LUNA by Julie Anne Peters
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  2/1/06
    Publisher:  Megan Tingley
    Reviewed by:  Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
    Rating:  5 Stars


    LUNA is the first book I've ever read that deals specifically with transgender issues.  Although you get a feel for what
    the book is about by reading the back copy--in effect, that Regan's brother, Liam, is a woman trapped in a man's
    body--you don't get the full spectrum of what this actually means until you reach the end of chapter one.  

    "Rolling over, I muttered, 'You're such a freakshow.'  Her hair splayed across my pillow, tickling my face.  'I
    know,' she murmured in my ear.  'But you love me, don't you?'  Her lips grazed my cheek.  I swatted her away.  
    As I heard her slog across the floor toward my desk--where she'd unveiled her makeup caddy in all its glory--
    a sigh of resignation escaped my lips.  Yeah, I loved her.  I couldn't help it.  She was my brother."

    Liam is the type of boy who, even as a small child, wanted to by the Mommy when he and Regan played house.  For
    his ninth birthday, he asked for a Prom Barbie and a bra.  Now, as a senior in high-school, Liam is consumed with
    letting out Luna, the name he's taken for his female self.  His dad, of course, is adamant that his son will finally play
    baseball.  His mother, lost in a world of uppers and downers, pretends not to notice when her son offers to fix dinner
    or do the laundry.  And Regan, the only one who knows her brother for who he is--a sister named Luna--is losing
    sleep and a chance for her own life by hiding the secret.

    Something has to change, and it finally does when Luna decides to go all the way, to actually become Luna, the
    woman he knows he is.  But what will it mean for his family, especially Regan, who has spent so long loving her
    brother, protecting his secrets, being a part of his life?  It might just be time for Regan to have a childhood of her own,
    and for Luna to come out of the darkness, out of the shadow of the moon, and into the light.

    LUNA is an emotional, heartfelt read that deftly deals with the issue of transgenderism in a way that makes it
    believable and important.  I had never really thought of what it must be like for someone who believes they were born
    with the wrong body, but after reading LUNA, my heart and support goes out to anyone who has ever suffered with
    this issue.  This is a book not to be missed.
Luna
by Julie Anne Peters