Luna (Paperback)

by Julie Anne Peters (Author) "It was the feel of her presence in my room that woke me - again..." (more)
Key Phrases: invisibility shield, Teri Lynn, Lia Marie, Taco Bell (more...)

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 the Hardcover edition.

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 the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316011274
• ISBN-13: 978-0316011273
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #86,012 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 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 (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Luna (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 Gender identity struggles for a teenaged boy and his family, November 25, 2005

By	Jessica Lux (Rosamond, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Luna (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.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Metamorphosis - Excellent, Extraordinary, Exemplary, August 28, 2005

By	Jon Linden (Warren, N.J. United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Luna (Hardcover)

Luna is a gem of a book, very unique in character and style. The book outlines the life of a boy who knows he is really a girl in a boy's body. He is a Transgender. And to be even more poignant, the story is told from the perspective of his sister, who is 2 years younger.

Julie Anne Peters goes to just the right lengths to accurately describe both the emotional and environmental situations. Some of her most eloquent statements are made with regard to the manner in which Liam/Luna's transmogrification, transition, metamorphosis affects those around him/her as much as it affects him/her and sometimes even more. The one who truly empathizes and suffers the pain almost as much as Liam/Luna is his sister Regan. She is Liam/Luna's confidant, his/her enabler, and his/her instrument to the realization of his dream. Despite all this good, Regan suffers most terribly with the knowledge of her brother's suffering.

The writing technique that the author uses is particularly fascinating. She does some most effective flashback sequences that are truly artistic. In addition, she is quite adept at writing the text and the subtext (what is going on in the character's mind and how it differs from what comes out of their mouth) that her paragraphs are like little sparkling emeralds in a field of rock and dirt.

In addition, the story moves along well. The reader has no time to get bored or complacent. And the messages departed along the way show all too well, how society makes life very difficult; not just for the normal, but also for the extremes, and not in any rational proportion. Just as life plays itself out; sometimes advantageously, but more of the time, unfairly. As we all know, life is not FAIR, but sometimes we surely wish it were.

This book is highly recommended for all people interested in cross gender relations and in the phenomenon of Transexuality. It does a good job explaining the difference between transsexuals and homosexuals. And it does it in a manner that is very intimate and not objectionable. It truly is a mirror on today's society and should be viewed as such.