figure out how to get the policy changed. The friendship between Liv and Jacob in particular was wonderful to see.

The diversity in this book was really nice as well — in addition to a trans main character, we also have sapphic women parents and a disabled side character, both of which we don’t see enough of in children’s lit. I was really happy with the rep, personally, and would love to see more of this.

Overall, this is a wonderful book. I want to see more middle grade books like this one — it’s definitely a must-read.

Final rating: 5 of 5 stars show less

Liv (Olivia) was born a girl, but knows in his heart that he's a boy. But this realization isn't easy for a kid entering middle school, which can be a heartless place for anyone. What complicates things for Liv is a move to a new school, which brings a stringent dress code: girls must wear skirts. No exceptions. Whatsoever. Liv knows in his heart that he's a boy, but the school system (and kids at school) don't see it that way. Liv is already dealing with enough, but now he feels uncomfortable everyday in his school clothes. It also doesn't help that his best friend is dropping him for a group of mean-spirited bullies who bully Liv on a daily basis. But Liv perseveres and comes up with an idea: Operation Pants Project. Liv is going to show more get this uniform dress code overturned, no matter what.

This is an excellent YA novel that draws you in immediately. I found the storyline to be interesting from the very beginning, and it never wavered. Liv is a wonderful, amazing, resilient young man, and I loved him from the moment I met him. Liv's story is heartbreaking at times, but also very poignant. I see this tale as a must-read for transgender kids, but also all middle school kids, as it offers a wonderful chance to teach empathy. But, seriously, just having this story, and the way Liv expresses his thoughts on being transgender is so key. Yes, a lot of the story is probably a tad simplified, but still. It's just so refreshing to see this in book form.

Liv also has same-sex parents (two mothers) for which he is teased at school, which breaks my heart (being part of a same-sex marriage and having two young daughters). So much of the story hurts your heart at times and makes you just despair how much young kids have to go through at school. Liv meets a new friend in middle school, Jacob, and in reading this book, I just hope that the world continues to be filled with more Liv and Jacobs: it will make it a better place for sure. (I also enjoyed that Clarke seemed to insert an inside joke about how awful and cliche lesbian films can be!)

Overall, I loved this book, and I wish it was on the shelves of every middle school (and high school) -heck all libraries and bookstores-- everywhere! Huge portions of it make you smile, and you will find yourself just rooting for plucky, wonderful Liv and his spirit. There's a great sappy message in this book that I wish everyone could read in these troubled times. Liv has a wonderful sense of humor, and Clarke's writing is perfect for the targeted age group. I do think a great deal is this book is probably a little simplified (not all parents may be as supportive of Liv, for instance), but the bullying aspects at school are spot-on. Just seeing a transgender "tween" in print is great. I would like to see a list of support resources at the end of the book (and I just read an ARC, so it's not the final version) for those who do not have the same support system as Liv. Yes, this book goes a long way toward showing acceptance, but it's not as easy for everyone. I certainly hope it inspires kids to treat everyone equally: it's an important message. I definitely recommend this wonderful novel for kids and adults alike.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!); it is available everywhere as of 03/01/2017. show less