Luna

Julie Anne Peters

‘Luna’ tugs at your heartstrings. It is told from the perspective of Regan, Luna/Liam’s younger sister. Luna longs to transition into being a girl full-time, yet society and her family doesn’t seem ready. In the end, Luna must do what is best for her, and so leave life open for Regan. Hit the jump for more…

Regan feels like Luna is sucking the life out of her own life. Luna is a girl born in a boy’s body. Regan has been covering for her sister for years, and yet no-one else seems to notice or care – they just think Luna is gay. In the end Regan is able to accept that Liam/Luna is different, but different is good and normal in a way.

Peters uses flashbacks wonderfully to enrich the narrative. I loved seeing just a little bit more about how Luna has been different from the start, it’s not something she has grown into. The novel tries to abolish the myth that being trans is something that people ‘choose’, when this isn’t the case at all.

I love this book. It’s a wonderful, non-threatening introduction to transsexual lifestyles. I wouldn’t say it was representative of what trans-people go through, and as it is told by the sister instead of Luna the impact is less. This makes it less confusing and confronting for the reader.

The ending leave you longing for more, but at the same time satisfied. The cover of the book is well worked in with the text (or the other way around). It’s pure craftsmanship! I felt like the butterfly had so little to do with the story, but really it does. Luna must emerge from her nighttime wanderings into the light of day to find her true self.

‘Luna’ is great reading, it should open the mind of any teenager reader. It’s written sympathetically, just like the rest of Peter’s works. Any teenager should read this, and maybe some adults too in order to open their minds. At the back of the novel are some questions for broadening discussions in a high school class setting, which are probably also worth thinking about.

I will be sure to review the rest of Peter’s novels! I have almost all of them on my shelves (which I just built more of) but am missing some of the most recent hard copy ones. They are all equally heartrending and painful, yet great reading at the same time.