11-year-old Liv (not Olivia, thank you very much) already misses elementary school, and it’s only day one at Bankridge Middle School. In elementary school, nobody cared if your family had two moms. In elementary school, your best friend didn’t abandon you for the cool crowd. In elementary school, you couldn’t get lost in a gigantic building that looked like it belonged on the set of a horror movie. And most of all, in elementary school, you didn’t have stupid dress codes that required you to wear skirts. Liv hates skirts. It’s not just that they’re uncomfortable, or that the tights worn under them are super-itchy, though all that’s true. It’s that the uniform policy demands that all girls must wear the black, pleated skirts. And deep down, in the deepest part that hasn’t even been shared with his moms, Liv knows he’s a boy.
He also knows there’s a word for how he feels—transgender. He’s looked it up on the internet, and knows that there are others like him. But knowing himself is different than letting the rest of the world know The Secret, a step Liv isn’t ready to take yet. At the encouragement of his moms, Liv agrees to try the dress code for a few weeks. After all, what else is he going to do? But it doesn’t take long for Liv to realize that this is not something he’s going to be able to live with. Now not only is he uncomfortable inside his skin, but outside as well.
And so The Pants Project is born. Amidst the challenges of starting at a new school, changing friendships, classroom bullies, and a situation at home that has his moms distracted, Liv launches a campaign to be the change he needs to see at Bankridge Middle School. But the road is not an easy one. His attempt at boycotting the dress code flops. Talking to the principal doesn’t work. A petition results in a few signatures, but not nearly enough to change the principal’s mind. It’s not until a new friendship allows Liv to be more honest with both himself and others that things start to change. In the end, it’s not just about a dress code, but about honesty, acceptance, and the ability to recognize that, oftentimes, others are also carrying around secrets they also wish they could share.
Written in first-person, with both the angst and the humor of a brand-new middle-schooler, The Pants Project is a story for young transgender readers looking to find themselves reflected in contemporary literature. But it’s also a story for all middle grade readers, inviting discussions about acceptance, compassion, and ways in which we all struggle with the same roller coaster of emotions that comes with finding our true selves.
The Pants Project is on B&N Bookshelves now.
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