A review by kim_j_dare
Luna by Julie Anne Peters

4.0

High school sophomore Regan is a keeper of secrets. Her older brother Liam has been harboring a biggie-- (s)he is transgender, and posing as Liam for his parents and teachers and friends is slowly sucking the life out of him. Every evening, in the privacy of the basement that the two share, Liam becomes Luna, and Regan sees how much Luna wants to share her true self with the world. But their mom is disengaging from the family, escaping into work, and their dad continues to push Liam to be more of a "real" man. Regan is tired of being Liam/ Luna's confidante and having nobody to confide in herself. She's tired of the pretense. But when Luna decides that it's time to start her transformation, Regan dreads the impact that it's going to have on everyone in the family, and on their community. While secondary characters are fairly two-dimensional, this is an affirming story that offers a poignant glimpse into how life can get messy when societal expectations clash with being true to oneself.