‘The Pants Project’ by Cat Clarke

Middle-school student Liv challenges a uniform policy that requires girls to wear skirts while allowing boys to wear pants. 

 Having to wear a skirt and itchy stockings goes beyond discomfort or inconvenience — because, as Liv relates, “I may seem like a girl, but on the inside, I’m a boy.” 

Part of the plot concerns Liv wrestling with how to disclose his identity to his parents, “Mom” and “Momma.” 

Liv also has to deal with bullying by a mean-girl classmate who behaves with bigoted disgust toward Liv having same-sex parents. 

 (An interesting fact, which I hope is not a spoiler, I just found it worth paying attention to: throughout the book, Liv’s Momma calls him by a masculine-noun endearment. She calls Liv her “Topolino,” which is “Little Mouse” in Italian.) 

Altogether, a warm and reassuring story of acceptance and positive change. As another Goodreads reader puts it, this book “skews young,” making it broadly accessible.