Luna

Luna by M.E. Kerr

ISBN: 9780316011273
Little, Brown Young Readers, 2004

Plot - By day, Liam is a successful student and a good catch nobody seems to get.  Liam lives under the scrutiny of his father who pushes his son to be a real man, join the wrestling team or go out for baseball.  His mother is detached, never really all there for her family and often not present at all as she runs her own business.  Luna is dying to be born.  She is only a shadow person, though, living out her true self only when she, born in the body of the boy named Liam, goes into her sister, Regan's, room at night to dress, move, and talk as a girl. Regan has spent years of her own life keeping Luna's secret, and when Luna comes to the point of choosing dying over not being born, Regan digs in even more, drifting further and further away from having a life of her own.  Luna will be born, and begins to emerge in public, much to Regan's horrible embarrassment especially in light of the boy, Chris, who actually seems to like Regan as her own person.  Regan learns, though, that even sacrificing herself for her sibling will never take away the pain of living a lie or a half-lived life, and that the truth really can free someone and her brother/sister.

Critical Evaluation - Told from Regan's point of view with flashbacks that fill in details of Luna's emergence, this story sings.  Luna, especially, is revealed with sensitivity, humor, and insight.  Regan's willingness to sacrifice herself completely to save her sister/brother is something readers will recognize easily as part of a child's unending love for his or her sibling.  The story moves quickly, longing with Luna for a resolution to the pain she feels.  There is no villainous character to act as foil for the protagonists; instead, Luna must defeat her birth gender identity, her mother's neglect of her pain, and her father's determination that biology is destiny.  Peters handles the topic beautifully and in the end she tells a story about what every adolescent goes through to one extent or another--morphing from his or her parents' child into the true self.

Reader's annotation - Regan has been hiding her older sister, born in the body of an older brother, Liam, in her bedroom at night for years, and only when she comes to understand that Luna must live in everyone's reality in order to live at all, does Regan have the chance to truly live herself.

Information about the author - In Julie Anne Peters's website, it is possible to read the story behind her stories, and I highly recommend doing so.  To this date, 2011, Peters has written nine YA novels, and among the rewards and praise for all of them, Luna tops the charts.  The story behind Luna, according to an interview between Peters and Cynthia Leitich Smith, began with a 17 year old girl with long blonde hair coming to Peters deep in the night in vision, saying, "Write about me."  Peters goes on to describe pushing the vision away for weeks, finally accepting the request, getting to know a group of transsexual individuals in her community so she could write from an authentic point of view, abandoning the project only to pick it up again at the news of a transsexual boy who was killed locally, and finally choosing to write from Regan's point of view.  She is obviously a fantastically dedicated writer who will stop at nothing to do justice to her characters and to the very real people whom they represent. 
Genre - LGBTQ YA lit, YA lit.
Curriculum Ties - None that stand out immediately, other than a necessary chapter in the curriculum of growing up a thoughtful, open-minded, compassionate person
Booktalk ideas - 

1. Luna and Regan need to get real.  Luna lives in secret, only exposing herself deep in the night when she goes into her sister's room and dresses as a girl.  By day, you see, she lives in a boy's body, Liam is the name her parents gave her, not knowing she should really have been a girl through and through.  Regan lives only to protect Liam's secret self.  When Regan's sibling decides life isn't worth the pain of having to be a fake self, Regan has to figure out how to come alive as a whole person, herself.
2. Read a teaser from where Luna first emerges on her birthday into the breakfast scene.  Begin with pg. 220, "Mom was still flaming about her caterer...".  End on pg. 222, "His tone of voice made me shrink in fear.

Reading level - 14/15 +  This is a heavy topic, not only because of the controversy and pain surrounding transsexuality in our society, but simply the being/not-being reality twist.  Some younger YAs, either in years or in maturity, may find it confusing or too painful.

Challenge issues - homosexuality; transgender issues; some cursing that may offend parents and/or YAs

Challenge defense ideas:

• Librarian must read the book carefully and include it as a resource intended for older teens.
• Librarian greets students and regularly discusses their reading choices; she provides individualized, age-appropriate guidance in book choice.
• Explain the ways in which the librarian accompanies and guides younger students looking for books, and knows students well as individuals.

Why I included this book - This book did what no other hae ever done--bring a transgendered young adult on the literary scene and have her/him live, thrive, and even be the cause of his/her sibling's freedom as well.  It's a beautiful story full of humor and tears, and in 2004 it was nominated as a National Book Award finalist.  Since its publication it has garnered more awards than can be reasonably be listed here, and not only because of its topic.  The story stands on its own as a coming of age tale that asks young people to ask themselves just how far they will go to save themselves from disappearing.