Luna [Paperback]

Julie Anne Peters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2006

Regan's brother Liam can't stand the person he is during the day. Like the moon from whom Liam has chosen his female namesake, his true self, Luna, only reveals herself at night. In the secrecy of his basement bedroom Liam transforms himself into the beautiful girl he longs to be, with help from his sister's clothes and makeup. Now, everything is about to change-Luna is preparing to emerge from her cocoon. But are Liam's family and friends ready to welcome Luna into their lives? Compelling and provocative, this is an unforgettable novel about a transgender teen's struggle for self-identity and acceptance.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up-"Yeah, I loved her. I couldn't help it. She was my brother." Regan has always been there for her transgender brother, Liam, sacrificing her needs for his, but when he announces that he is ready to "transition" into Luna permanently, Regan is not sure she can handle the consequences. She has been his confidant all her life, letting Luna dress in her room, buying underwear for her when Liam couldn't, and giving support. However, when the attractive new guy in chemistry class shows an interest in Regan, she wishes her sibling would just go away and give her a chance to live her own life. Liam realizes that in order for his sister to be free, he, too, must free himself to become the woman who lives inside him. Told from Regan's point of view in the present and in flashback, this novel breaks new ground in YA literature with a sensitive and poignant portrayal of a young man's determination to live his true identity and his family's struggle to accept Luna for who she really is.
Betty S. Evans, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-12. Peters tells two stories in this groundbreaking novel--one about Regan, and the other about Liam, Regan's transgender brother, who is the son his father expects by day but a young woman, Luna, by night. Fiercely protective of Liam/Luna, Regan has put her life on hold; she worries about her brother's female self being discovered and the family's reaction, and she fears that her brother may someday give in to despair. While Regan wonders if she will ever be able to have a life separate from the needs of her sibling, Liam seriously begins to consider a permanent change. Peters isn't putting forward a political agenda here. Rather, she's bringing the circumstances surrounding a difficult situation to light, and her sensitively drawn characters realistically encompass a wide range of reactions--from tentative acceptance by a best friend to Mom's feigned ignorance and Dad's total disbelief. The subject matter and occasional rough language will undoubtedly raise some eyebrows, but this book belongs in most YA collections. Cindy Welch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316011274
• ISBN-13: 978-0316011273
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For the last 20+ years, I've been writing books for young readers. My YA novel, Luna, the story of a transgender teen beginning her transition from male to female, was a National Book Award finalist and an American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults. (Thank you award committee members.) My other books about gender queer youth include Keeping You a Secret, Far from Xanadu (retitled, Pretend You Love Me), Between Mom and Jo, grl2grl: short fictions, Rage: A Love Story, She Loves You, She Loves You Not..., It's Our Prom (So Deal With It), and my newest book scheduled for 2014, The Double Life of Swanee Durbin. Also check out my book about bullycide, By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead.

I'm a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, PEN America, the Authors Guild, and the Colorado Authors' League. I live with my partner, Sherri Leggett, in Lakewood, Colorado. (We're celebrating our 38th anniversary this year.

More information about me and my books can be found on my Web site: www.JulieAnnePeters.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably my favourite Julie Anne Peters book yet... June 18, 2004

By Claire Hennessy

Format:Hardcover

This is a story dealing with a topic not often dealt with in YA fiction - transgender teenagers. Regan is fifteen and her life is dominated by her older brother, Liam (Lia Marie, and later Luna, at night). She has drifted apart from friends her own age because of him, and in order to try and help him she has offered to let him use her room at night, to try on girls' clothes. The only thing she has that's *hers* is her babysitting job for a family she sees as perfect and normal, in sharp contrast to her own, with her drugged-up mother and domineering father.

Regan is a sympathetic character, a girl who tries so hard to be there for her brother when he needs her, but also someone who resents how she has to be everything for him, his sole confidant, and who alternates between feeling sorry for him and for wishing that he could just be normal. She also has her own dilemma, involving an infatuation with a boy at school. "Luna" is Regan's story as much as it is Liam's.

Liam/Luna's story is dealt with effectively as well, with flashbacks of their childhood showing early signs that he really did want to be in a girl's body. The separation of gender and sexuality is also made quite clear, and the idea of constructed gender roles is also dealt with (though not as much as I'd like to have seen it discussed - but the perfect amount for a YA novel). It is by no means a definitive transgendered-teen story but it shouldn't have to be, either - it's merely the story of one girl in a boy's body, trying to break free.

