Luna, by Julie Anne Peters

Specifics
Luna, by Julie Anne Peters
Published by Little, Brown and Company, 2004

Target Audience
Lexile level 500L
This book is targeted more towards older students, especially because at this point in time, the subject of a transgender character is still controversial. The main character is also in high school, so older students would be able to relate more easily.

Summary
This book is about Reagan, who has an older brother who is a girl born in a boy's body. Reagan struggles with keeping Luna's secret, having friends, and dealing with her own problems. Luna is trying to decide whether to transition, and with starting to tell people other than Reagan about who she really is. This book is a great way to introduce a topic that may be hard to talk about for some people.

Evaluation
This book transcended stereotypes by portraying a character with a problem that does not get talked about enough. It shows the mindset behind wanting to have a different body than you were born with. The author tries very hard to avoid offensive or degrading language about the character of Luna/Liam. She switches between the pronouns he and she according to which persona is being addressed. The theme of the book was very worthwhile, in that this subject is important, because it could affect people's lives, and teaching students to be accepting of anybody's feelings is important.

Lesson
The lesson for this book is to introduce foreshadowing, so the students will be able to find foreshadowing of Liam wanting to turn permanently into Luna. They will find three instances in the book, and write a few sentences on how this was foreshadowing. They will also learn about oxymorons, and we as a class will try to find an example of Reagan or Liam talking about something that could be considered an oxymoron, since Liam is actually Luna. They will also learn about similes, and come up with similes for Luna's struggle with her decision to transition.