Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #830259 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-02
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Regan's life, which has always revolved around keeping her older brother Liam's transsexuality a secret, changes when Liam decides to start the process of "transitioning" by first telling his family and friends that he is a girl who was born in a boy's body.

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
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.

[...]

Touching and memorable
A powerful and heartening novel that deals with a topic rarely tackled in fiction and even more rarely for younger readers - transgenderism. Luna is a teenage girl who has been born in the body of a boy and has grown up as Liam. This is the story of Luna's awakening as she struggles to express who she is and takes the first difficult, liberating steps towards achieving her destiny.

But it's much more than that - the story is narrated by Regan - Luna's sister and only confidante. Regan is Luna's rock, her shoulder, her sparring partner, her friend. How Regan deals with the bewildering journey being taken by her brother/sister is compellingly written, sometimes heart wrenchingly painful and deeply insightful with a ring of truth to it that shines through. And Regan's own teenage journey, her own needs, as she stuggles on her own with Luna's secret are portrayed in a way that can't fail to move.

But what really leaves an impression is that this is a beautiful love story. The story of an unbreakable bond between two siblings - in the face of the odds, of bigotry and hostility. It captures that need we all have - to be ourselves. I was left with a great sense of hope - that we all have the right to be who we really are. More, that we CAN be - and that the unquenchable power of love is the fuel that can achieve it.

It's aimed at mid teens and young adults. I'm a bit older than that now (!), but I wish I'd read it then...it might have helped clarify quite a few things for me. The kind of book to put in the hands of younger people to genuinely shape society's opinions and attitudes for the future. Julie Peters is to be congratulated.