A worthwhile read that will hopefully challenge readers' ideas towards gender and sex while telling a compelling story.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A story that needs to be told July 21, 2004

By A. M Nelson

Format:Hardcover

Luna is the first young adult novel written about a transsexual teen. Luna/Liam is a girl that was born in a boy's body. The only one who knows the truth is Regan, Luna/Liam's younger sister. Regan has spent so much of her life protecting and worrying about Liam that she really hasn't developed and identity seperate from that role. She has no friends, and she is a loner and an outcast at her school. And she is frightened and freaked out when Luna begins to go public with her secret. Luna is well-written. The anguish and fear of the characters is palpable and real.

This book is so important because it is the first of its kind. I never really knew that much about transgender people before, and although I am a huge supporter of GLBT people, I did not understand transgenders, and I was uncomfortable about the subject. This book showed me that Liam/Luna was just as normal as any other person...they had just been born in the wrong body, and there is nothing freakish or weird about it. On the contrary, it was agonizing to read how desperate and hopeless Liam felt trapped in a body that was so horribly wrong for him. This book is groundbreaking, and needs to be read not just by young adults, but everyone who feels weird about the idea of a transsexual. They do not ask for this pain, they do not want to scare people. They just want what is in their hearts and minds to match their bodies.

Much thanks to Julie Ann Peters for tackling a very hard subject and presenting it with heart, dignity, and hope.

~Anna M. Nelson, Young Adult Librarian, Seabrook, NH

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gender identity struggles for a teenaged boy and his family November 25, 2005

By Jessica Lux

Format:Hardcover

Luna is the story of transgendered high school senior Liam/Luna, a girl trapped inside a male body, and his younger sister Regan, who has been his only confidante throughout their childhood and teenage years. Author Peters brings in gender issues on a larger scale with a sexist chemistry teacher, pressure from Liam's dad to take on a more masculine role in the world, and deathly gender-neutral parenting performed by the family Regan babysits for. Peters has made an important contribution to the field of YA literature by presenting an inside look at living a lie forced on you by society, as well as how a gender identity crisis affects the members of a typical suburban family. Filled with touching highs and lows, Luna is highly recommended to teen readers and to any reader interested in GLBT issues.

If you liked Luna, try Carol Plum-Ucci's What Happened to Lani Garver.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensitive and funny November 29, 2004

By Peggy Tibbetts VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Think Joan of Arcadia, only God dresses up like a girl after dark. Okay, so Luna's not exactly God, but there is much wisdom to be gained from this encounter. Luna is Liam, Regan's older brother, and, well, sister. Or as Regan says, "half brother, half sister," which is hilarious when she says it. Because the thing about Luna the novel is that Peters tells the story of Regan and her transgender (TG) brother, Luna with wry, engaging humor that immediately puts the reader at ease with this unusual situation.

Luna/Liam's story is told through the eyes of Regan. Luna is about to come out of her cocoon. Because Regan has lived with and loved her brother all her life, she's grown accustomed to his girlish ways. Through flashbacks she realizes that she's always known that even as a kid, Liam was never comfortable in the role of boy. Her sorrow is that she's losing her brother, Liam. Even though she's the younger sister, Regan's life has revolved around keeping his secret. For that reason she also feels a sense of dread about Luna's emerging strength. Her fear for Luna is that she'll be ridiculed or humiliated. As much as Regan wishes for a life of her own, without Luna, she's never done anything to make that happen, revealing her own dependence on her brother as Luna grows stronger. In this way, their lives are remarkably intertwined and the notion of their inevitable separation is heartbreaking, yet compelling.

Regan's humorous outbursts and observations -- especially of their parents -- betray her genuine perplexity with the whole situation, while lending a sense of normalcy to the raw emotions swirling through their lives.... Understanding Luna -- and therefore any TG - through Regan's eyes becomes an oddly spiritual journey, challenging readers to think beyond outward appearances and stereotypes, to look deep into the soul of another individual and love the person inside enough to let her go.

Copyright (c) 2004 by Peggy Tibbetts Read more ›