A children's book about gender change
July 11, 2013 11:47 AM   Subscribe

The book I'm looking for is one I remember reading in my childhood. It had a boy as a protagonist. It was similar to The Wizard of Oz in that the boy was travelling with friends through a magical realm to free it from some kind of oppressive rule. And when the boy arrived to the happy ending (which I think took place in the royal palace) it was revealed that actually he's not a boy - he's a girl. A princess, to be exact. And a rightful ruler of the realm. Which came as quite a shock to him/her. I must have been less than 10 years old when I read it, which places the book in the 1970s. Did I imagine it or does it really exist? (it is possible that I mixed it up with The Wizard of Oz, although I think I've read it later).
posted by hat_eater to Society & Culture (7 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

 
Best answer: You're looking for The Marvelous Land of Oz, the second of the Oz books.
posted by brainmouse at 11:48 AM on July 11, 2013 [4 favorites]


Best answer: Brainmouse beat me to it! Yes, that's the one.
posted by redfoxtail at 11:49 AM on July 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thank you! I see now how it happened, though I can't believe it has been hiding behind The Wizard of Oz for so long. I'm remembering it all now...
posted by hat_eater at 11:54 AM on July 11, 2013


Jack Snow--who was one of the Reilly&Lee Oz writers --wrote an unpublished story in which Tip kills Ozma.
posted by brujita at 12:10 PM on July 11, 2013


Yep, the second one, with the sawhorse - amazing books :)
posted by an opinicus at 1:11 PM on July 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Yes, he became Princess Ozma. I LOVED that book, once I could get my youthful head around the fact that there was more than one Wizard of Oz book. That book also taught me to look up the meaning of the word "juggernaut."
posted by Lynsey at 3:16 PM on July 11, 2013 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thank you all! I'm eternally grateful to the author for introducing me to the concept of gender change - when I encountered it in the real world it was not something unheard of but part of my childhood.
posted by hat_eater at 4:21 PM on July 11, 2013


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