The Thing About Georgie

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying, ableism, and death.

The titular protagonist, Georgie, is a fourth-grade boy with dwarfism, a congenital condition that affects his height, limbs, back, and head. Georgie is 42 inches tall, and his height impacts how he interacts with the world around him, which is built for people without disabilities. At the beginning of the story, Georgie’s outlook is that everyone has a thing about them that defines them. However, this outlook stops serving him as he comes to recognize The Complex Nature of Individuals. Georgie’s primary conflicts have to do with his friendships and his insecurities about his future baby sibling, who is due in May.

Just before Christmas, Georgie learns that his parents are expecting another baby. This information impacts Georgie’s mindset as he navigates his feelings about the new baby at every turn. Georgie’s primary concerns are that “this kid, the one who [i]sn’t even born yet, [i]s going to be bigger than he [i]s” and that the sibling could one day grow to be a musician (43)—a fate that Georgie’s parents originally planned for him, as evidenced by their passion for music and Georgie’s music-themed room.