Luna

Luna

By Julie Anne Peters

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2006. 256 pages. Transgender and transsexual fiction.

ISBN: 9780316011273

Reading/Interest Level: Ages 15+

Curriculum ties: Culture and diversity, bullying

Booktalk Ideas: Family bonds: Describe how Regan sees Luna, making it clear that she’s feminine, then end by saying how unique her brother is.

Challenge Issues: Transgender character

Challenge Response: First Defense File

Reader’s Annotation:

Fifteen-year-old Regan has always loved and been there for her brother, Liam, and she’s always kept his biggest secret. When Liam decides to become more open about who she really is, Regan’s life becomes chaotic.

Plot Summary:

Regan is fifteen-years-old, is a fairly normal girl, and loves her brother, Liam, dearly. She helps Liam keep his biggest secret- that he’s a fairly normal girl too. By day Liam does his best to act like a boy, doing what his family and society expects of him. However, at night he transforms into the beautiful Luna. As a transgender Liam/Luna never feels like he fits in with those around him and finds hope in another transgender he meets online, Teri-Lynn. Teri-Lynn has successfully gone through the transformation process that Liam/Luna so greatly desires.

As Liam/Luna gradually starts to appear as Luna during the day, Regan tries to protect him but finds the intense prejudice against Luna difficult to bare. As Luna starts to appear more and more often Regan’s life is completely turned upside down. Regan just wants to live normally and go out with her cute lab partner, but Luna is putting Regan’s normal life in jeopardy.

Critical Evaluation:

Character-driven plots don’t generally keep me interested but I found myself thoroughly invested in Regan’s life and, like Regan, felt mixed emotions of love and sympathy combined with betrayal and frustration with some of Luna’s actions. Luna’s motivations are clear as is her desire to transition and be as female as she can as often as possible, but the babysitting incident in particular I felt really betrayed by Luna, just like Regan.

I think one of the reasons I was so invested in this novel is that I could understand and feel sympathetic to all of the characters. I understood Regan and how she just wanted a normal life and to do normal things without worrying about Luna. Though I can’t necessarily relate, I could understand Luna’s emotions and desire to be herself. Though it frustrated me, I could understand the father’s reactions to discovering that Liam was Luna, and not at all the son he had envisioned having all his life. Though I hated her for it, I could also understand their mother and how, because she didn’t know what to do, did nothing when she discovered at a young age that Liam was much more feminine than she realized. By far the characterization was the greatest strength of the book, especially when you love every character despite their flaws. For any youth struggling with their identity I wouldn’t have a problem recommending this book because all points of view are so clear.

About the Author:

Julie Anne Peters is the critically-acclaimed, award winning author of more than a dozen books for young adults and children. Her book, Luna, was a National Book Award Finalist; Keeping You a Secret  was named a Stonewall Honor Book; Between Mom and Jo won a Lambda Literary Award; and Define “Normal” was voted by young readers as their favorite book of the year in California and Maryland. Julie’s books have been published in numerous countries, including Korea, China, Croatia, Germany, France, Italy, Indonesia, Turkey, and Brazil.

She is a member of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, PEN America, Colorado Authors League, and The Author's Guild.

Julie loves writing because she gets to be her own boss and doesn't have to work in an office cubicle. It's hard to think outside the box when you work in a cube. She lives in Lakewood, Colorado, with her partner, Sherri, and far too many cats. The cats are under the impression that they're creative geniuses, since they spend a majority of their day walking back and forth across her computer keyboard. They probably generate more words per day than she does, but who can read cat gibberish?

-from author’s website-

Justification of Selection:

There are a variety of teens out there, and the teen years is when a lot of them begin exploring their identity. At some point in their life, most likely they will meet someone who is transgendered, and this book is a great way to show the struggles these people go through and will increase the compassion and understanding in the reader. For those who are transgendered and read this book, it will help them realize that they’re not alone in their struggles.